Jacques,
I have just been able to see your photos of your cracks.
As others and you suspect, the crack was the result of the gear up
landing and the main wheel and arm impacting the top of the gear well
(and the choke, throttle, locking arm and all the other stuff) and
forcing the module to bend upward. The aft bulkhead to rear back rest
distance is short and the stress looks to be a tension crack.
The area should be de-painted by sanding carefully to the upper layer of
glass and the glass properly inspected as well as the Redux (Araldite
420A/B) joints in that area. Rudder cable, fuel lines, etc. should be
removed to provide for proper visual inspection and repair...
The layup repair is similar to any composite repair. Grind down the
crack and taper. Fill the foam with flox and glass with 2 layers of bid
inside and out with the overlap to be at least 2 inches either side of
the crack. Delamination of the Redux joints in the module must be
checked also. Tapping with a large coin or drift can detect a hollow
sound and possible delamination of your glue joint.
I prefer not to paint the interior of an airplane but it is expedient as
an interior, however, it makes inspection more difficult and can hide
damage.
I do not have a specific gear up landing checklist for my guys, but I
have them use our hard landing checklist to start, which is attached.
Basically, on a gear up we remove the gear and inspect and repair the
well and cockpit, because there is a good chance damage has occurred
unless the collapse was very benign.
Please to a de-paint and do a thorough inspection. Tape up the
instrument panel or remove it and grind away. There is a 50/50 chance
that this is the only damage. However I'm unlucky and a 50/50 chance
seems to be a 100% chance of more problems.
Regards,
Bud Yerly
Europa Tech Support,
or
Custom Flight Creations, Inc.
www.customflightcreations.com<http://www.customflightcreations.com/>
(813) 653-4989
----- Original Message -----
From: ploucandco<mailto:jacques@platisource.com>
To: europa-list@matronics.com<mailto:europa-list@matronics.com>
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2012 4:04 AM
Subject: Europa-List: Re: Cracks on the cockpit module near to the
seat belts
<jacques@platisource.com<mailto:jacques@platisource.com>>
Hello, do others see the pictures? I checked with Explorer and Chrome
and both show me the pictures.
Thanks for advice, Jacques.
Read this topic online here:
http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=381668#381668<http://forums
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http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Europa-List<http://www.matronics.com/N
avigator?Europa-List>
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on>
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