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Flight tested my right aileron today...

Lemmingman

Well Known Member
Unfortunately it wasn't attached to a plane.

I am building my ailerons and I had just finished cleco'ing a large portion of my right aileron together. I decided this looks so easy I'll do left and right together, it'll save some time when I get to the left wing. Looking around the shop I couldn't find a horizontal surface suitable for this brief storage task. My eye finally caught the luggage rack on my wifes 4-Runner. Perfect! I'll just put it there *temporarily* while I assemble the left aileron. This wont take more than 20-minutes.
You probably already see where this going. Wish I had. My phone rang, one of my co-workers wanted to know if I could get on a con call real quick. Sure, no problem. As I was going into the house my wife was passing me saying something, but I was paying attention to my co-worker. I heard the garage door go up...didn't register...I heard the car start...still didn't register. Oblivious to the impending trajedy, I heard her back out as I was starting WebEx.
My call lasted about as long as she was gone. She came into the office, fists on her hips, face red. This is her I'm ready for a fight look. "Did you leave something on the top of the car?" she accused. Then it dawned on me why she was upset. "Oh shirt sleeves." I said. My 10-year old was there with his "you are so in trouble" look on his face. I accepted the blame. I think I got off easy, new skin new rib. AND I'm not allowed to put parts on the car again!!

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300zx Nice!

Looks like a 94+ twin turbo. I have 2 of them, 1 daily driver and 1 track car. My brother has been through 2 and is on his third so you can say we have 5 in the family. TTnet much?
 
Ouch! You must have a tiny wife like I do. Easy fix though, just get a taller wife or get the existing wife a shorter car. I went with the shorter car, I wouldn't want to go through the breakin period with a new wife...

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Not sure what this has to do with the original post:confused:. Maybe I missed something??
As far as the original posters thread...my heart goes out to you man. It is frustrating when you think you are just rolling along, making serious progress (in your mind you are a probuilder;))and then because of something you did a part is destroyed....especially when your wife unknowingly becomes involved. I have been there and done that. The real question is...how much hang time did the aileron get?
 
Looking on the positive side, because it is Experimental, you can just rebuild the aileron or build a new one altogether. Won't take long since you've done it already, and won't cost too much since you are doing the work yourself.
 
Not sure what this has to do with the original post. Maybe I missed something??

If the car were shorter, she would have seen the aileron on top.

Same applies to the taller wife.

Sorry to hear about the damage. One of the major reasons I built a shop. Crowd/Car control.
 
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Apparently it made it 2 or 3 miles down the road. She lost it making a turn into school to pick up my son. There were some construction workers nearby who picked it up to give it back to her. She said they couldn't figure out what part of the car it was. She didn't try to explain.

I briefly tried to tell her it was her fault for not checking the roof for plane parts. You can imagine how that went. :)
 
Apparently it made it 2 or 3 miles down the road. She lost it making a turn into school to pick up my son. There were some construction workers nearby who picked it up to give it back to her. She said they couldn't figure out what part of the car it was. She didn't try to explain.

I briefly tried to tell her it was her fault for not checking the roof for plane parts. You can imagine how that went. :)

Gil,
Sorry, just the way my brain works. I first thought, how could she miss seeing the aileron on top of the car? Ok, so it's an SUV. Well then, she must be short like my wife. Hence shorter car, taller wife solution. I guess my many years of experience with a "fun-sized" wife has altered my thinking a bit...
Thankfully it was just an aileron. All you can really do in a situation like this is just laugh about it and go on. And yes, I can imagine how the conversation went or at least ended. It ended with you saying something like "Yes dear, I know. It was all my fault, I won't do it again, I promise"

Mardy
 
faulty roof design

Clearly the car manufacturer made some SERIOUS errors in their design. I see no reason why the aileron should not have stayed perched on top for all the world to enjoy. After all...with arkansas roads she couldn't even get it over stall speed!

Good luck with the rebuild!
 
Clearly the car manufacturer made some SERIOUS errors in their design. I see no reason why the aileron should not have stayed perched on top for all the world to enjoy. After all...with arkansas roads she couldn't even get it over stall speed!

Good luck with the rebuild!

Probably was a Dodge or something :D
 
Lemmingman?

Its a good job the other one did not follow it like a lemm........:D:D

Sorry couldn't resist it!!

BTW this is definately your fault and you should buy your wife flowers and say sorry! But sorry to hear your bad news!
 
Ouch!! I have driven down that road too...its a very bumpy one.;).

Here's a rule that has served me well throughout my entire married life, plus that earlier portion of my life when I, well, was not married but enjoyed the company of women.

Everything is always THE MAN'S fault.​

Once you internalize that, life becomes simpler.
 
She was not going fast enough or it would not have stall/spun in the turn.

Or she may have been going too fast and it fluttered. Clecoes threw the balance out of limits.

Sorry about the mishap, at least no school children or construction workers were hurt. Relatively cheap fix.

I just re-read the rv safety articles yesterday, as I try to do every winter.
 
I briefly tried to tell her it was her fault for not checking the roof for plane parts. You can imagine how that went. :)

You, sir, are fearless. Witness protection relocation to another planet would not be enough to save me should I attempt anything other than, "Yes, dear, you're right. I'm sorry." Cue The Man Song here. ;)
 
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