DG505, DG500 Spoiler box does not drain and freezes

On Wed, 9 Dec 2009 18:05:15 -0800 (PST), karen
wrote:

No moisture drain hole in the spoiler enclosures. Searched for any
blog or discussion group on this subject. No joy.

Waiting to hear back from the factory for a mod or some solution
besides a hangar or wing covers.

Doesn't water get in also flying through storms and perhaps freeze as
you go high enough?

Are all 500 and 505' the same?

Not a single of the current German gliders built later than 1980 has a
drain hole in the spoiler box.


Bye
Andreas

On Dec 10, 8:26*am, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Wed, 9 Dec 2009 18:05:15 -0800 (PST), karen
wrote:

No moisture drain hole in the spoiler enclosures. Searched for any
blog or discussion group on this subject. No joy.
Waiting to hear back from the factory for a mod or some solution
besides a hangar or wing covers.

Doesn't water get in also flying through storms and perhaps freeze as
you go high enough?

Are all 500 and 505' the same?

Not a single of the current German gliders built later than 1980 has a
drain hole in the spoiler box.

Bye
Andreas

Our ASK-21 has drain holes
It isn't a big deal to add a small hole 3/16 diameter or so at the low
point if you are getting water accumulation in the wing.
It's much better to drain if you are getting any significant water in
the wing.
Concern about drag- tape it . I predict you can't measure this drag,
If a hole is put in, it would be wise to seal the foam core with a
little epoxy to keep water out.
UH

Roger on that UH, when we had several G-103's on lease back we added
drain holes at the inboard end and sealed the holes with epoxy. Also
watch the drain holes the ailerons, we found one plugged (like I
forgot to re-drill it after a repair) and found the scoop forward of
hinge line full, frozen and jammed!
Cheers,
JJ

wrote:
On Dec 10, 8:26*am, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Wed, 9 Dec 2009 18:05:15 -0800 (PST), karen
wrote:

No moisture drain hole in the spoiler enclosures. Searched for any
blog or discussion group on this subject. No joy.
Waiting to hear back from the factory for a mod or some solution
besides a hangar or wing covers.

Doesn't water get in also flying through storms and perhaps freeze as
you go high enough?

Are all 500 and 505' the same?

Not a single of the current German gliders built later than 1980 has a
drain hole in the spoiler box.

Bye
Andreas

Our ASK-21 has drain holes
It isn't a big deal to add a small hole 3/16 diameter or so at the low
point if you are getting water accumulation in the wing.
It's much better to drain if you are getting any significant water in
the wing.
Concern about drag- tape it . I predict you can't measure this drag,
If a hole is put in, it would be wise to seal the foam core with a
little epoxy to keep water out.
UH

On Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:05:48 -0800 (PST),
wrote:

Our ASK-21 has drain holes

Ours not.



Bye
Andreas

On Wed, 9 Dec 2009 18:05:15 -0800 (PST), karen
wrote:

No moisture drain hole in the spoiler enclosures. Searched for any
blog or discussion group on this subject. No joy.

Waiting to hear back from the factory for a mod or some solution
besides a hangar or wing covers.

Doesn't water get in also flying through storms and perhaps freeze as
you go high enough?

Are all 500 and 505' the same?

Thanks.

Karen

Karen

I thought the drain hole in the 505 is the hole the mid-wing tie-down
lug screws into on the lower surface of the wing.

On Dec 9, 7:05*pm, karen wrote:
No moisture drain hole in the spoiler enclosures. Searched for any
blog or discussion group on this subject. No joy.

Waiting to hear back from the factory for a mod or some solution
besides a hangar or wing covers.

Doesn't water get in also flying through storms and perhaps freeze as
you go high enough?

Are all 500 and 505' the same?

Thanks.

Karen

Karen

If spoiler boxes don't have drain holes, you have to keep water out of
them. Closed spoilers alone definitely won't keep water out.
Recently, I spent an agonizing hour fishing baguette sized chunks of
ice out of ASK-21 spoiler boxes after a snowstorm.

Control rods and their fittings will eventually corrode even though
they have some anti-corrosion protection. There's also the possibility
of ice whose expansion can damage both the box structure and control
fittings. Standing water inside airframes is really bad news,
particularly in freeze thaw weather, no matter what material they are
made from.

If the glider is tied outside, taping some plastic sheet over the
spoilers will keep water out. I'd also probably just drill some 3mm
drain holes too but that could be questionable from a legal point of
view. (BTW, Plexiglas drills make really neat holes in composites.)

bildan wrote:
If the glider is tied outside, taping some plastic sheet over the
spoilers will keep water out.

Eight short pieces of duct tape (one for each joint) seal them pretty
well and are a matter of a few seconds. At least that's what I do when
for whatever reason I have to leave a glider outside overnight. Every
glider pilot should have a roll of duct tapy handy, anyway.

That said, I consider it pretty cruel to tie a plasic glider outside.

On Dec 11, 10:15*am, John Smith wrote:
bildan wrote:
If the glider is tied outside, taping some plastic sheet over the
spoilers will keep water out.

Eight short pieces of duct tape (one for each joint) seal them pretty
well and are a matter of a few seconds. At least that's what I do when
for whatever reason I have to leave a glider outside overnight. Every
glider pilot should have a roll of duct tapy handy, anyway.

That said, I consider it pretty cruel to tie a plasic glider outside.

It's pretty cruel to leave any glider outside no matter what it's made
of. Freeze-thaw cycles will even work rivets in an aluminum aircraft
loose.

Then there's the experience of having a bucket of ice water dumped
down your collar from where it collected inside the wings of a 2-33 as
your student grinds the glider to a stop on the skid.

I remember flying a Pratt-Reed on a ridge in a driving rainstorm.
(Yeah, I know.) My passenger called my attention to an alarming
amount of water collecting in the bottom of the cockpit pod. I used a
pencil to punch some drain holes through the fabric so we didn't have
to land.