Flying High
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2009
- Messages
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Since I've owned my S1S I've never been happy with the rigging so yesterday I took my S1 into a workshop run by the guys who is the local expert on Pitts.
He threw the rigging boards on and found the top wing had dihedral and the bottom ones had a little twist, also the top wing was not level. Then he put the tensionometer on and found that some wires in the same pair had different tensions, one was 650lbs and the other 1000lbs on both sets of flying wires.
So he decided to slacken all the wires and start again, that's when the fun began. The over tensioned wires were assembled dry (no anti-seize on the threads) and had badly galled. Lots of heat, cold and penetrating oil eventually got it out but now I'm up for 2 new flying wires and clevis pins. Of course they are non-standard ones as my S1 was built with 5/16 wires and clevis on both ends so to replace the clevis he'll have to cut holes in the leading edge to get to where they attach to the spar.
So the lesson here... well there are lots but mainly don't over tighten the wires and do lube the threads, especially on stainless steel fittings.
Luckily we found this before I had done anymore than light aeros so the wing is still in good shape.
I don't pretend to be an expert on these things but I'm pretty sure that getting the flying wire setup on these aeroplanes is pretty important, they hold the wings on afterall.
Edited by: Flying Ant
He threw the rigging boards on and found the top wing had dihedral and the bottom ones had a little twist, also the top wing was not level. Then he put the tensionometer on and found that some wires in the same pair had different tensions, one was 650lbs and the other 1000lbs on both sets of flying wires.
So he decided to slacken all the wires and start again, that's when the fun began. The over tensioned wires were assembled dry (no anti-seize on the threads) and had badly galled. Lots of heat, cold and penetrating oil eventually got it out but now I'm up for 2 new flying wires and clevis pins. Of course they are non-standard ones as my S1 was built with 5/16 wires and clevis on both ends so to replace the clevis he'll have to cut holes in the leading edge to get to where they attach to the spar.
So the lesson here... well there are lots but mainly don't over tighten the wires and do lube the threads, especially on stainless steel fittings.
Luckily we found this before I had done anymore than light aeros so the wing is still in good shape.
I don't pretend to be an expert on these things but I'm pretty sure that getting the flying wire setup on these aeroplanes is pretty important, they hold the wings on afterall.
