Wing Spar Marks

bullojm1 · #1 09-14-2006, 09:46 PM

I finally got my wing kit inventoried and started the build process by inspecting my spars. One of them was flawless. The other one had some wierd smudge marks in it - about 5-8 of them. It looks to me like they were made before the spar was anodized, but I would appreciate a second set of eyes.

Thanks!

RV7Factory · #2 09-14-2006, 10:18 PM

I have a few similar marks on mine but they do not appear to be as pronounced as yours are. My understanding is that it happens fairly often (sometimes worse) and it occurs where scratches or marks on the spars were sanded smooth prior to anodizing.

Do you feel any dip or deformation when you rub your fingers over them?

cytoxin · #3 09-15-2006, 07:35 AM

out scratches is all.keep gettin it

bullojm1 · #4 09-15-2006, 08:55 AM

I just got off the phone with Van's and they said it was nothign to worry about. Ken @ Van's said that the only way he would get excited about spar damage was "if there was a bandsaw cut 1/2 through the spar".

Jamie · #5 09-15-2006, 10:28 AM

If it makes you sleep better at night, I think these sort of polished out places are common. Here are some pictures of my spars. I sent all of these pictures to Van's and they said no big deal. I did end up polishing out the scratch in the upper right picture.

Rick6a · #6 09-15-2006, 11:04 AM

I wouldn't be all too concerned. Unlike priming, anodizing hides nothing. It looks to me the spars were
subject to close inspection at some point and significant surface defects were blended out.
Routine stuff. Notice the 3 blend marks on the flange/web radius. It is always good practice to
remove any defects from radiuses as such areas are especially vulnerable to crack propagation if
obvious defects are not blended/polished out. My guess is routine precautions were made to insure
you received a defect free spar.