On Friday, September 27, 2019 at 7:16:17 PM UTC-4, Papa3 wrote:
On Thursday, September 26, 2019 at 8:40:34 PM UTC-4, Charles Longley wrote:
How many wing failures have composite gliders had over the years?

A fair number, but I can't think of any that were due to normal flight. For example, at least 1 or 2 Slingsby Vegas came apart, but I believe both of those were due to exceeding design limits. Same for a Zuni. A fair number of others came apart due to flutter.

P3

A control surface that has been compromised(easy to do given light structure) could lead to flutter due to reduced stiffness and you could lose a ship..
Glider structures are over built in some places for durability, but not everywhere.
UH