Preflighted today for a two-hour trip only to discover one side of the
'02 C172 spinner bent outward. The metal spinner base holding that
crucial bolt had ripped off like a piece of paper. With nothing to
counteract the spinning forces, the outside skin of the spinner opened
right up. Fortunately, four downstream screws prevented it from being
completely ripped from the aircraft during its last flight.

I have read accounts of people discovering the same problem with 30
hours on their aircraft. This aircraft has about 600 hours on it.

And Cessna still denies there was a quality control problem with these
spinners? There should have been an AD last year.

Inspect those late model Cessna spinners for cracks at the bases very
carefully during each preflight...

--
Peter