Bent spar flange

[jlfernan]

Recently there's been a few posts about people(including myself) making mistakes, it seems to even happen at the factory. I received my wing kit a couple weeks back. The shipper had damaged one of the spars and I just received my replacement. This time the crate looked good, I unwrapped the spar and everything appeared fine. I've been working on it and to I get to the last main rib. I then realize the flange where the skin mounts, is bent at the end. It's bent in about a quarter inch. There are no marks on it that would indicate it had been hit with anything. But, you can see the bend in the photo . I can only guess somewhere somebody ran into it. I took it from the crate and onto sawhorse, no way I did it. Sent a photo to Van's and am waiting on a response.

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[Dave12]

It looks like you could lightly tap that back straight?

 

[videobobk]

We had the same problem on one of our spars, near the center of the spar. There was no damage to the box. "Straighten it" was the answer, and it wasn't a big deal. I used a spreader clamp.

Bob

 

[jlfernan]

That's what I figured. I'm just curious as to why they're being bent? Especially when there are no marks on the spar from it being hit.

 

[Sid Lambert]

Van's will tell you that the drilling and cutting are extremely precise but the bending is anyone's guess.