Microlighters

Covering over spreader bar perished, bolt rubbed against keel tube...





We're putting in a new keel tube & will put mylar over keel tube...

PS. many thanks to Alex Rudd fir doing such thorough inspections!!!

Cheers
Ant

nicow wrote:

Ja ek is nogal geskok Nico, ek gaan nou gereeld daai plek op my trike inspekteer, wat sal gebeur as die keel daar opvou (of sal die kabels die vlerk inplek hou)?

Hi Ant, thanks for the heads up. If your keel snaps into two, your wing folds closed....like a butterfly. Your spreader bar is de-tensioned and the rear part of the keel pushes forward....usually through the upper wing sail.

Also look at this thread.

viewtopic.php?p=27885

Damn Ant...

Which wing is yours? AQ1 or 2?

Glad you picked up the issue before it was too late! Just ask Merv what happens when a keel snaps in the air!

Hope you back up there in no time mate.

Must be a wing where the keel is inside the wing at the point where the spreader bar rests on the keel, Streek wing = Aquila II. Aquila I, like mine, keel is outside the wing. The wing sail is in-between the spreader bar and the keel.

Soon we are going to look like Rick Moranis in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, suspended over our wing during pre-flight.

Thanks for the info, BZD's flying again, put a sheet of mylar inside the pocket under the bolt and around the new keel with cable ties

I'll be inspecting this as part of my preflight from now on

Many thanks to uncle Alex and the guys (& gal!!! ) @ xwinds for helping me get my baby airborne again

Cheers
Ant

Hi Allan , the wing was a Aquilla 1 wing , modified to be the Aquilla 1 2000, by Jenja , the spreader bar was adjusted to be in the max speed range , that pulls the spreader bar onto the keeltube which gives premature wear on the keeltube and Tube bag ( the pocket wher all is wrapped up in ) this leads to wear on the tube by the spreaderbar bolt . we assembled the wing with the tension less this time as well as a mylar protecter around the keel tube . Regular inspection will keep it in track . Maybe you want to do a talk on trike maintenance some time Leprechaun.

leprechaun wrote:Maybe you want to do a talk on trike maintenance some time Leprechaun.

I'll be there!

Loco wrote:

leprechaun wrote:Maybe you want to do a talk on trike maintenance some time Leprechaun.

I'll be there!

It appears there is a script for Episode 6 then.....coming soon to a lapa near you.

I bought a trike in good condition about two weeks ago. Has 274 hours on wing, engine and trike. Decided to open motor and one ring was partly stuck due to carbon built up. My biggest surprise however was when I decided to replace all the bolts in the wing. (after reading the thread: Can a trike wing fail). The center bolt in front on the nose plate was completely bent and the hole in the plate elongated from the movement. This was completely invisible during an inspection as the bolt is inside the tube and the elongated hole covered by a washer. All you see is the head of the bolt and the nut on the other side.

Bearing in mind that the same bolt holds the fitting on which the flying wires that comes up from the bar to the nose are attached. Scary stuff.

That's unfortunately the nature of the beast we fly - experimental. That sort of thing would never happen on a certified aircraft like cessna for example - just too much time and money gone into the design....

But on the other hand without regular checks we wouldn't know the amount of knowledge we hold about our planes today.