Checking airframe for damage?
 

Had a hard landing with my skyraider MKII, OK maybe it was a crash! Broke the prop, bent the landing gear back just a little and I think I clipped the right wing a bit.
It was in shin high grass short of the runway. No apparent damage other than a new wrinkle in the covering. About 4" out from the fuse. Looks like the sheeting may be cracked there?
when I press on the area its not REAL apparent there is a crack, mostly its indicated by the new wrinkle in the covering.



How would you go about checking that the wing is structuraly sound for flying?

Thanks

steve

RE: Checking airframe for damage?
 

Checking for hidden damage can be tricky...it takes some careful squeezing and "massaging" of the suspect area...


What I have done, when I suspected cracked sheeting, is to carefully slice the covering...peel it back...wick thin CA in the crack, then iron the covering back down.

You might need a little extra covering material if the crack extends into an open bay area?
Or...maybe just some clear tape or covering material.

RE: Checking airframe for damage?
 

What he said. Covering wrinkles are one sign. Sound can be, also. Tap the wing and listen for "dead spots" that sound dull. Shake it to see if there are loose or broken ribs - which would require peeling and proper gluing.

With cracked sheeting it is often possible to drip CA in from available openngs (wing root, gear or servo openings).

RE: Checking airframe for damage?
 

It is sometimes difficult to tell if there is damage, until complete failure at a later date. I was just getting used to a used Cermark SU-31 I have. When I got the plane, the engine was mounted on it's side with the exhaust point up, IEthe head on the left wing. Ibought a new cowl and an flipped the engine. I also re plumbed the tank. Iscrewed that up as Ineeded to pinch off the line to the carb to defuel the tank.

The third flight, ended in a dead stick about 10 ft off the ground on take off. Iended up clipping a wing tip and smashing the new cowl. No damage to the wing. I got in a few flights after fixing the cowl and re-plumbing the tank. After a couple good flights one day, I was cleaning up to take the plane home and I discovered what looked like movement between the wing halves. Turns out that when I clipped the wing tip, Ibroke the joint between the wing halves, including the joiner ply. There wasn't anything holding the halves together other that the two dowel pins in front, the two screws in back and some shredded balsa ribs in the center. I've got it rebuilt now, but the center joint was a mess and there was a crack in the D tube on the tip of the wing that clipped the ground. Not a hint in the covering though.

A really close look at things after a rough landing is in order. Imissed the problem I had, even knowing I had some work to do. If I hadn't caught it on the clean up that day, I would have most likely had a wing fold pulling out of a dive later. Sometimes a hard landing is a crash in disguise.

Don

RE: Checking airframe for damage?
 

Thanks guys,
This plane has a really ugly basket weave pattern on the top of the wing that would be hard to match in any way.
Although its ugly it would look worse with a patch on it. The bottom of the wing is solid grey. I think I will cut out a good size section of grey covering and then put a wide strip of black over the hole after inspection/repair.

Steve