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Fluting - whats the goal?

unitink72

Well Known Member
I had been fluting to make the rib lay flat on the bench. However I always had a little trouble when getting down to the leading edge because the holes never quite matched up with the skin. I'd have to angle the cleco a big, muscle the rib some and shove the cleco home as best I could.

On the wing outboard leading edge, I tried something new. I laid a 24" ruler along the holes in the rib. I had already fluted that rib to be flat on the table, but WOW the holes were not straight. Fluted some more to get the holes straight, and it made installation a breeze!

Tried this with two more, and it was definitely easier.

I'm pretty sure Section 5 only talks about getting it flat on the table. Am I hurting anything with fluting more than that? Any other side affects I should be considering?
 
Fluting

I always used a straight edge along the holes. Most of the time, they lay flat after. On the 7, there are parts that do not have holes in a perfect row so it's important to look at the mating part.
 
Ya the holes are what matters. That being said, on the -7 if the rib was flat the holes were also lined up.
 
Ya the holes are what matters. That being said, on the -7 if the rib was flat the holes were also lined up.

Not quite. On the RV-8, and I'm pretty sure on the RV-7 as well, the front holes on the leading edges are displaced towards the rib web. This is because the flange tabs are shorter in this area, and the displacement is required to maintain edge distance on the holes.

The ribs are designed to have flat webs, and if you flute the flanges to achieve a flat web the pre-punched holes should line up well (they certainly did for me).
 
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