I remember that seeing that Brian Austein's Woodpecker was built with foam ribs and wood cap strips. That turned out to be a fairly fast and tough little bird. Unfortunately there have never been any photos or details about the inner structure of the wing made available. I have widely circulated tests from a 1999 sail plane group where a member found that a solid 1" foam rib with a cap strip turned out to be incredibly strong and very light.
What I am wondering is if wood ribs are ever designed to bear a portion of the horizontal compression loads? My particular airplane has 3 1x1 spruce members to handle compression loads between the spars, and I am wondering of the stick build ribs are also factored into loading, and if foam ribs would screw all that up.
The obvious thing to do would be to build a wood rib, and a foam rib and see how each handles compression loading. Just curious if any one has already done that or had any thoughts on the topic.
What I am wondering is if wood ribs are ever designed to bear a portion of the horizontal compression loads? My particular airplane has 3 1x1 spruce members to handle compression loads between the spars, and I am wondering of the stick build ribs are also factored into loading, and if foam ribs would screw all that up.
The obvious thing to do would be to build a wood rib, and a foam rib and see how each handles compression loading. Just curious if any one has already done that or had any thoughts on the topic.