I have some oil canning on the bottom on my right wing as depicted by the red X in the drawing below. This appears to be somewhat common. The oil canning is slight, but it's there. After completing the wings on my -14 and having ample time to cool off and think about it, I've decided that I don't want to live with the oil canning.
After looking at countess methods of properly solving the problem, I don't believe it's possible to fix with a stiffener. Connecting to the ribs on each side of the bay is simply not possible. Today, I had an idea that I thought I'd run by you.
It almost makes me gasp.... but what about putting a very small flute(s) in the middle of the bay? It scars me to think about purposely putting a dent in a wing skin. Here's how it would work:
Am I nuts?
image ru
After looking at countess methods of properly solving the problem, I don't believe it's possible to fix with a stiffener. Connecting to the ribs on each side of the bay is simply not possible. Today, I had an idea that I thought I'd run by you.
It almost makes me gasp.... but what about putting a very small flute(s) in the middle of the bay? It scars me to think about purposely putting a dent in a wing skin. Here's how it would work:
- Lightly abrade the skin where the flute(s) would be placed
- Lightly flute the middle of the bay to reduce the length of the skin between the ribs. The area would be about the size of a quarter.
- Repair the flute(s) with an epoxy/flox mixture
Am I nuts?
image ru
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