May be of interest if you rig & de-rig an Airborne wing…

[Matt Tomlinson]

I thought I would share an experience that happened to me the last time I flew, in the hope it could help others.

 

I rig and de-rig a Streak III on my XT-912 each time I fly, and I’ve probably done this about 100 times or so since buying the microlight. It’s a process I like to think I have down to a fine art these days, and although tedious does not take me too long to complete. So last weekend I rigged as usual, did my pre-flight checks, and headed-off for a cruise down the coast for a couple of hours. After heading back to my home airport to land and have a cup of tea (spot the POM…) I decided on a few more circuits before I finished for the day. So I head back to my aircraft and commence another pre-flight check, and take a moment to gaze up at the underside of my port wing. And something doesn’t look quite right…

 

With the sunshine coming through the wing from above, I note that the shadow created by one of my under-wing (straight) battens looks like it is on an angle – i.e. not traversing straight from the leading to the trailing edge as it should be. I pull the wing down for a closer look, and my first thought is that the sleeve which contains the batten has split, allowing the end nearer the leading edge to protrude off at a strange angle. However, on inspection, this was not the case at all. In fact I had somehow managed, when rigging, to insert the batten into the hole in the under surface of the wing, BUT NOT INTO THE SLEEVE THAT HOLDS IT! The scarily thing is that when I did this it appeared totally normal, and felt exactly the same as the others which HAD made it into their sleeves. It slipped-in the same, it tucked-in at the end the same, and it even looked correct during my first pre-flight check of the day. It was only after flying, landing, and perhaps taxiing that it moved around inside the wing enough for me to spot it on the second pre-flight check.

 

So what were the lessons? Well, for me a reinforcement of never being too confident about rigging your wing no matter how many times you have done it. It’s also interesting to ponder that without it being a sunny day, casting a shadow of where the batten lay in the wing, I may NOT have spotted it before my next flight.

 

What is a certainty is that without that additional pre-flight check, before my second flight of the day, I would definitely not have spotted it. And there is a lesson in that for all.

 

 

[howard]

i have one batten position that is prone to that, but when it misses the sleeve, it feels very very loose when trying to tension it and is easily detected in my case.

 

 

[Tracktop]

Hi

 

Have either of you spoken to Airborne about this in case they aren't aware there is any sort of issue.

 

Only with good feedback can they make sure it doesn't occur in future wings.

 

Especially one I might buy in the future :-)

 

 

[Matt Tomlinson]

HiHave either of you spoken to Airborne about this in case they aren't aware there is any sort of issue.

Only with good feedback can they make sure it doesn't occur in future wings.

 

Especially one I might buy in the future :-)

I haven't yet, but I suppose I should do. You're right in that if Airborne don't know about it, they won't be aware of what could be a wider issue.

 

 

[howard]

i haven't reported it either.

 

i think maybe the common denominatator is that we both rig and de-rig very often.

 

i had just put it down to the wing being compressed while packed, and the sleeve is not always exactly lined up with the hole when unfurled. (only affects one sleeve)

 

i will repeat that, in my case, it is very very noticable when the batten doesn't go in the sleeve and there is NO WAY you can attempt to tension it when it misses the sleeve (misses sleeve about 1 in 5)

 

that it probably why i have never thought of reporting it.