To add to Chris' remarks, remember the Ercoupe is of monocoque construction. The fuselage skin supports some or most of the load. Wrinkles I think would be bad.
________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of ALAN FAIRCLOUGH Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 10:51 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [ercoupe-tech] Re:New to Ercoupe Tech Group - Question Re: Fuselage Skin Buckles Fwd o Importance: Low Chris: You are not clear enough about where the slight buckling is; Two possibilities: A) It is the wing root fairing that is wrinkled. If this is the case, it can be repalced. It is not a structural component and has no effect on flying the plane. B) It is the side wall of the aircraft that is buckled and as part of the structure of the plane is usually buckeld because of a collapsed nosewheeel or similar hard landing. An A&P would have to decide if it is airworthy or not. As an important part of checking a coupe's frame for indications of hard landings here are a few things to look for: A) The bottom of the firewall can have some serious wrinkling which could indicate a nose in. B) The two sort of triangular panels under the plane between the walkway and the belly of the plane will show wrinkles indicating one of the wings being pused backwards or a MLG that hit something. Inspect the rear spar on the inside of the spar cap attachment for buckling. C) wrinkles on the wing root fairing which may indicate it has been damaged and sort of flattened out again to be re-used rather than replaced. Not structurally dangerous but a good reason to inspect further. D) Wrinkles on the top end of the tailcone are usually due to the tail being pushed down. only the bolts holding the horizontal stabilizer are approved push down points. These wrinkles do not relate to hard landings. E) Misalignment between the wings and the horizontal stabilizer. While the wings have a dihedral and the stabilizer is flat, seen from behind, the stabilizer height on both sides of the plane must match corresponding points on both wings. Wing angle has some minor adjustement at the wing attachment bolts but at most you can move wingtips up and down about two inches. A larger difference could indicate a twisted main spar. Alan Fairclough N87333 N94694
