Ferg,
I had the same happen to me last year, only I have the foam inserts not
the rubber sling. On a long haul from the airport to the house (at nigh
t) I was unaware that the foam had split allowing the wing to slide down
and make contact. Very frustrating. Mine wings had been painted for t
wo years, however, I had been fortunate up to that point in that the pai
nt was in pristine condition. So, I definitely feel your pain. I have
since made a new wing support for the trailer which is 12" wide, thus sp
reading out the load. Good luck
Erich Trombley"
N28ET Classic Mono 914
Subject: Europa-List: Trailer caution
Cheers,
Yesterday, a buddy and I went to the airport and recovered the
Europa wings on the trailer, from the hangar. The intent was to match sa
me
to fuselage for purposes of rationalising feed-through sites for wiring
and
odd items. By the way, these and the other surfaces were beautifully
finished by a local firm to a tough mirror finish.
All was normal on the 30-minute trek back home, and we unloaded same
onto brackets built to set them vertically (nose-down) prior to installi
ng
them. When we began the sequence, I noticed a discolouration on the port
leading edge and discovered a smashed leading edge about two inches in
diameter, right on the leading edge - right down into the blue foam.
This corresponded to the position of the wing in the rubber strap
(lined with bubble-wrap). I noted that the pip-pin for the strap structu
re
hinge release sits dead-centre under the strap. Sure enough the strap wa
s
pure (?) rubber and I could stretch it downward with just my fist. There
is
no question that, given the odd bump neatly handled by the trailer, evol
ved
into a surge of the wing down until the pip-pin punctured the wing.
This is going to lead to at least a week's delay, in rebuilding the
wing and then driving it about 70 miles on country roads to the now-reti
red
re-finisher. He took the tools/fixtures with him to his home airport.
So this is a belated warning:
(a) reposition the clamp-folding pip-pin to another suitable site away f
rom
the wing leading edge, and
(b) replace the rubbery slings with some (preferably white) rubber with
cloth reinforcement to resist excess stretching. I'm still going to line
same with bubble wrap as I have saved acres of it and it works.
I will be canvassing McMaster-Carr and similar sources for same. If
you are light years ahead of me and already possess same, please advise.
All advice gratefully accepted.......
Ferg Kyle
Classic mono 914 (ten years on 24 May)
<html><P>Ferg,</P>
<P>I had the same happen to me last year, only I have the foam inserts n
ot the rubber sling. On a long haul from the airport to the house
(at night) I was unaware that the foam had split allowing the wing to sl
ide down and make contact. Very frustrating. Mine wings
had been painted for two years, however, I had been fortunate up to tha
t point in that the paint was in pristine condition. So, I definit
ely feel your pain. I have since made a new wing support for the t
railer which is 12" wide, thus spreading out the load. Good luck</
P>
<P>Erich Trombley"<BR>N28ET Classic Mono 914</P>
<P> </P>
<P><BR>Subject: Europa-List: Trailer caution<BR><BR><BR>C
heers,<BR>Yesterday, a buddy and I went to
the airport and recovered the<BR>Europa w
ings on the trailer, from the hangar. 
;The intent was to match same<BR>to fusela
ge for purposes of rationalising feed-through&n
bsp;sites for wiring and<BR>odd items. By
the way, these and the other surfaces 
;were beautifully<BR>finished by a local firm&n
bsp;to a tough mirror finish.<BR>All was n
ormal on the 30-minute trek back home,&nbs
p;and we unloaded same<BR>onto brackets built&n
bsp;to set them vertically (nose-down) prior&nb
sp;to installing<BR>them. When we began the&nbs
p;sequence, I noticed a discolouration on
the port<BR>leading edge and discovered a
smashed leading edge about two inches in<B
R>diameter, right on the leading edge -&nb
sp;right down into the blue foam.<BR>This
corresponded to the position of the wing&n
bsp;in the rubber strap<BR>(lined with bubble-w
rap). I noted that the pip-pin for th
e strap structure<BR>hinge release sits dead-ce
ntre under the strap. Sure enough the 
;strap was<BR>pure (?) rubber and I could&
nbsp;stretch it downward with just my fist
. There is<BR>no question that, given the&
nbsp;odd bump neatly handled by the traile
r, evolved<BR>into a surge of the wing&nbs
p;down until the pip-pin punctured the win
g.<BR>This is going to lead to at lea
st a week's delay, in rebuilding the<BR>wi
ng and then driving it about 70 miles
on country roads to the now-retired<BR>re
-finisher. He took the tools/fixtures with 
;him to his home airport.<BR>So this is&nb
sp;a belated warning:<BR>(a) reposition the cla
mp-folding pip-pin to another suitable site&nbs
p;away from<BR>the wing leading edge, and
<BR>(b) replace the rubbery slings with so
me (preferably white) rubber with<BR>cloth rein
forcement to resist excess stretching. I'm 
;still going to line<BR>same with bubble w
rap as I have saved acres of it
and it works. <BR>I will be canvassing&nbs
p;McMaster-Carr and similar sources for same.&n
bsp;If<BR>you are light years ahead of me&
nbsp;and already possess same, please advise.<B
R>All advice gratefully accepted.......<BR>Ferg Kyle
<BR>Classic mono 914 (ten years on 24 
;May)<BR></P>
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