Recently out of fresh paint, my wife and I flew our IV-P to Sedona, AZ.  Some IMC leaving California but otherwise a a VFR uneventful flight.  Upon landing in Sedona, I noticed deep pitting (to the depth of carbon) every 10-12" on the leading edge of both wings.  Running my hand near each pit released a significant static discharge.  No damage was noted to the fuselage.  No rocks or debris were noted at the departure or arrival airport.

 

Wings were bonded to the fuselage by a braided grounding strap attached to the top skin near the speed brake opening and terminated at the gear box near the rear spar attachment.  The run was approximately 4-5 feet. The ailerons and elevators also were grounded to the wing using braided grounding straps.  Multimeter testing revealed that there was connectivity between all wing components and the fuselage.

 

Unfortunately, I did not install static wicks from Napa to Sedona.  I installed the wicks in Sedona and have not noticed any additional pitting since installing them. 

 

My question to the listers: 

 

    1)  Have any of you experienced similar pitting problems?

 

    2)  Is the 4-5 foot grounding strap too long? 

 

    3)  Should the bottom skin be grounded as well?

 

    4)  Have I adequately dealt with this issue by installing the wicks?

 

I am heading back to the paint shop on Friday and want to make sure I have resolved this issue.  Any comments are greatly appreciated!

 

See you at Oshkosh!

 

Craig Gainza

IVP  TSIOF 550

Napa, CA