Yes to all of the fixes, but eventually (if you fly alot with water) you
will need to have it fixed. Mine, ser # 214, was flown for 3 years with a
rubber glove fix and the beeswax idea but, each time the rod is actuated,
it would leak again until eventually it rusted the steel rods (and Cindy
both of my rods were steel) to the point that it wouldn't turn any more.
My Mechanic, replaced them both with stainless steel and new bellows.
Which with any luck should last without further repairs until I sell it or
my estate gets it Hopefully the latter, much later

Interesting note was that after that repair, a few years, I noticed
leakage in the leading edge. That turned into a refinish and when the old
finish was taken off, there were multiple pin holes in the top of only one
wing through the fiberglass and the water was migrating under the
deteriorating gelcoat. That was repaired by vacuming thinned out epoxy
resin into the pin holes and then tested before refinishing. Otherwise my
Ventus has produced many good flights and memories

Another note to the V2C that said he had a problem with rod leakage, I
could be mistaken, but I thought they had changed to an "O-Ring" seal as
with the nimbus 3 and later models with screw-in face plate that goes over
the rod. Don't remember exactly though.

Good Luck, after all they ARE airplanes!


At 22:28 13 October 2010, CindyB wrote:

To Cindy, since I'm in Brazil I unfortunately cannot bring the plane
for fixing at Caracole. Do you have any pictures on the fix you have
done? The hole was cut on the underside of the wing, right? Do you
know the position of the center?

Okay - I admit to weak Google skills.

Send an email address to me directly and we will see what we can send.
I'm at info at caracole-soaring.com
Yes, we took a few photos mid-process.
No - they didn't tell us where to center the hole.
And the hole for access was top side.

Thanks for admitting you were geographically awkwardly
located to use our professional services...... when a shop goes
through a learning curve like that, they don't expect to hand
off the info willy-nilly. Generic girly descriptions however, can be
freely shared for general education on the aging fleet at large.

smile,

Cindy B
www.caracole-soaring.com