National Aeronca Association Bulletin Board

Us in North Georgia are working hard to help Lloyd. He is going wide open after his hip replacement. Hoping to make Middletown next June. Lots and lots to do yet. Frame nearly ready to blast. Lloyd says door was a pain. Lots of rib repair. Newly made spars for 2 L-16's. Last photo is original Baggage Cover. David J.

Nice photos and glad to see work progressing on his airplane.

Get this one and Nathan's ready and see everyone in Middletown next summer!

David,

why the plate over the cluster? Repair or standard thing to do?

nkh


Glad you built a set of spars for me, I'll pick them up this weekend.

Nate, I will let you talk to the Old Fart about the spars.... They are for his grandson. He has an L-16A project that used to belong to Lloyd's son. Lloyd lost his son when he was 26 or 27. Bad deal. When we made the spars we made 2 of everything. Check out Aeronca SL #57. I think a pretty good idea. All Citabria's I have seen have a reinforcement there also. It doesn't show on the drawing, but Bill Pancake shows the patch to be .050 thick matl. If you need some rib reinforcements I will cut you out some, I have router patterns made. I need to get Derek to have his laser cutter cut out a hundred or so. Lots quicker. I have included a photo of the reinforcement. David J.

Guys, correction. SL #57 plate is .040. Lloyd corrected me. Nate, Lloyd said if you have some bad tail feathers give him a call. David J.

Dave,
I'd also be interested in come rib reinforcements if someone is going to make a bunch (whatever the cost). I assume we're talking about where they crack over the spars.

Mike Berg

Mike, I have a pattern for a router. It takes some time to cut out the blanks. If Derek gets something run at his laser cutter, we will get a whole bunch cut for everyone. You listening Derek? David J.

If it works out...OK. I can make them if I have to, but I'm thinking ........I have a couple of new ribs from WAG and it seems they have the reinforcement on them already. Maybe they can be bought seperately. Need to take a look once I get back to the shop this afternoon.

Mike

Mike, please don't think I don't wish to help. I am helping Lloyd Thompson trying to get an L-16 ready for Middletown. He recently lost his wife so I am really trying to stay in there with him on this one. He is retired so he is tearing me up right now! But he won't fly without wings! Let us know if they can be bought by themselves. We will eventually get a run thru the laser cutter. Thanks! David J. p.s. the bracket is different on Univair and WagAero ribs. The Wag bracket is more like the original.

No problem. I'll check on it with WAG when I get a chance. I'm not close to worrying about it yet. Still cleaning stuff up and deciding what I can use, what I need to repair and what I need to replace. This is a long term project to say the least. Nathan will probably fly before me .

Thanks for the reply.

Mike

Mike,
On my previous champ, I made a couple of those by using a rib that was unassembled. I simply took some tracing paper and made a pattern. I then took my dremmel tool and went to work. They did fine. This was ok for a couple but would be a lot of work to make a lot of.
JP

D.J.
I have worked every night on my -16. I plan on running the motor tomorrow and then taking it off for short term storage. I plan to have the fabric off by Saturday! Who knows, I may be recovering within a week or two.

Dr. Jeff, good deal. Sounds like you got the fever.....Be sure to tie the tail down good. Without the weight of wings, they can tip over forward with power real easy. Don't want you to have a bad day....Keep us up to date, and with photos if you have them. I finally got the hang of photos on the forum. Not that hard once I got my head out of a dark place! David J.

Have you guys noticed the different styles of rib reinforcements used over the top of the front spar? The old style is on original ribs, the new style is on Citabria ribs and Univair new ribs. The new Wagaero ribs have the old style. The new style does not have a L and R. They are interchangeable. The old style has a L and R because of the bend on top. Have you guys noticed this? Any info on the history of this? David J.

Old Style


New Style

GOOD MORNING DAVID, THE WING RIB GUSSETS WE HAVE ARE PART NUMBER 2-879L/R, GUSSETS WITHOUT RIVET HOLES AND 2-879LH/RH, GUSSETS WITH RIVET HOLES. THE ONLY REASON FOR THE UNDRILLED GUSSETS IS THAT SOMETIMES THE HOLES DO NOT LINE UP ON EXISTING RIBS AND THIS WAY THEY CAN BE MATCH DRILLED WHEN REPLACING. THEY ARE $5.10 EACH AND ARE ALL IN STOCK EXCEPT THE 2-879R, WHICH WE WILL BE MAKING AS SOON AS WE RECEIVE MORE BLANKS FROM OUR SUPPLIER. THE 5-142, 5-186 AND 5-191 RIBS USE THE RIGHT HAND GUSSETT AND THE 5-181 RIBS USE THE LEFT HAND GUSSETS. THE CORRECT THICKNESS IS .040.

MIKE UTLEY

Mike, Thank you very much! This helps a lot. I will be ordering soon. David J.