Ribs, Ribs & More Ribs

Progress is re-started, after the Thanksgiving celebration.  Rib construction is the order of the day.  With 20 completed and 14 more to go there is not much to contribute to the blog. But I do have some thoughts.

The photo is of a pretty typical joint.  I have now made several hundred of these joints.  That would be 21 X 12 plus 25 X 8.  You do the math, I don't have my calculator handy.  I counted myself a pretty crafty wood worker before I started this project.  I have done everything from rough framing to fine scale models.  

But I got to thinking and evaluating after spending some time on William Wynn's FlyCorvair.com web site.  (Yes, Corvair power is a possibility for this aircraft).  William is big on education.  He is a proponent of homebuilding as a learning exercise.

This exercise, building all these ribs, while theoretically well within my skill set, has still taught me a lot.  The first of the capstrip joints are just as good as the later joints, such as the one above.  But I turn them out a lot faster now and with fewer discards due to mistake.  I have also learned to think in terms of production instead of just one part at a time.

There will be plenty of learning opportunities for me as the project moves along.  Once I have the ribs built, I need to fabricate the ailerons.  The aileron ribs are fabricated from sheet aluminum and the ribs are riveted to an aluminum spar.  I understand the theory and process, but I have never done it.  I have never formed parts from sheet aluminum. Except for a few very small pulled rivet projects, I have never set rivets. So that will all be a learning experience.

I am loving the process, but it is a challenge.

I find that many people do not tackle new challenges because they are afraid to let themselves fail.  How often do we hear, "Oh, I could never do that", when someone is looking at an example of fine craftsmanship.  But I think the main difference between those who "do" and those who don't, is that those who do are not afraid to fail.  OK.  There are exceptions.  My late, and highly respected, father-in-law could not work with his hands.  But he could do a great many other things and was never afraid to fail.

If you look at a project like this airplane and think it is something you could never do, you may want to evaluate your approach and determine if you are hampered by objective realities, or if you are simply afraid to fail.