Who has holey wings?
First time out in a rain storm I have water in the wings. Must be from spoilers.
So I drilled some drain holes next to each rib at the trailing edge.
Water wings
- BDA
- Veteran Member
- Posts: 710
- Joined: Mon Aug 22, 2016 11:25 am
- Location: Kenai Alaska
Water wings
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SuperStol XL Alaskan With Titan 340
N331AK. Shawn Taplin
Wing extensions,Symetrical Airfoil tail ribs (NACA 21)
Mods in progress: Heavier struts, Double slotted flaps
Goal: 15mph no wind
N331AK. Shawn Taplin
Wing extensions,Symetrical Airfoil tail ribs (NACA 21)
Mods in progress: Heavier struts, Double slotted flaps
Goal: 15mph no wind
- BucF16
- Veteran Member
- Posts: 463
- Joined: Sun Mar 23, 2014 11:47 am
- Location: Alexandria, Ohio
Re: Water wings
Yep, you need to do that. I'm using the floatplane grommets, Just incase I'm lucky enough to put'er on floats!
Cheers,
Bruce
Cheers,
Bruce
Bruce Johnson Highlander # 393
"Because I fly, I envy no man on Earth"
Builder web site:
http://www.bruceshighlander.blogspot.com
"Because I fly, I envy no man on Earth"
Builder web site:
http://www.bruceshighlander.blogspot.com
- SuperFly
- Veteran Member
- Posts: 249
- Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2011 10:20 pm
- Location: Flanagan, IL
- Contact:
Re: Water wings
I melted holes in the fabric tape (where doubled up layers) beside each rib with a cheapo soldering iron. Worked great. The few times it was in the rain, it drained right out, and caused no ill effects. I did decide once when knowing it was supposed to rain to cover spoiler openings with painters tape to keep rain out. Seemed to work pretty good. Put a big ol' note on the panel and the start switch warning of the unusual situtation. I did remove it during preflight, so ended up no necessarily needing note, but made me feel better.
Best,
Ben Schneider
Highlander #263 converted to SuperSTOL
N45FT Now Flying!
http://www.stolairplane.com
Ben Schneider
Highlander #263 converted to SuperSTOL
N45FT Now Flying!
http://www.stolairplane.com
- CanadianSheepHunter
- Veteran Member
- Posts: 678
- Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2015 1:05 pm
Re: Water wings
I was actually just reading "Tips and Tricks" from Oratex and they say to make sure to have drain holes because there is a chance the Oratex is so air tight that if you went to a very high altitude on a hot day the air pressure inside the fabric covered compartments could expand enough to have fabric ballon
- R Rinker
- Veteran Member
- Posts: 178
- Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 1:07 am
- Contact:
Re: Water wings
On certified aircraft it is required to have (small) drain holes in the low spots of the wings for the purpose of draining any fuel in the case of a gas tank leaking fuel inside the wings. If you add an aux tank in the wing, the bay in which the tank is located must have these drain holes. We just drilled a few rivet size holes to comply.
Rodger Rinker - Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, Canada