GESchwarz
Well-Known Member
I'd like to point out that many people in this forum have supplied key information, the absence of which would have stalled or killed this learning project. I won't name names because they are all here for all to see. In the last several days my attention has turned to the bonding of PVC foam ribs and formers to aluminum skin. It was tough getting started finding information, a lot of which seemed to have been bottled up in Europe. But there have been key breakthroughs provided by members of this forum. As a result I have accumulated enough data to begin a new test program to determine the equivalency between rivited aluminum ribs and bonded PVC foam ribs. There are several different aircraft designs and hundreds, if not thousands of planes in service, mostly beyond our borders, that are constructed with bonded foam ribs.
I have sample material being delivered to me as I speak. Looking forward to seeing how this stuff performs. From what I've learned already, this construction method has some distinct advantages over rivited ribs. I'm not going to talk about it until I have proven those things out first-hand. As with riviting, there are unique skills and processes required for bonding too.
I have sample material being delivered to me as I speak. Looking forward to seeing how this stuff performs. From what I've learned already, this construction method has some distinct advantages over rivited ribs. I'm not going to talk about it until I have proven those things out first-hand. As with riviting, there are unique skills and processes required for bonding too.