Mylar seals for elevator

On May 20, 2:14*pm, JJ Sinclair wrote:
On May 20, 7:41*am, Andreas Maurer wrote:

On Sun, 18 May 2008 13:45:39 -0700 (PDT), JJ Sinclair

wrote:
We have had a bail-out caused by lifting mylar
on the stab.
JJ

Hi John,

what happened?

Bye
Andreas

If memory serves me (big assumption at 74) this intrepid aviator waxed
his ship and then changed the safety tape....................it lifted
but didn't come off and caused such a flow change over the elevator
that he (intrepid aviator) didn't feel he had adequate control to try
and land the bird (Ventus B). Soooooooo, he tidied up the cockpit and
stepped smartley over the side!
JJ

There's a thread on this with accounts from folks who attended that
event. Here's a quote from John Cochrane based on the report at the
pilot's meeting after the accident occurred:

"I too was at Uvalde. The explanation for the Ventus crash given at
the pilot's
meeting was that there was NO thin tape holding down the mylar -- only
the mylar
itself, held down with double sided tape. It started to separate at
the leading
edge of the mylar, resulting in progressively worse elevator control.
Everyone
went out immediately to check that their thin tape was sticking well
in the
Uvalde heat! "

Sounds like the combination of the heat and the lack of any safety
tape was not a good one.

JJ Sinclair wrote:
On May 20, 7:41 am, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Sun, 18 May 2008 13:45:39 -0700 (PDT), JJ Sinclair

wrote:
We have had a bail-out caused by lifting mylar
on the stab.
JJ
Hi John,

what happened?

Bye
Andreas

If memory serves me (big assumption at 74) this intrepid aviator waxed
his ship and then changed the safety tape....................it lifted
but didn't come off and caused such a flow change over the elevator
that he (intrepid aviator) didn't feel he had adequate control to try
and land the bird (Ventus B). Soooooooo, he tidied up the cockpit and
stepped smartley over the side!
JJ

Kinda-sorta related, mebbe 10 years ago, the owner of a DG-300 launched
from our club's site (municipal airport). I wasn't there, what follows
is hearsay...but some lessons probably lie within...

First tow was aborted due to the need to hold nearly full aft stick to
maintain tow position. On-ground diagnosis followed - no problem found.
Second tow, same problem, safe landing again ensued, further
diagnosis, considerable loose tape at leading edge of elevator's
upper-surface mylar installation found (installation details
unknown-to-me), situation dealt with in some unknown manner, subsequent
flight not problematic.

Lessons?
- sometimes it's best to assume that little voice in your head is right
- inadvertent spoilers always have some effects
- if it ain't fixed, don't broke it

Regards,
Bob - some hearsay probably contains grains of Real Truths - W.

On May 20, 12:14 pm, JJ Sinclair wrote:
On May 20, 7:41 am, Andreas Maurer wrote:

On Sun, 18 May 2008 13:45:39 -0700 (PDT), JJ Sinclair

wrote:
We have had a bail-out caused by lifting mylar
on the stab.
JJ

Hi John,

what happened?

Bye
Andreas

If memory serves me (big assumption at 74) this intrepid aviator waxed
his ship and then changed the safety tape....................it lifted
but didn't come off and caused such a flow change over the elevator
that he (intrepid aviator) didn't feel he had adequate control to try
and land the bird (Ventus B). Soooooooo, he tidied up the cockpit and
stepped smartley over the side!
JJ

Hi JJ

Is it true that the ship later floated back, falling leaf style, by
itself to earth with some significant damage but was later repaired?

Darryl

Is it true that the ship later floated back, falling leaf style, by
itself to earth with some significant damage but was later repaired?

Darryl

Yes, I believe that Venti did fly again, but I didn't put it back
together!

I did put an LS-3 back in the air after a bail-out, but it flew with
other wings that came from a wind-shear accident in Texas.

Most abandoned ships will come down in a falling leaf-type maneuver
due the the extreme aft CG that resuls from the pilots premature
departure. The ship's flying at EWCG, usually about 22", rather than
about 10".
JJ

At 19:09 21 May 2008, Darryl Ramm wrote:
On May 20, 12:14 pm, JJ Sinclair wrote:
On May 20, 7:41 am, Andreas Maurer wrote:

Darryl,

The ship was a Ventus A and the bail out occured while flying out of
Uvalde.
The glider received very little damage. Apparently the gear was down and
the gear "cage" took most of the impact. I owned it for a while but it
has
been passed on to someone else. It has not flown since the accident.

Ron Tabery had a similar problem in NZ flying his N3. He landed OK but
with very marginal elevator control. A good item to put on a checklist.

Rick Walters


Hi JJ

Is it true that the ship later floated back, falling leaf style, by
itself to earth with some significant damage but was later repaired?

Darryl

At 19:09 21 May 2008, Darryl Ramm wrote:
On May 20, 12:14 pm, JJ Sinclair wrote:
On May 20, 7:41 am, Andreas Maurer wrote:

Darryl,

The ship was a Ventus A and the bail out occured while flying out of
Uvalde.
The glider received very little damage. Apparently the gear was down and
the gear "cage" took most of the impact. I owned it for a while but it
has
been passed on to someone else. It has not flown since the accident.

Ron Tabery had a similar problem in NZ flying his N3. He landed OK but
with very marginal elevator control. A good item to put on a checklist.

Rick Walters


Hi JJ

Is it true that the ship later floated back, falling leaf style, by
itself to earth with some significant damage but was later repaired?

Darryl

At 19:09 21 May 2008, Darryl Ramm wrote:
On May 20, 12:14 pm, JJ Sinclair wrote:
On May 20, 7:41 am, Andreas Maurer wrote:

Darryl,

The ship was a Ventus A and the bail out occured while flying out of
Uvalde.
The glider received very little damage. Apparently the gear was down and
the gear "cage" took most of the impact. I owned it for a while but it
has
been passed on to someone else. It has not flown since the accident.

Ron Tabery had a similar problem in NZ flying his N3. He landed OK but
with very marginal elevator control. A good item to put on a checklist.

Rick Walters


Hi JJ

Is it true that the ship later floated back, falling leaf style, by
itself to earth with some significant damage but was later repaired?

Darryl

At 19:09 21 May 2008, Darryl Ramm wrote:
On May 20, 12:14 pm, JJ Sinclair wrote:
On May 20, 7:41 am, Andreas Maurer wrote:

Darryl,

The ship was a Ventus A and the bail out occured while flying out of
Uvalde.
The glider received very little damage. Apparently the gear was down and
the gear "cage" took most of the impact. I owned it for a while but it
has
been passed on to someone else. It has not flown since the accident.

Ron Tabery had a similar problem in NZ flying his N3. He landed OK but
with very marginal elevator control. A good item to put on a checklist.

Rick Walters


Hi JJ

Is it true that the ship later floated back, falling leaf style, by
itself to earth with some significant damage but was later repaired?

Darryl

On May 21, 6:00 pm, Rick Walters wrote:
At 19:09 21 May 2008, Darryl Ramm wrote:On May 20, 12:14 pm, JJ Sinclair wrote:
On May 20, 7:41 am, Andreas Maurer wrote:

Darryl,

The ship was a Ventus A and the bail out occured while flying out of
Uvalde.
The glider received very little damage. Apparently the gear was down and
the gear "cage" took most of the impact. I owned it for a while but it
has
been passed on to someone else. It has not flown since the accident.

Ron Tabery had a similar problem in NZ flying his N3. He landed OK but
with very marginal elevator control. A good item to put on a checklist.

Rick Walters

Hi JJ

Is it true that the ship later floated back, falling leaf style, by
itself to earth with some significant damage but was later repaired?

Darryl

I always wondered as well about something that happened to me. I was
flying my DG-303 out of Parowan and I landed and then noticed shreds
of the top surface elevator transition tape handing from the
tailplane. The underlying mylar was perfectly OK. so I just cleaned
off and reapplied the transition tape. All I recall that happened on
that flight was I was rained on a little in some virga - and there
were some very small hail pellets. I was up to 18,000' on that flight
and with full ballast, but never really fast. There was not a mark
elsewhere and the aileron transition tapes were fine. The transition
tapes were in mint condition, the glider never spent time tied down in
the sun etc. I though it was strange and asked around and an ASW-27
had exactly the same thing happen to his glider as well on the same
day and if I recall correctly had also flown through some virga/light
rain.

So is this a known thing - maybe small hail pellets will take off the
transition tape? Why only the elevator tape?

Darryl