Re-curving mylar on a glider

About a year ago, one of my soaring buddies had a elevator seal become
separtated from the horizontal approx. 1/2 the length of the elevator behind
the safety tape. He had no idea of exactly what was his problem other than
is elevator had a small feedback of a minor flutter and it was almost
ineffective. I believe the safety tape remained intact but the major portion
of the seal behind the safety tape was raised into the slipstream. His
elevator lost the major part of its control and for a time he thought
bailing out may be an option. He did land safely but the experience was one
he would have rather avoided. I was flying that day and recall his
distressed comments while trying to deal with the issue. The point is: this
could have been avoided with understanding these seals need to be maintained
and time can deteriorate the adhesion properties of the seal.

The older the seals are, the more dangerous they become.

bob fidler
"KM" wrote in message
ps.com...

Bob Fidler wrote:
A lost seal inflight is something we all must
avoid at all cost. Control surfaces can stop working after a total or
partial separation.

Bob, I have heard this before, but I dont understand where the problem
would be (Other than the leading edge of the seal lifting ahead of the
control surface).Didnt most of these ships come from the factory
without seals, I know mine did.I have read stories on the Yahoo user
groups for the ASW20 about seals departing the plane inflight and other
than being a bit distresing, didnt cause any control issues.I have
flown ships with and without seals and I didnt notice any difference
.What have you encountered?

"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
My top surface mylar seems to have lost some of it's curvature, because
it
doesn't quite touch the aileron and flaps when they are in positive
positions. Does anyone know a way to put the curve back into the mylar
without removing it? It's so well adhered and smoothly installed, I'd
like
to leave it on if at all possible, but I think it may be degrading my
climb while thermalling. The mylar is almost 12 years old.

Eric, I replace my seals on a much more frequent basis, I would say
that you have definetly gotten your moneys worth at 12 years.I dont
know if this is commonly accepted or not but I know of some pilots who
just wait till the seals make noise at high speeds before they replace
them.Not to worry, you can make your own seals at home in a few
evenings and they are rather inexpensive.
K Urban