Worried about a leading edge crack in the fiberglass wing laminate ofmy PW-5

On Monday, February 12, 2018 at 6:07:50 AM UTC-8, wrote:
What would be wrong with, say, doubling the wheel base length? Wouldn't that at least mitigate the risk of a spill in situations where one can't turn the trailer into the wind?


Sorry to hear the story. Sounds like a knowledgeable person needs to check the structure.

A bigger rigger wheel base might get in the way when you try to get the wing near the glider to slide it into the trailer and remember, you are trying to keep something that likes to fly from flying in a gust. My guess is there is no practical way to make it big enough to fix the problem.

If the wind conditions are sporty, the tricks I've used are some combination of keeping the wind horizontal as long as possible, turning the trailer into the wind, finding a sheltered location, making a sheltered location with a big vehicle, getting some friends to help, and waiting for a lull in the wind.

I guess this is a part of gliding. To expect one person with any normal rigger to always work without precautions is optimistic. Just like in sailing, the wind is going to get respect one way or the other.

Good luck on the repair.

As others have suggested to the OP: Get the damage assessed by someone experienced in maintaining composite aircraft.

Not necessarily a factor here, but something noticed while riggers are used.. Some pilots like to have very little weight at the spar, so they aren't lifting much. This would be very easy to do with a wing as light as the PW5.
Having little weight in your hands can allow a casual grip on the spar. If there is a bump or a wind gust, this could lead to loss of control.
I'd suggest having sufficient weight at the spar to make you hold on.

I've only rigged a PeeWee the old fashioned way, but perhaps will get a chance to rig one in the next couple of weeks using the rigger kindly donated by Wolf-Dietrich Weber.
Jim