Forwarded from the bounce bin. Message is from
Herbert Kilian <HKilian@compuserve.com>
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Message text written by "Garry Stout"
>While strolling through the various aircraft displays at Sun'N Fun I
stopped to examine the Stemme motor glider. I noticed that mylar "gap
seals" were fitted to both the ailerons and the flaps, on the bottom and
top gaps. The sales representative explained that the gap seals reduced
drag, and improved the aileron roll rates. Since I am interested in
anything that improves performance I thought I'd look into it. Has anyone
tried this? Was it worthwhile? What kind of changes did you experience?<
Go to< wingsandwheels.com> and find the materials for doing internal and
external gap seals in this glider (sailplane) related mail-order company.
The owner is Tim Mara and he will be glad to counsel you on what it takes
to avoid air passage through the gap at any control surface. Reduction in
drag and improvement in control response are the advantages of this simple
and cheap upgrade as any glider driver will tell you. Go for the internal
seals first and see what the results are.
Herbert
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