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plywood VS truss ribs?

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eeairshows

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Hi Guys,


I'm looking at a completed Skybolt that has plywood ribs of which the builder says he obtained the material from aircraft spruce. The guy sounds like he knows what he is talking about/on the up and up, but I wanted to do some checking here.

In the Pitts world I wouldn't even consider sparcraft wings as they are both heavier and tend to break near the I struts. Also many were actualy marine VS aircraft grade plywood. There actauly were some "Sparcraft Light" kits that were built with cap strips like how the S2C wings are built, and are supposed to be great. Keeping in mind that I will probably return to flying shows and will be flying VERY hard in this Skybolt if I get it I have some questions:

1)Are plywood rib wings considered as strong as truss style rib wings?

1A) Does it even matter as the Skybolt is so strong to begin with?

2) If plywood ribs are ok for hard core acro, what thickness/ply should they be?

Thanks,


Erik

 

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