Eagler's Nest
Airframes => Single Seaters => XL => Topic started by: Vf24renegade on April 15, 2026, 02:50:13 PM
-
Has anyone put inspection rings on their bottom wing fabric in order to insoect the spars at annual? Ive not seen any and wondered why. I dont think weight of 4 covers would be a problem or is it another issue of sacrificing some safety to make weight?
-
Basically, there's nothing to inspect. No cables, turnbuckles, etc. I *did* put one at the ailerons, though.
-
What about the spars? Especially at the strut attachments
-
This LEU has been flying for at least 20 years. Don't know if he's opened up any of the inspection covers, but he has quite a few installed.
-
Hes got the water drains too and stitching just like my pietenpol
-
We did install a couple inspection holes on both Leu Treehugger and DE Stubby, one near the inner aileron hinge pin and the other near the wing strut attachment to the wing spar. Pic of aileron area DE inspection hole attached.
During an annual inspection of the DE, I found the aileron inner pivot bolt slightly turning when the aileron was cycled. During construction, this bolt was epoxied in the wood block, and a safety wire was run through a hole in the bolt head and through the wood block. I was concerned that, with enough turning back and forth with aileron movement (many thousands, perhaps?) that the safety wire could break and the aileron pivot bolt could work loose, resulting in a disengaged aileron.
So, I modified the inner aileron attach bolt with a "Z" shaped metal strap, one end welded to the bolt head, the other end secured to the rib with a countersunk screw and elastic nut. Pic of this attached.