Adam Dickson

Adjusting LH rib 8 top front flanges

The front-most 3 top rib 8 flanges - which are held rather rigidly in place by rib 8 internal structures - laterally mismatch the skin holes, by up to 2mm. Due to the rigidity the normal movement available to ribs in this direction was not available. Strangely, the ribs appeared by bent in the right location, and the RH rib 8 was not affected in this way. In-situ, I alleviated this problem by light hammer forming, with the help of a wooded bucking-bar, to induce a slight crease in the rib over the last 3mm or so below the flange, without altering the flange bend itself. To aid this and provide access for the "bucking bar", I removed the top row of rivets from the reinforcing brackets. These were replaced subsequently. A good match with the skin was now achievable with only slight forcing.

This post is from Adam Dickson