A gust caught the canopy as l was refuelling yesterday, l use a bungee with
rubber
hooks to secure the Mr Funnel, these are hooked around the open door moulding
close to the hinge. The wind popped the oleo strut (weak ball-ends) causing
it to slam. Not a problem normally but the rubber hooks jammed causing some
big loads at the hinge.
The upper hinge leaf is bent but the heads of the fasteners did not pull
through.
Dismantling revealed the knife-edge countersink, which is so deep the hole
is opened up to well beyond a 'fit' with the screws.
Repair is easy, but this incident does underline how marginal the hinges are
even
when built according to the manual.
Correction: Earlier l stated the lower screws on my aircraft were countersunk -
they are not, being standard MS21042-3. Memory playing tricks.
JW
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John Wighton
Europa XS trigear G-IPOD
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