Drilling a hole in Aluminum Rib; how close?

I'm trying to align the holes in the leading edge sheetmetal with the
existing holes in the ribs. Sometimes they line up, sometime I can see
the hole in the rib, maybe 1/2 screw shank thickness away (in which
case I use a Dremel bit to enlarge the hole in the sheetmetal in the
direction of the rib hole) and in some cases I'm more than a screw
shank's distance away, so I'm going to have to drill another hole in
the rib. Question is how close can screw holes in ribs be before I've
weakened the rib?
If this were wood I'd enlarge the hole, glue in a dowel and redrill
the hole. What's the equivalent when drilling holes in ribs? - MikeH

On Oct 14, 4:32 am, Michael Horowitz wrote:
I'm trying to align the holes in the leading edge sheetmetal with the
existing holes in the ribs. Sometimes they line up, sometime I can see
the hole in the rib, maybe 1/2 screw shank thickness away (in which
case I use a Dremel bit to enlarge the hole in the sheetmetal in the
direction of the rib hole) and in some cases I'm more than a screw
shank's distance away, so I'm going to have to drill another hole in
the rib. Question is how close can screw holes in ribs be before I've
weakened the rib?
If this were wood I'd enlarge the hole, glue in a dowel and redrill
the hole. What's the equivalent when drilling holes in ribs? - MikeH

Typically two diameters from the edge of the sheet. If you got
the hole too close, I suppose you'd need to rivet a strip into the rib
flange and redrill.
Which airplane uses screws to attach sheet metal? Is this a
Champ?

Riveting info that would generally apply, I think, to screw
holes is found on page 4-20 of this link:
http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/0/99c827db9baac81b86256b4500596c4e/$FILE/Chapter%2004.pdf

Dan

wrote:

Which airplane uses screws to attach sheet metal? Is this a Champ?


My Pacer does, so would the 3Pacer...

"Darrel Toepfer" wrote in message
. 18...
wrote:

Which airplane uses screws to attach sheet metal? Is this a Champ?


My Pacer does, so would the 3Pacer...

Luscombe also............

In article ,
" Don Lewis" wrote:

"Darrel Toepfer" wrote in message
. 18...
wrote:

Which airplane uses screws to attach sheet metal? Is this a Champ?


My Pacer does, so would the 3Pacer...

Luscombe also............

The B-25 I was looking at this afternoon used 'em. (Some local guy found
a flyable B-25 and brought in to San Martin, CA over the weekend. Now
his group is looking for volunteers to restore it. No idea where he
found it.)

T'craft - Mike

On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:24:03 -0700, wrote:

On Oct 14, 4:32 am, Michael Horowitz wrote:
I'm trying to align the holes in the leading edge sheetmetal with the
existing holes in the ribs. Sometimes they line up, sometime I can see
the hole in the rib, maybe 1/2 screw shank thickness away (in which
case I use a Dremel bit to enlarge the hole in the sheetmetal in the
direction of the rib hole) and in some cases I'm more than a screw
shank's distance away, so I'm going to have to drill another hole in
the rib. Question is how close can screw holes in ribs be before I've
weakened the rib?
If this were wood I'd enlarge the hole, glue in a dowel and redrill
the hole. What's the equivalent when drilling holes in ribs? - MikeH

Typically two diameters from the edge of the sheet. If you got
the hole too close, I suppose you'd need to rivet a strip into the rib
flange and redrill.
Which airplane uses screws to attach sheet metal? Is this a
Champ?

Riveting info that would generally apply, I think, to screw
holes is found on page 4-20 of this link:
http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgAdvisoryCircular.nsf/0/99c827db9baac81b86256b4500596c4e/$FILE/Chapter%2004.pdf

Dan