RCU Forums - View Single Post - F-16XL ARF by Global Knight Models from Global Jet Club
Old 03-27-2021, 06:36 PM
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JSF-TC
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Gary,

Your inspection confirmed my suspicion based on your first post about the wing joiner. If that were me, I would not fly it without significant reinforcement at the outer end of the tube. As shown, I would class it as very unsafe.

Ideally the factory would install an outer 1/8" ply rib that was mechanically interlocked with the bulkheads which would also support the outer end of the wing joiner tube, thereby providing an outboard mechanical up/ down load-bearing capability to complement and react the wing bending loads against the existing inner clamp block.

As that cannot be easily retro fitted, maybe consider adding a hard-wood support block above and below the tube (full-length) that completely fills in the area between the tube and the upper and lower fuselage skins, and then glassing that in with additional carbon. Also, add another mini-bulkhead on the opposite side of the tube to the existing one to help tie the upper and lower fuselage skins together.

Paul