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Close-Out Ribs, Fill and Fair or Leave Them?

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wsimpso1

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 18, 2003
Messages
11,358
Location
Saline Michigan
All of my control surfaces are hotwired cores, vacuum bagged skins, and then I rout a little foam from the very ends and apply a 2 BID closeout rib to keep the top and bottom skins from peeling from the foam. Pretty standard stuff. But, which is the right way to finish the job? What is best for overall aerodynamics? I wished that I had paid attention to this at fly-ins...

Should I leave the 1/2-3/4" indented closeout rib naked? With everything else looking sooooo smoooth on the outside of a composite bird, this seems incongruous.

Should I insert a chunk of foam, attaching it with dry micro, then fill and sand the ends smooth? This seems more in keeping with the smooth outside of composite birds, but I wonder if it does not increase the air leaks across the ends of the surfaces.

Then, If I do fill and fair the ends, I suspect that I put the smallest radius on the corner I can - correct?

Some folks, notably AutoReply, have advocated for end plates on control surfaces. Anybody with knowledge on this?

Am I wondering over a simply appearance item? If that is all we are talking about, how are the various end treatments viewed by the judges?

Data, science, and opinions welcome.

Billski
 
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