SB Photos

[JonJay]

I started this thread as a place to post pictures of the your airplanes front HS spar. Please limit your posting to pictures or comments on pictures. I have noticed something in the few pics that are in the original thread. I will not speculate, there is enough of that already, but please share your photos here so we can consolidate them.

RV6, 575 hrs, 180hp/CS, lots of aero, mostly paved. Home grown relief holes. No cracks.

[jabarr]

Hard to tell from pictures, but that sure looks like a crack leading to the outside corner of the rib. It is very faint but sure looks suspicious to me.

[JonJay]

I was concerned about the same thing until i got the paint stripped off. It appears to be an inclusion in the sheet. Photo's don't replace visual inspection from many different angles at magnification with a bright light. However, high power boroscope later today might show differently. I will also use a die penetrate to double check.
If it is a crack, it's going to stay there under careful further inspections.

[Hum]

Port Crack 'raw' as seen once disassembled:



Port crack clean:



Port crack stopped:



Stbd - 2 cracks here, hard to see:



Stbd cracks 'stressed' - easy to see now:



Stbd 2 cracks clean:

[RV10inOz]

Are two holes that close together in a place where cracking is prone a good idea?

I would be seeking clarification on this from Vans, and be ready to build a new HS.

There is no port and starboard in civilian aircraft.

[JanRV6UK]

I like "Port and Starboard" as a reference .. as it indicate sides in relation to direction of travel ... :-) .. who cares if it is military or civilian ?? :-)

[bhester]

On aircraft left side and right side should always be refereed to, as in direction of flight.

[JonJay]

Left/right...Port/ whatever... I thought the thread had died from lack of interest or too much interest in other threads. I hoped for pictures of both non-cracked and cracked spars webs to consolidate photos from the other very long threads. By chance, photos of good and bad might tell us something, or might not.
Keep the pictures coming.
PS- boroscope revealed no crack in the first pic I posted. However, the other side, The lefporstarbright side revealed a crack so tiny it could not be seen without a lot of magnification on the inside edge of the actual hole. I have elected to reinspect at interval until I am sure it is actually a crack and not a hole defect that resembles one.
If you can see the side of a hole drilled in .032, well that is quite a bit of magnification and really bright focused light. I don't think the SB is calling for that or we would probably be seeing a few more of these. You can not see it with a normal magnifying glass.