Carbon fiber rib tail reinforcement

[Avid Bart 39]

I thought I would share my method of reinforcing the rib tails on the wings I am rebuilding. I know other people have had good results with aluminum reinforcements, but that seemed like a lot of work and tough to make it look like it is not a band-aid afterthought fix.

I ended up using 2" wide 12k unidirectional carbon fiber tape and epoxy. I originally was going to fold the 2" tape over the top and down the sides of the rib tail, but decided to cut the tape down the middle and laminate the 1" strips to each side. I vacuum bagged the rib tails using and cured the epoxy in a high tech cardboard box oven. Vacuum bagging and elevated temperature curing improves the strength and reduces extra epoxy, but really is not necessary for a part like this.

In the end, I have around $40 in materials with a bunch left over for the other wing and other projects on the to-do list and around an hour of time. It is incredible how much stiffer the rib tails are with just one layer of carbon fiber. I suppose I could maybe break the rib tail over my knee, but I am not able to break the parts bending them with my hands.

 

-Brett

[BryceKat 125]

Very cool Brett. What did you use for a vacuum pump?

[Avid Bart 39]

I used a refrigerator compressor that i salvaged many years ago. They work great for this and are easy to find at a good price (free).