Brief Description: First rib built, only 39 more to go.
Pietinpol ribs are built using a truss system of steamed old growth Sitka spruce and Mahogany aircraft plywood glued and sometimes nailed (I chose not to use nails) together with structural adhesive. Forty five precision cut and crafted components are fit together in a jig and left to dry overnight. Eventually two solid or laminated spruce spars along with cables, cross members, metal hinges, bracing and control fittings will be joined to the ribs to make up the skeleton of the wing. A little on the use of nails. Nails and staples have been used successfully in building aircraft for 100 years. Mechanical fasteners hold gussets with firm and even pressure until the adhesive dries. The truth is that in this day and age there not needed and only serve to add a few extra pounds to the finished aircraft. Modern structural epoxy applied properly will NEVER let go, so I chose to design a jig that does the job of the nails until the glue has cured.
