National Aeronca Association Bulletin Board

Just courious if anybody has recently tried to get any wing spars from AS or Wag. I am in the process of recovering my wings on my L16A. I had a partial envelope failure while flying about a year ago. I have never wanted to land so bad in my entire life I want to replave my spars because i have the fabric of and one of the spars is questionable at best. not bad for 63 year old wood. If i were more technilogically advanced I would post some pictures. I have sent some email requests in to AS but have not heard anything yet. Its been about a month now. I should call but I end u pworking late every night to support my addiction to Aeroncas. It should be a good project. I would like to get blanks and drill my own holes just for the experience. I will keep you posted once I get up and going.

...got beautiful Blanks from AirCraft Spruce.
(try calling'em, they have an "800" number)
Jim

Jason,
I have been using Aircraft Spruce for years. They have a good selection and will be able to mill you the proper spar blank. Shipping is high on the oversize/top load items. Check it out before you order.
Glad to hear your L16 brought you back safely.
Paul

Jason,

First off, welcome on board!

Second, please look here: http://joea.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=26

Third, here is a thread on exactly what you want to do, with photos and very nice descriptions: http://joea.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2333

Now, if you are going to be looking for blank spars, there are several suppliers of good wood that you can use. Take a look on the "restoration" thread (first one above) and that should help.

Glad you made it back down ok, now build a good set of wings and make sure it does not happen again. What happened.. fabric came loose or what? Please let us know so that it does not happen to someone else in the future.

Joe A

Jason, I had a friend recently order from Wicks. Very very happy with what he recieved. David J.

Hi. My vote is for getting the finished spars at wag-aero. They took over from safe air repair in Albert Lee, MN. Mine were perfect. You will still have LOTS of work to do besides manufacturing your own spars. my two cents. If you have nothing but time, go fot it. The only downside to buying the spars all done is the price. I still almost pass out thinking on how much 4 pieces of wood cost..Have fun!!!

I have the same question as Joe.

Was it a fabric envelope failure or a flight envelope failure??

Gus,

I have heard of a case where someone used rib stiching on a Chief/Champ wing. After several years the stitching same apart inside and the fabric ballooned out to the point where the pilot had a very difficult time getting the airplane on the ground in one piece.

Am hoping that this is not a second case of this happening.

Joe

It was a beautiful calm day (thank goodness) in SE Alaska. I was about 40 miles away from Juneau when the lower fabric on the left wing split from the aera where the tip connects to the front lift strut. the plane shot about 60 degrees sideways with out warning.

I kept watching the fabric as it would rip a little futrher. I cut the power back and decended and turned back to home. Once the fabric rip hit the reinforcement at the strut it quit tearing. I was able to get low and fly the rest of the way back to Juneau in a crab The lower fabric balooned up a little. there was a tape that went back in the airflow and tried to get cought up in the aileron. Using just enough power to stay out ot the trees and whales I limped back to Juneau.

After the initial fear had subsided, the flight back was not that bad it just took a while in a crab. When I got back to town and kissed the ground the fabric had worn through where the leading edge was rubbed throuh the fabric. The reinforcing tape that was there came loose as well. I have some pictures on my phone that i will try to get downloaded when I can figure out how to do it. It was quite the adventure.

I dont ever want to do it again. I will try to give spruce a call again this week. I am looking forward to the project.

Jason,

What do you think caused it? Never heard of something like this happening before.

Wonder if a bird or something hit it in flight that you did not see, and damaged the fabric, then it started coming loose?

Joe

I dont remember seeing any birds. The leading edge looked fine, so if i hit something I might have grazed it. The only thing I can think of is the fabric was rubbing on the edge of the leading edge cuff and wore through. The angle on the training dege was there so that would be my guess. The fabric was put on poorley the last go around. This will be my first big fabric job. I did cover an aileron and an elevator. When I get done with the wings I am going to help a friend cover the surfaces of his AN-2. That will be a big project.