Half-rack of flaps

I had enough foam ribs blanks, but took an opportunity to make some more.  This was a good excuse to pull out the CNC and try out the new garage wiring.  I also adjusted the layout of the parts in CAM so fewer ribs would be eaten by the tool (last time I cut ribs, every other one was chewed up) at the expense of wasting a bit more foam.  Definitely worth it as I am able to use every one of these ribs.  I cut two sets of 15, which is enough for the rest of the plane.

After cutting the ribs free, each was run through my little cap-strip cutting tool mounted to the Dremel.  This little tool worked like a champ, and I wish it was around for all the other foam ribs in the tails.  Would have made that job much easier and cleaner.

Last time I assembled Goat, I taped on a rib to the leading edge of the flap to match up to the aileron angle.  This alignment worked fine for me, though in retrospect, it would make more sense to build the flap and aileron, then measure and drill the hinge holes.  Anyway, I took enough ribs and bonded them between the leading and trailing edges with thick epoxy spooey and used masking tape to hold everything in place.

As the ribs were curing, I had extra spooey and so started putting the carbon cap strips into the slits.  After those cured overnight, a little custom fitting was needed to make a diagonal brace for the end rib, shown below.  You can also see the double-rib where the flying wire from the TE spar to the tail will be connected.  That attachment takes the place of a control horn, since the flaps are not actuated.

Finally, here is the flap installed on the wing, awaiting a glass-wrap on each of the ribs.  I think I'll copy the progress to this point building up the second flap before doing the glass wrap.

Second flap is half-way done and curing.

That's all for now.  Hope any readers are enjoying.  It's nice to be back building!