Homemade Wing Rib Clips & Tips
concept by Ed Cree with enchancements by Dean Scott

Weedhooper wing ribs or battons come from the factory with rather weak clips made of molded plastic that snap over the dacron sailcloth covered trailing edge tube to hold the rib in place in the sail's rib pockets. They also have round, blunted tips made of the same plastic to dress out the front of the rib tube. This material degrades over time, even if it hasn't been exposed to weather or sunlight (UV). The plastic eventually becomes brittle and the clips break off followed not too long after by the tips.

What to do? Well, how about replacing them with a much more robust material... something like polyvinyl chloride or PVC. You know... the stuff plumbing pipes are made of! This thermal-plastic is rather resistant to UV rays and ozone, is tough and sturdy, is cheap and easily obtainable, and is easy to "mold" using a common paint stripper heat gun. Together with the materials and tools below, these instructions will have you cranking out a clip every 5 to 7 minutes.

These clips replicate the factory style where the clip snaps in place from under the TE spar and positions the rear end of the rib flush with the top edge of the spar and makes for a smooth, flat sail surface for significantly less parasitic (obstacle created) drag. The clips are very strong, produce a hearty 'snap' when pressed into place, and provide a firm grip compared to the factory clips.

So, what are you waiting for? Even if your factory clips and tips are brand new, these homemade ones are far superior in performance, lifespan, and robustness. Let's begin!

Drill a hole 3 1/2” from one end of a 6" length of 3/4" OD tube. Insert and bend a small nail around the outside of the tube to make a stop. The 3 1/2 " portion represents the trailing edge end of a wing rib and the 2 1/2" portion represents the leading edge.

Mount the 3" long piece of 1 1/2" OD tubing to a block of wood, like a 2 x 4. This is the trailing edge form.

1. Cut 8" long pieces of PVC pipe, one for each rib.
2. Insert a piece into the "TE" end of the 3/4" tube until it hits the nail stop. 4 1/2" will protrude.
3. With your heat gun on High, place the work on a nonflammable, heat resistant surface and evenly heat exposed PVC until pliable, constantly and slowly turning PVC with your gun no less than 1" away and constantly moving back and forth so as to prevent it from toasting or burning the PVC. It should take about 2 or 3 minutes for the PVC to become pliable as it swells slightly.
4. Safely set heat gun aside and with gloved hand, press the open end of the PVC closed with your thumb and hold for 3 seconds.
5. With the end sealed, take the 1/8" thick piece of metal and use it to wedge the end of the PVC between the wood block and the 1 1/2" "TE" form and quickly wrap the PVC around the form, bringing the rib end to rest on the wood block on the other side of the "TE" form. The PVC will flatten automatically as you wrap it around the form. The 1/8" thick piece of metal holds the pinched end closed nice and flat and provides a firm "anchor" while the rest of the PVC is pulled over the form.
6. Hold in place until it cools enough to hold the shape.
7. Remove from the form and compress the clip to a slightly smaller diameter with your gloved forefinger and thumb and hold for about 15 to 20 seconds. This will ensure a nice firm fit and make a nice positive 'click' sound when snapped into place.
   

1. Cut 3” long pieces of PVC pipe, one for each rib.
2. Insert a 3” piece of PVC pipe into the front end of the 3/4" tube until it hits the stop nail. 1/2" will protrude.
3. With your heat gun on High, place the work on a nonflammable, heat resistant surface and evenly heat exposed PVC until pliable, constantly and slowly turning PVC with your gun no less than 1" away and constantly moving back and forth so as to prevent it from toasting or burning the PVC. It should take about 2 minutes for the PVC to become pliable as it swells slightly.
4. Pinch the tip of the PVC closed with your thumb or the 1/8" thick piece of metal, pressing firmly down on the wood block. Allow the remaining length to taper up to fully round at the entrance to the tube.
5. When cooled, file the flared out edges of the flattened PVC until well rounded and smooth.

1. Insert a PVC tip into the front of a rib so that it protrudes out the same length as the old tip (about 1").
2. Align it so the flat edge is perpendicular to the curve of the rib, then drill one or two holes for rivets on the sides of the rib (to prevent the rivets from scuffing the sails when inserted).
3. Rivet tip in place.
4. Insert rib into sail rib pocket and check the fit of the tip over the leading edge. Remove, re-heat, and adjust to get a flush contour if necessary.
5. With the rib in position in front, you should have about 1/2" of clearance of the rear portion of the rib from the TE spar. If not, then cut the rear of the rib to provide this clearance.
6. From under the wing, insert the PVC clip and snap it into place. The rib and sail should now be flush with the top of the TE tube.
7. Mark the end of the rib tube on the PVC clip, remove from sail, and rivet in place.

You may find that there is an obstruction inside the rib pocket that keeps the clip from adequately seating on the TE. This is caused by an overlapping layer of sail cloth forming the rib pocket that needs to be slit the same as the outer layer where the rib is inserted.

Carefully take an X-acto knife and do this little bit of surgery to each rib pocket opening. I found that cutting this layer in the shape of a "T" worked much better. Of course, doing this will allow the rib to "escape" out of the pocket when inserting it (the tip will appear on top of the sail instead of inside the pocket), so simply guide the rib into the pocket with your index finger holding up the flaps of the cut layer and all will be fine.

You may also find that since the new clips, being a little more than twice the width of the old ones, tend to bind up in the pocket opening, pushing, folding over, and stretching the opening slit of the pocket. To alleviate this, just cut the slit at both ends to form a 1/2" deep flap. Or, cut the flap off leaving a rectangular pocket opening instead of a slit.