ETLB Squawk Forums — Archive

Hi
Just looking at print for the aft most part of the wing before the aileron and it appears that the rear of the wing is not sealed with plywood or fabric, immediately behind it is the leading edge of the aileron which is both plywooded and fabriced.  So the question is:  is the aft most part of the wing actually left open?  Hopefully there is a photo of the print being discussed here, thanks.
Kim Brown
New Hampshire

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1K1Slc8ISH0

Not mine, but a video I'd seen awhile ago that shows this area in detail.  Hope it helps

Kim, There isn't fabric, or plywood on the wing side of the aileron gap in a stock build. It's not necessary. The original TEAM company issued a service letter to install gusset blocks on the trailing edge at each rib, because many owners were experiencing issues with the trailing edge pulling loose. This was a result of over zealous shrinking of the fabric. Later, that recommendation became part of the build sequence. My Max didn't have the gusset blocks, and I added them when I was doing other repairs. My fabric had pulled loose in a few places. The fix in the referenced video is overkill. Much of the curved supports, and plywood is simply extra weight, and not contributing to the strength of the trailing edge. I like the fact that with the aileron removed, you can see a lot of the wing for inspection. I didn't build my airplane. I bought it as a project. It had a hard landing, that was so violent that it bent both rear wing struts, and destroyed the landing gears, as well as other damage. I was grateful that I could inspect the wing from the aileron opening. The plywood skin on the leading edge of the aileron makes it strong, and rigid, which it needs since it is actuated from the bell crank at the root.      

I decided to close off the aft end of my wings when building, for 2 reasons. Firstly, the dreaded 'trailing edge curl' caused by insufficient support of the glued aftermost wing member, & secondly because here in Australia we have mud wasps that just love to live in places like the inside of wings where they build large heavy nests of mud & raise swarms of little wasps. I wanted my wings a bit more insect proof.

Pics attached. If you're interested in more detail, see here:http://www.lonesomebuzzards.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1409444380/s-60/ post 66 onwards.

Bruce

That looks really slick!