hevansrv7a
Well Known Member
I'd flown N17HH 140+ hours with no problem. I tied it down outside at KFAY two nights and then took my daughter-in-law to the airport for a ride. While retracting the flaps on the ground, they stopped. When I looked at the right side I was amazed and dismayed. The leading edge of the flap had caught on the trailing edge of the wing and bent it way up. The damage is permanent; it can be made better, but not completely right. It flies OK but it's ugly.
I don't know exactly why or how it happened but,
A. There were high winds and it may have pushed the flap down past it's usual position. The right flap was on the windward side.
B. I didn't notice it on my walk around.
C. The protective tape the painter applied is soft and kind of sticky. I think a smoother tape might have saved me, but possibly not as I did not see exactly how it caught. Van's clear tape for this area is not as soft/sticky, I think.
I've since adjusted my flaps so they won't come down so far. As far as I can tell, this must be done by running the screw fitting at the end of the flap motor assembly OUT. When parking your RV you may want to either retract them slightly or make this adjustment, too. Mine were lowering a little past 40 degrees of change downward. Now they won't quite make 40 and that's without the upward air loads of flight.
I'm posting this very embarrassing account in the hope it will prevent anyone else from experiencing it.
My flaps were adjusted, even before, to fully retract so the overlap under the belly was nice and flat.
I don't know exactly why or how it happened but,
A. There were high winds and it may have pushed the flap down past it's usual position. The right flap was on the windward side.
B. I didn't notice it on my walk around.
C. The protective tape the painter applied is soft and kind of sticky. I think a smoother tape might have saved me, but possibly not as I did not see exactly how it caught. Van's clear tape for this area is not as soft/sticky, I think.
I've since adjusted my flaps so they won't come down so far. As far as I can tell, this must be done by running the screw fitting at the end of the flap motor assembly OUT. When parking your RV you may want to either retract them slightly or make this adjustment, too. Mine were lowering a little past 40 degrees of change downward. Now they won't quite make 40 and that's without the upward air loads of flight.
I'm posting this very embarrassing account in the hope it will prevent anyone else from experiencing it.
My flaps were adjusted, even before, to fully retract so the overlap under the belly was nice and flat.