During fluting process on stabilator ribs HS-1205, HS-1207, HS-1204, HS-1206, and HS-1216 I was concerned with the way the flutes were looking. I had done a cursory inspection during the processing but decided to do a more thorough inspection of each rib flute with a 2.5x magnifier inspection lenses. Sure enough I was able to detect cracks in a least one flute on 10 of 16 ribs. Apparently I was too aggressive with the fluting and needed to flute in more places on the rib than I did. The other issue appeared to be that because of the narrow width of the scalloped flanges between rivet holes my fluting tool was only working about ΒΌ inch in from the edge. At that short distance it appeared my fluting tool was acting more like a notcher because the inside rounded edge of the flute was so close to the edge. In any event these cracks are not acceptable to me so I have ordered new replacement ribs and will try more less aggressive flutes on the new parts when they arrive. 6 of the ribs came out with no cracking. Flutes on those appeared to be slightly less aggressive and maybe I just got lucky. Another valuable yet frustrating to a point learning experience. I had not seen this issue with any other ribs on the VS.
