Observations of a certificated wing

[RV7Factory]

Last night we packed up the Oliver family truckster and headed out for something I haven?t had in a looooong time? chicken wings. We sat down at a table and when I looked up I found there was a wing (aircraft not chicken) hanging from the ceiling directly above us. It was an aluminum wing but the skins and control surfaces had been removed, with only the spars and ribs left in place. With my RV builders point of view and to the frustration of everyone at the table, I silently gazed at it for 15+ minutes, noticing how very thin the spars looked, surprised at how far apart each rib was located, amazed at the distance between each rivet, and taken aback by just how flimsy this unknown structure seemed to be. Every few minutes I would gaze up in amazement thinking to myself just how much stronger the RV wings appear to be.

After I had eaten a few too many wings than I should have, I labored up from the table and walked around to the root end of the wing. What did I see? ?C-150? written on the inboard rib. I?m not sure what I was expecting, but I guess I was a little surprised. I would have thought that an aircraft that typically takes as much abuse as your average flight school 150/152 would have been built differently. To put it another way, having built RV wings now, I guess I would have expected for this wing to be more similar to the RV in material thickness and rib and rivet count. Guess not.

Just an interesting observation in my book, that?s all.

Oh... one more thing... not much (if any) of the structure had primer on it.

[Bob Brown]

if you look inside a Cessna wing, notice the consistency of the rivet work...there isn't any. After I was almost finished with my RV, I did an another annual on my old 182 and was astonished to look at the rivets with the "critical eye" I'd developed during the building of my RV. Now, every time I look inside an inspection panel on the RV, I am delighted that I took the time to learn what quality work looks like...
What a hobby!!

[jferraro17]

I spend my time at Wing Stop staring at the old parts too.

Only thing I can add to your post, Brad, is my wife has said: "your wings look better than that, I guess you know what you're doing". What a vote of confidence! If she only knew.



Joe

[hevansrv7a]

I just parted with my 1975 C-150 M. Yes, not only the internal structure but the skins are much flimsier than an RV. The C-150 was only certified for 4.4 G and used a mid-wing strut. But you all knew that already. I can tell the difference everytime I hit a "bump". What's even more interesting is the LSA's that are several hundred pounds lighter, have as much horsepower and payload and are also flown in the utility category. I wonder sometimes where the weight savings were.

[Yukon]

The Cessna 150 cruises at 115 mph and has a strut-braced wing. No need for as much structure as a cantilever wing doing 200 mph.

[jcoloccia]

Originally Posted by Yukon

The Cessna 150 cruises at 115 mph and has a strut-braced wing. No need for as much structure as a cantilever wing doing 200 mph.

Ditto. At first glance the wing on my Bearhawk seems like it'd be downright flimsy compared to an RV-7 but it's strut braced as well.