I need an aileron before I go to take my checkride....

The DFE is a super stickler with the paperwork and my CFI doesn't think it'll pass his inspection. I have a friend, who has a friend, who has some. But before I commit, do any of you guys know where I might get the most bang for my buck?

The aileron, (the right one, by the way. the left one's fine.) is mechanically sound I suppose. At least, it passed its annual. But it has a small ( trust me, unfixable, we tried.) dent in the middle on the trailing edge. And also, about 3/4 of the way down, has a widespread gradual bend all the way to the tip. Which doesn't line up right, causing the need for tedious left aileron and rudder to compensate a gradual right turning tendency during S&L flight.

I'm outside with the iPad right now, but as soon as I get to the computer, I'll post some pics.

Personally, just because an aileron has some damage does not make it automatically unairworthy. I certainly would not be replacing an aileron just because a certain DFE does not like it! If an I/A has signed it off as airworthy during an Annual Inspection, then the paperwork is up to snuff.

Bill

Pics:

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And my prop soon needs some attention too:

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I wouldn't worry about it too much. If your IA has signed off on it, then I would think he/she is the governing body of determining the airworthiness of the aircraft. I would not attempt to fix anything. It would likely cost lots of cash and might not be needed. If your are that worried find a different examiner that is more laid back or rent a aircraft just for the purpose of taking the check ride.

The prop doesn't look to have any major nicks or gouges from what I can see? Props are not super costly to overhaul. I had mine done for about $500. Quite often people take their props in for OH to find out it cannot be successfully overhauled. Not enough metal left.......... I would talk to your mechanic about dressing it and painting it as required before anything too major.

I think the aileron is supposed to have a gradual bend from about mid-span out to the wing-tip (compare it to the other aileron).

However, that bend on the trailing edge may be more problematic. It's hard to see from the photo, but in the third photo (the underside of the aileron) it appears to be a crack across the stiffening bead. That may well be of concern.

Is there a crack there, or a sharp crease that flaked off the paint?

Amy...this is my unsolicited, and likely unprofessional opinion...

With a little bit of manual manipulation, that bent/creased area could be made to be a whole lot less noticeable. Even a little dab of white fingernail polish could be used to cover up the crack (if there is one) and any flaked-off paint.

That won't change the fact that, at some point, you may have to address the area legitimately. In fact, if you were headed to a paint shop with this plane, I would recommend sending it off to have that section of the aileron skin repaired or replaced.

But, since your plane looks great as it is, simply straightening it out as best as you can would help some. A long phillips screwdriver fits right up into that diamond-shaped opening and is a useful tool for raising creased areas of that skin.

Despite the flak that I'll likely take for suggesting this, it happens all the time (both these kinds of repairs and me receiving flak), and any crack propagation will be noticed on a general preflight long before it causes anything that would even remotely cause a safety of flight concern.

Good luck on your checkride, BTW!

Hey! Gary changed his avitar!

We tried...

And tried...








And TRIED...







And tried and tried and tried again.


At times with such force, I wanted to say "Woah Stop!!!" But it CONTINUALLY snaps back in place. The mechanic and my instructor both have unofficially declared it "un-rebendable"



Yes, there is a crack there.



Naw. When you line up the left aileron at the tip, it is also aligned at the root. And so is the root of the right aileron. The tip of the right aileron however, is... Eh, about a half a finger to a finger below the tip.

Hope you get the little bump/dent resolved to your satisfaction. Good luck on the check ride, and will look forward to reading your post about how it went! Here's betting you ace it!

Jennifer in Norway

I looked at my ailerons last night. Both bend slightly upward at the outer end (end near wing tip). Maybe an 1/2 inch. Both bends were exactly the same.

Is this normal?

Wish there were a couple of 150's at PGV I could look at for comparison. Can't wait for Clinton so I can see what other people have done to their planes.

This forum makes you really, really look at your plane!

Good luck Amy. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Can't keep Vi out of the air but so long!

I believe so. At least, my old 150 was the same way.

I think it is. My left one does, but my right is bent more unnaturally.



Thanks! I can't fly anyway until I get the left wheel pant back on. Much to my dismay, about a week ago I saw a small crack and big chunk missing near the bottom. (I likened to have thrown a hissy-fit... )It's off getting fixed by a friend right now. I think I'll leave it off until I get the re-treads on there. So I don't have to put it on to take it off again.

Yes. And on a 172/182 also. No worries.

I looked at my airplane today. It looked crippled or something with one wheel pant off!!! tires should be here soon.....

Oh right! The aileron.... Yes. I looked at the aileron. There is definitely a crack where the dent is, and it has been stop-drilled. My CFI doesn't think that's allowed. SO.

We have one in our sights for 300 bucks. Does that sound reasonable?

Yes.

Your prop looks fine Amy. Looks like just a bit of peeling paint. Would not worry about it. I'm really surprised the bend in that aileron wont respond to a little elbow grease!

Gotta agree with Gary and Jim....prop is cosmetic and the aileron is airworthy. don't wast your money; get your license and bring her to Clinton.... We can either break it ( and then fix it) or fix there;-)

$300 is not a bad price but you could replace that skin for less than $100. I don't mean pay someone else to replace it but have the great experience of learning to drive a rivet yourself. Of course, that can lead to a life long problem of accumulating tools and is not recommended for everyone. Sure is fun though.

Amy
Have your mechanic check the Cessna structural repair section of the maintenance manual, section 19-40. If the crack is across the corrugation and doesn't go to the trailing edge then it needs to be fixed as soon as practible.
It can be repaired with a patch inside the aileron pretty easily but you would need to remove it to check the balance.
The ailerons have a bow in them about 2/3 of the way to the tip, is the wing tip straight? Alan

There was an aileron on eBay a couple of days ago - though I can't find it now - so maybe it is gone.

That slight upward wash out on the aileron is to help slightly counter the tendency of the aileron to cause drag in a turn. Without it you would use some more rudder to stay coordinated.

Wheel pants - you could just take them both off......

Somewhere, someone once said, legal wheel pant removal:

Remove all (3) or none.

So, I guess you have to take your pants off completely or not at all to fly?

Guess Gary was right all along!

I think the issue would be you should do a weight and balance to account for which version of the pants you have configured - rather than a blanket ON or OFF. It is not like they are on a MEL.

I'm probably missing something?......

Just out of interest Amy, does your airplane stall straight ahead or drop quickly off on one wing?

I'm of the get if fixed school. If an airplane won't fly straight and level, hands off, there's something that needs to be fixed.

These airplanes left the factory flying right and we should keep them that way.

I will take some pics next time I'm at the airport.

Yes, my airplane stalls straight ahead. But you have to be on top of it. Or else, many times, one wing drops slightly.

Not straight. Just bent outta shape so that it hangs below the tip when all other points are lined up.

Amy
I would have to agree with Kendel, why not reskin it? If I have learned anything from my project, it is that you never know for sure what you get with used parts. I looked on McFarlane and precut replacement skins are reasonable. When you got done, you would not only know what you have but could also get the experience of doing it(with your mechanics help).

I think it would be quicker to replace the damaged aileron so Amy and her Mom
can get on with their training and get the checkride done.

Technically, the wheel pants are listed as a single line-entry on the option sheet from Cessna, with a single W&B figure for all three pants. Therefore, they can only be installed or removed as a set.

[quote=Kirk... the wheel pants are listed as a single line-entry on the option sheet from Cessna, with a single W&B figure for all three pants. Therefore, they can only be installed or removed as a set. [/quote]

As many flight schools found out after they removed the nose wheel fairing only, to eliminate the shimmy- the FAA came-a-knockin'and quickly brought them up to speed on how things should be..

Oh oh


I only flew it like this one time to meet up with Hung one day awhile back but I did have my transponder turned on.



Jim

That's like wearing a dress shirt but no pants.

MMMMMMMM.... I know a secret!


I know something, I won't tell,
I won't tell,
I won't tell.

I know something, I won't tell.

Injun Joe is ticklish?

Cat's outta the bag....

Does anyone have the "Rib Alignment Tool"? It looks like their revolutionary tool was in production for about a year until they disappeared.

Article link here [generalaviationnews.com]

Video link here [youtube.com]

Boy! It sure was nice of that Mr. Figuli to send me his aileron!

[Linked Image]

Worry no longer Poobs.... Your airplane.... Or at least your aileron is safe! Lol, I could almost picture you going back to your plane in PA and finding an aileron where it stood. What after all that ruckus about people wanting the parts!

Okay okay okay.... I'll stahp! :P

Here's the REAL picture:


[Linked Image]

Alright. Question for y'all. Sorta ignorant...



Here 'tis......










E-yup....
























How do I clean this thing? Some kinda cleaner and a good brush? Sand where I can? (around the rivets) Maybe take the air hose and give 'er a good blow around the inside? I'd kinda like to prep it as much as I'm able, so my mechanic doesn't have to do so much.

How do I paint it? Spray can? Aviation paint?

I was asking myself these questions when I stopped myself and said: "That might be a good question for the club...

Back in 2004 I replaced the hinges on my ailerons. I used paint stripper from Home Depot [homedepot.com]. In my case the stripper did a great job of getting rid of the old paint. I used a 3M Scotchbrite pad to help the chemical along in some spots (wear heavy-duty rubber gloves! And a respirator! And do it outdoors!)

I then primed it with Tempo Zinc Chromate and finished it off with Tempo white paint, both aerosol (spray) cans. It looked better than the 40+ year-old paint on the rest of the plane.

(However, it seemed that the paint was beginning to get weathered after a 6+ years of constant outdoor exposure. If you have someone that can shoot it with a better grade of paint, I'd go with that.)

Finally, I suspended the aileron from its (new) hinges, and made up a simple beam and some lead fish-weights to check that the aileron balance was still correct (check the service manual). As expected, removing old paint before adding new had a net-zero change.

Id use some scotchbrite to clean it up, some alodine and a rinse, then some sort of primer, prob a light grey color. Then bring it to an autobody place (or someone who is good with a paintgun) and shoot it with white matched to your bird as close as possible. Then you need to have it rebalanced as Kirk said.

I would avoid the aggression of sandpaper and stick to Scotchbrite as Jim suggests.

Once the paint is hard and you are sure you are not going to do any more paint - fog the inside with Corrosion-X to prevent internal rot - and while the aileron is off it is much easier to get at the inside of the back of the wing through the lightening holes to inspect and fog the wing aft of the main spar.

If you are waiting for your mechanic.

And not planning on painting the wing anytime soon.

I tell ya... between you, Mr. FAC Figuli and Viking Monskey... after your's truly here... poor, lovable Poobs...


...well... at least it's not off Mary Lou.

...I hope...