Europa-List Digest Archive

Wed 06/11/08


Total Messages Posted: 5



Today's Message Index:
----------------------
 
     1. 03:58 AM - Monowheel Tailwheel fairing (Tim Ward)
     2. 05:10 AM - Re: lightning bonding (TELEDYNMCS@aol.com)
     3. 06:02 AM - Re: Monowheel Tailwheel fairing (Paul McAllister)
     4. 12:04 PM - Re: Tailwheel fairing (Duncan & Ami McFadyean)
     5. 01:50 PM - XS trailer (Mike Gamble)
 
 
 


Message 1


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    Time: 03:58:04 AM PST US
    From: "Tim Ward" <ward.t@xtra.co.nz>
    Subject: Monowheel Tailwheel fairing
    Hi there, Has anyone made an effective tailwheel fairing protection cap. I have found the damage on the fairing leading edge has been quite substantial. Any ideas of a fix? Cheers, Tim Tim Ward 12 Waiwetu Street, Fendalton, CHRISTCHURCH 8052 NEW ZEALAND Ph :64 03 3515166 Mob: 021 0640221 email: ward.t@xtra.co.nz


    Message 2


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    Time: 05:10:57 AM PST US
    From: TELEDYNMCS@aol.com
    Subject: Re: lightning bonding
    In a message dated 6/11/2008 3:03:20 AM Eastern Daylight Time, europa-list@matronics.com writes: Not sure thats a terribly good idea. Hi Carl, et al, Apparently, the FAA and Aeromot think it is a good idea. The Ximango is a certified aircraft, has aluminum fuel tanks and they, too, are bonded to the rest of the metallic parts in the aircraft. In their parts manual, Aeromot refers to these bonding straps installed as "lightning bonding." As it has been explained to me by our resident composite Guru here at the 'Possum Werks, what happens in composite airplanes in a lightning strike to make them explode is the super heating of residual moisture that is trapped within the layers of epoxy and cloth at the time of manufacture. When the strike passes through the composite, trapped moisture rapidly heats, expands and the structure comes apart explosively. Having designed, installed and tested lightning protection systems on over 7000 cellular telephone sites, I've seen this phenomenon quite a bit with fiberglass antenna masts on poorly grounded sites. When a cell antenna takes a direct hit it explodes. The tower can take a direct hit and only slight discoloration will result. The result of an exploded antenna mast is similar to what you see after one of those exploding cigars goes off. If the site is properly grounded and bonded, this almost never happens, though. What you are trying to do with bonding metallic parts in a plastic airplane is give the lightning a low resistance path to pass through and exit the airplane so that it doesn't take a high resistance (i.e., through the composite) path to exit and destroy the airplane. Low resistance is the key here. By providing a low resistance path for the lightning to pass though you reduce or eliminate the instantaneous heating that occurs in high resistance paths during a discharge. You also want to prevent arcing that would occur at loose metallic fittings, such as rod ends and any metallic parts that are bolted together. These are points of high resistance and arcing (and welding) can result. What you are doing here is making all the metallic parts equal in resistance, therefore equal in potential when charged. Ohm's law at work. I've heard of more than one occurrence of gliders that did not have bonded control systems being struck in flight and having their control rods welded to the point where the aircraft was no longer controllable and the occupant(s) were forced to bail out. These bolted connections are precisely where the bonding straps are installed on the Ximango. The bonding straps that are installed, given their size, are designed to take a lot more current than a simple static discharge. They are essentially the same thing we install to bond and protect towers, transmission equipment, batteries, fencing, coax, antennae, etc., in cell sites from lightning. The reason braided cable is used is surface area. The more surface area, the more current it can handle. Braided cable has much, much more surface area than typical Tefzel aircraft wire or a solid wire, thus more current handling capacity. Is it a cure all? No. There is no such thing as perfect lightning protection. Will it help save your bacon in a residual discharge situation? Probably. Will it save your bacon in a direct hit? Probably not. Fred, as far as a source on the bonding straps, try Harger. _www.harger.com_ (http://www.harger.com) . If it has anything to do with lightning protection, Harger carries it. Hope it helps! Regards, John Lawton Whitwell, TN (TN89) N245E - Flying **************Vote for your city's best dining and nightlife. City's Best 2008. (http://citysbest.aol.com?ncid=aolacg00050000000102)


    Message 3


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    Time: 06:02:37 AM PST US
    From: "Paul McAllister" <paul.the.aviator@gmail.com>
    Subject: Re: Monowheel Tailwheel fairing
    Hi Tim, I think Ramio was experimenting with some tail wheel fairing protection. He might be worth a try. Regards, Paul


    Message 4


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    Time: 12:04:39 PM PST US
    From: "Duncan & Ami McFadyean" <ami@mcfadyean.freeserve.co.uk>
    Subject: Re: Tailwheel fairing
    A covering of anti abrasion tape (helicopter rotor tape) has prevented mine from eroding. The faring itself is also more stoutly built (more plies). Not much use applying it after the event! Duncan McF. ----- Original Message ----- From: Tim Ward To: europa-list@matronics.com Sent: Wednesday, June 11, 2008 11:53 AM Subject: Europa-List: Monowheel Tailwheel fairing Hi there, Has anyone made an effective tailwheel fairing protection cap. I have found the damage on the fairing leading edge has been quite substantial. Any ideas of a fix? Cheers, Tim Tim Ward 12 Waiwetu Street, Fendalton, CHRISTCHURCH 8052 NEW ZEALAND Ph :64 03 3515166 Mob: 021 0640221 email: ward.t@xtra.co.nz


    Message 5


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    Time: 01:50:55 PM PST US
    From: "Mike Gamble" <mp.gamble@tiscali.co.uk>
    Subject: XS trailer
    Anyone have an XS mono trailer for sale in southern UK? Please contact me off line. Mike Gamble




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