I've learned that building tends to slow down for me this time of year thanks to all of the other things to which I need to devote my time.
The last few months have been especially eventful at work, with some of my major projects including:
Redesigning the flight school's website...
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| Out with the old... |
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| ...in with the cool. |
Ferrying a Carbon Cub from Aspen, CO back to Arkansas on what was the longest cross country flight I've taken thus far...
Helping start our flight school's new backcountry flying course...
And being put in charge of our new simulator...
The whole time, I chipped away at deburring all of the wings' main and nose ribs any chance I could get. With a combined 52 ribs (a mixture of main ribs, leading edge ribs, and fuel tank ribs) to prepare, it took a long time to work my way through the pile of parts.
Aside from finishing the edges, I had to make sure the ribs were actually straight before they could be installed on the spars. When the ribs are formed on their press at the factory the flanges and the webs tend to bow, so my next order of business was getting everything within spec. To straighten the flanges I put together a tool made out of some spare MDF, 2x4s, aluminum bars, and an oak handle.
It's easy to use - simply work around the edges of each rib, check for straightness, then move on to the next one.
...and it seems to do the trick!
