Well Ken you know I could actually do that a lot easier than you might think,, and in a shoe box.. Due to poor maintenance on my part, about 6 weeks ago the top wing tube broke and 3 wings sheered off in flight.. My beautiful Ultimate is no more. The vibration chatter between the wingtube and the plate that rides between the top wings ( allows you to bolt tthe top wing to the center cabane) caused the tube to get brittle. I failed to tighten the front center cabane bolt tight enough and it vibrated out in flight.. The tube was weak and it snapped clean at the centerpoint. Once the top wing broke the lower wings folded back and ripped right off of the lower wingtube,,, that was all she wrote..


That actually brings up a useful point. You guys that fly biplanes,, check you wingtubes frequently for wear, especially at the afformentioned location. The wear wasnt that visible from the outside, but looking at the cross section of the tube youc an clearly see that it had been beaten (relatively) thin by the vibration. There was just enough thinning to allow it to snap like a dry twig when the wings were allowed to flex in flight. I would replace the tubes every couple hundred flights at the most mayb emore frequently depending on the wear you observe.