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Howling sound


CT4ME

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I, and the wife/co-pilot, have noticed a howling noise from the rear of the plane on our last couple of flights. The only thing that has changed is I have temporarily removed the bolus tape on the 3' bottom "fin", where it attaches to the skinny empennage. The old tape was wearing and becoming loose in a few spots, and I want to get all the old gooey, dirty, stickem off before I put new bolus tape in place.

Anyone ever had a howl just based on the presence, or absence, of tape?

Tim

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I had this when on the 100 hour inspection someone replaced the Bowlus tape with some "other" tape from a local DIY store. In flight above a certain airspeed the tape would delaminate and act like a reed producing the most horrendous howling sound, on slowing down for approach and landing, the sound went away. Took quite a while to diagnose it, but from then on it's ONLY 100% Bowlus tape for me!!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Glad to see this topic again as I have been dealing with it for a long time. Previously I have been able to identify the bad tape spots (top of wing at root, or on leading edges and after applying new tape, it would be quiet for a few hours. Yesterday's flight was typical. Normal for 15-20 minutes and then it starts. This time I was able to notice a change in sound when covering the right fuel sight gauge hole with a Sectional so when I landed I checked right wing root tape. Didn't see anything. A mystery. I notice that in level cruise if I pop the nose up a bit, the noise stops. Pop it down slightly and it squeals worse. I wound up coming home at 4,500 rpm and about 100 kts to minimize the racket. I've GOT to figure this out as its MOST unpleasant. I believe I have the wrong kind of tape.

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I know where Tim's problem is. It is the pilots door. If your door sticks out a little, you can feel a draft in flight at the front edge or see a flashlight beam through the front edge this may be your noise. Tim your door needs to be removed, new mounting holes drilled about 1/8" forward and about 1/16 outward and it will fit properly and the noise will go away.

 

If you don't have tape all the way around the wing gap or it has a slit in the front tape leading edge this is your noise.

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