Lindenberg Posted May 16, 2011 Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 Went and looked at a CTSW that I may begin taking lessons in. I was looking over the plane and noticed the tip of the right wing had a small amount of fiberglass scraped off. The amount missing was triangular in shape about 3/8" high and an inch long. Is this anything to worry about or a common occurrence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coppercity Posted May 16, 2011 Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 Have not seen one with that before, but I don't think it would be a big deal. Someone must have got a little carried away with the ailerons close to the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted May 16, 2011 Report Share Posted May 16, 2011 It doesn't mean the tip scraped the ground. It may have scraped something else just moving it around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runtoeat Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 I would guess that someone mis-judged how close (s)he was to a wall and scraped the tip. Maybe a cement block or brick wall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airhound Posted May 17, 2011 Report Share Posted May 17, 2011 How does the owner represent it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastEddieB Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 I would guess that someone mis-judged how close (s)he was to a wall and scraped the tip. Maybe a cement block or brick wall? It should be fairly obvious from the damage and the angle of the "injury" whether it occurred in flight or on the ground. A photo would be nice (hint, hint). I've scraped a few wingtips in hangars and ground operations*. Only one on a landing. That was in a Citabria where a student made a very nice crosswind landing but relaxed the controls right after touchdown. The plane tipped quite a bit before I could slam upwind aileron back in, but "kissed the runway" is a nice metaphor - we weren't sure it had touched until we taxied in after the flight and looked. In a Citabria, the repair was a simple fabric patch. Composite may take a little more skill, but should be very straightforward. Its hard to imagine that this kind of damage could cause structural problems - the wings are designed to deal with far greater loads in day-to-day flying. Still, I'd make sure an A & P or other qualified mechanic take a close look, just to err on the side of caution. *a tip: If its sunny and you can't quite decide whether your wingtip is going to clear something, take a look at the shadows on the ground. Since the sun's rays are parallel, if the shadows don't touch, the wingtip can't touch something as long as the shadows don't touch. Seem's simple and obvious, but it wasn't to me until it was pointed out, and now I use it all the time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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