Fluttering trailing edge

[Guest MundooTriker]

I have a Wizard III with 118 hours that has rarely been folded, and not for 3 years.

 

Last weekend I noticed the port side tip trailing edge fluttering right at the wing tip, (just over the stabiliser). The other side is taut.

 

The tip batten, bungy and stabiliser are all firmly inserted or attached. The the visible part of the leading edge appears shows no abnormalities.

 

There appeared no impairment to handling.

 

An experienced pilot suggested he has witnessed this before on a Wizard and it is not a major concern.

 

I have given the tip bungy 2 extra twists, but have not tested this.

 

I would appreciate comments or suggestions.

 

 

[Guest Crezzi]

Are the batten elastics in good condition ? (they deteriorate more with time than the number of flying hours)

 

When playing around with the tension, make as small adjustments as possible (1 twist) and test fly after each modification before doing anything else. You could easily introduce a turn especially with the tip battens.

 

If it has started suddenly, maybe a batten has bent (hanger rash or parking with wing tip on ground ?)- you should definitely check the profiles. Do all of them - not just the port side tip.

 

Hope that helps

 

John

 

 

[Guest MundooTriker]

Thanks John for the tip.

 

Actually I had a crack at profiling battens once on a hanglider.

 

Unfortunately "crack" was the operative word.

 

Put me right off every trying that trick again.

 

Even more frustrating was the common opinion that profiling battens was easy.

 

My hands on skills often make others look good.

 

Anyhow, I'll give it all another go.

 

Andrew

 

 

[Tracktop]

Hi

 

I haven't checked if it's in my wing manual but when I recently collected my trike from Airborne I was advised that I should check my batten profiles on my Streak3 about every 6 months.

 

I assume you have a profile plan to check the battens against.

 

Ray