Sender: <marv@lancaironline.net> (Marvin Kaye)
To: lml
Date: Mon, 19 Aug 2002 23:32:41 -0400
Message-ID: <redirect-1700576@logan.com>
From: "Greg Nelson" <gnelson@gt.rr.com>
Subject: delaminations of aileron counterweight web
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In the process of giving my plane a final paint last week, I found five
delaminations of the web that ties counterweights to the ailerons so,
I offer this post in the hope that you will inspect your plane for such
possible delamination.

All delaminations were on the leading edges of both ailerons and all pertain
to the webs that connect the counterweights to the ailerons to prevent
flutter.
Each separation was "torn" away from the aileron; i.e., the separations were
parallel to the ailerons and wing.  They broke for probably two reasons; I
used undersized lay-ups of 3-ply each and I found at least four pounds of
water in the left aileron which made for a seriously out-of-balance set of
ailerons with noticeable left-turning tendency.  I don't believe that the
mated surfaces were poorly prepared because I am nearly fanatical about
cleaning and sanding before each lay-up.  No other damaged parts did I find
on any part of the aircraft with 224 hours of service time.  Of interest too
is that my plane has spent perhaps just 30 days outside of the hangar in its
service life of three years though I have flown frequently in rain which is
nearly unavoidable in this Gulf Coast region.  I repositioned drain holes in
those ailerons and replaced the problem laminations with much
larger 3-plys.  The nature of these delaminations strongly suggest some
advent of flutter but, as the only pilot to have ever flown this airplane, I
never suspected flutter or any other flying misbehavior of 95EG (other than
left-turning tendency).

Seems like a teardown of our airplanes is a sometimes useful event.

              Greg Nelson