Tierra wings and Poly Fiber Sails

Ed McKnight

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Oct 16, 2003, 7:09:43 AM10/16/03

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I just bought a Tierra I and would like to replace the old sails using
Poly-fiber. My problem is with the wing ribs. The ribs "fit" in sleeves on
the sails and do not attach directly to the front and rear spar. In order
to use the Poly Fiber system, I need the ribs to actually attach to the
front and rear spar.. Any suggestions, experience, know who attaches
lightweight ribs, they are a light weight "plastic" bow, to a front and rear
spar? I suspect I could design small tube and flange connectors but would
be more comfortable with some system that has already been proven. Thanks,
direct email to emcknig...@se.rr.com is okay and you can take the
"trash" out of the email address.

Ed McKnight
Tierra in Florida

Jimmy Galvin

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Oct 16, 2003, 8:19:57 AM10/16/03

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I would also like to know hw this has been done in the past.
"Ed McKnight" <emcknig...@se.rr.com> wrote in message
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Richard Carlisle

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Oct 16, 2003, 9:38:37 AM10/16/03

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> I would also like to know hw this has been done in the past.

Make some triangle shaped brackets and rivet them to the ribs, then rivet
the bracket to the leading and trailing edge tube. I did this with a
Phantom a few years ago. It worked out well.

The only issue you may have is the lack of bottom ribs on the T-Bird.
Without bottom ribs, the fabric tends to flex quite a bit on the bottom,
which isn't an issue with the dacron sails, but with Stits covering, the
paint may crack. You'd probably have to add bottom ribs.

When I did the phantom, I decreased the spacing between the rigs by a few
inches. I ended up adding 4 or 5 new ribs to make up for the decreased
spacing. About equivalent to Phantoms high lift wing kit. You may or may
not need to do the same thing on the T-Bird. Either way, I would definitely
add bottom ribs to give some support to the fabric on the bottom of the
wing.

I just bought a T-Bird II and considered doing this on this plane, but
decided to go with factory sails. They had quite a few colors in stock, so
they shipped the same day. I got the complete kit with enclosure so it was
a bit pricey, but the they are nice looking sails. The Mylar coating will
make cleaning easier.

Ross

Fr. John Elledge

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Oct 16, 2003, 8:40:07 PM10/16/03

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I'm wondering out loud if the CGS ribs would fit? I don't know the distance
between leading and trailing edge spars, nor the NACA/NASA shape. It would
be interesting to find out.

Fr. John

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Ed McKnight

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Oct 16, 2003, 10:01:18 PM10/16/03

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I got a reply from Rans showing a pretty cool rib clip attachment. The idea
about the bottom rib sounds like a good idea. As I progress, I will look at
the CGS ribs also. Next step will be to measure the distance between the
front and rear spar.
Thanks for the response, more ideas the better.

Ed
Tierra in Florida
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Tom Cummings

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Oct 17, 2003, 1:24:58 AM10/17/03

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If you can subscribe to the T-Bird list on Yahoo Groups, they have discussed
this recently. It could be looked up in their archives, also.
In addition, if you could find some pictures of a Challenger ultralight wing
before it is covered, you can tell what the Tierra wing needs to be covered
with Stits.
Tom

"Ed McKnight" <emcknig...@se.rr.com> wrote in message
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