Ventus rigging advice, please?

Reverse the process. Put the right wing on first. Tape the top. Make sure the stub is centered in the spar box. Then put the left wing in. Now it is easy to see relationship between the spigot and its target hole in the right wing. Up down fore or aft, easy to see.

Bob
BV
Ventus C but it is the same rigging system.

Also, as a previous owner of both a Discus 2 and Ventus 2bx, be aware of temperature issues. Coming from Germany, rigging is easier at European temperatures (15 to 20 C) than Southwest US temperatures (30 to 40 C). Rig in the coolest temperatures you can and out of the midday sun.

I also concur that riffing the right wing first is a little easier as you have better cockpit access when mating the left wing.

Mike

On Tue, 25 Jun 2019 10:53:40 -0700 (PDT), Mike the Strike
wrote:

Also, as a previous owner of both a Discus 2 and Ventus 2bx, be aware of temperature issues.
Coming from Germany, rigging is easier at European temperatures (15 to 20 C) than Southwest
US temperatures (30 to 40 C). Rig in the coolest temperatures you can and out of the midday sun.

I also concur that riffing the right wing first is a little easier as you have better cockpit access when
mating the left wing.

Mike

20 years rigging a Ventus cT, and I also put the right wing in first,
mainly for the reason stated above, reduce the jumping back and forth
during rigging. I do not find it necessary to tape the 1st wing.

Bob

Thanks very much for the advice, everyone. I'll try all of it, but I'm
especially keen to see how 'right wing first' goes.

At 08:48 26 June 2019, John McLaughlin wrote:
Thanks very much for the advice, everyone. I'll try all of it, but I'm
especially keen to see how 'right wing first' goes.



I can only comment re Discus. Ensuring brakes are unlocked has been
mentioned, but sometimes they will re-lock when first wing is put on, so
unlock again if necessary.
Fix stick central, I use seat back to hold in place.
I assume left wing first arose because of partly inserting locking pin,
with the handle stopping it pushing out again.
Dave

On Wednesday, June 26, 2019 at 2:00:05 AM UTC-7, John McLaughlin wrote:
Thanks very much for the advice, everyone. I'll try all of it, but I'm
especially keen to see how 'right wing first' goes.


There was a similar thread about a year ago on this same Ventus topic.

Alignment is key: no amount of pushing will overcome a small misalignment. Wings will slide on fairly easily when the alignment is right.
Alignment relies on visual clues. Most gliders are not designed to make this easy.
I like 'right wing first' for the Ventus also (slightly better view of alignment inside fus).
Keep fuselage accurately upright (don't let it rotate in the cradle). Look at the fin. A small rotation means the wing heights are very uneven.
It helps to leave the first wing out ½", so second wing pin alignment to first wing can be seen in the gap.
When the first wing is fully in, tape it in to help it not move out again. Also when rigged, put a piece of tape with pen mark on spars inside the fus to indicate vertical alignment on next rig.
Look at the uniformity and equality of the gaps between fus and wing roots,fore and aft, top and bottom, to aid alignment
Although rigging aids remove all the heavy lifting, one helper is ENORMOUSLY useful to 'wiggle and push' on the other wingtip. In solo rigging, there's a chance of 'getting stuck'. If I don't have a helper present, I have people I can phone for assistance.
An eccentric tool is very useful for the last ¼"
The control stick must be free to move and roughly central (don't let seat back prevent it moving)
Flap lever should be free to move (plastic card beside lever) and rigging aids must not prevent flaps moving. Airbrake lever unlocked and free.
Cooling the main pin may help a little (it contracts in diameter very slightly). In ziplock bag in cooler.
One needs to be fairly physically limber. Be under 40.
Rig before it gets hot or windy. Most rigging aids don't roll well on grass. They all have deficiencies to watch out for.
The more you rig, the easier it becomes, I'm told.
Some younger pilots rig every morning and make it look easy. Personally, after rigging, taping, packing rigging aids away, I'm exhausted and need to rest for a few hours.
If you have a Cobra trailer, be sure to put a safety pin in one clamshell strut. If you don't know about this, find out.

On Tuesday, June 25, 2019 at 5:00:05 AM UTC-4, John McLaughlin wrote:
I've recently started flying a Ventus2. I can't rig the thing without a lot
of
struggle. The trouble is, there's a cover above the spars and you can't see

anything once the first wing is in.

I struggle to get the second wing to fit, never knowing whether it's a bit
too
high or a bit too low. The ground is uneven and sloping, which doesn't
help.

I hope some Ventus owners can give me some tips, please?

A way to keep the first wing and the fuselage in alignment is really helpful. On my old PIK we glued a tapered spacer to the fuselage so that it held the spar at the right height relative to the fuselage opening. With that fixed and stable putting the second wing in was a snap.
If the fuselage won't support such a shim it could be glued to the bottom of the spar.
Shim should be just a little shorter than "perfect" so as not to create a bind.
UH

Lots of useful advice already which I won't repeat, but the variant of V2
(which you didn't mention) does make some difference. The 2c(x) has a hole
on the airbrake rod designed to hold the airbrakes open during the rig,
with the tool used to fit the tips designed to fit into the hole. This
stops the brakes re-locking as can happen
(as mentioned in a previous post).

Other than that, all I would add that is that ensuring the gap between wing
and fuselage is as small as possible, and (more importantly) even across
the chord is very important. I also rig right (starboard) first but know
others who do it the left first with no issues as long as the rest of the
set up is sorted.

Having only rigged my Ventus 2b 30 some times I'm still learning. I self rig with a Wing Rigger. Wing stand and rigger have lines for what worked before. Wheel down the same every time. The first wing (left for me with main pin partway in, no tape) has to be parallel with the fuselage. Brakes unlocked. If the right wing pushes the left out a bit use the gap to look at the pin alignment on that side. Practice is the best teacher. 3 out of the last 4 times rigging for me went well the 4th not so much as I got away from what had worked in the past. Good luck. I'm very much enjoying my V2..

Steve Z5

Not a V2, but I rig my 1981 Ventus b IAW the manual. Dump valve closed, flap handle in S, and horizontal stabilizer rigging pin inserted into the hole in the airbrake tube. Left wing first and main pin part-way in to hold in place. When inserting the right wing I find the key is to sight the relationship between the pin on the left spar and the bearing that it goes into on the right wing root. I look towards the right wing root from the fuselage at an angle. There's not much room, but it is possible to see how close the alignment is. If it's not close it'll never go together.