On 10 Mar, 06:45, wrote:
Trailering my DG-300 home after a Saturday flight, I was on the
highway within a few miles of home when someone pulled up beside me,
gesturing back towards my trailer (never a good sign).

I immediately pulled over and was stunned to find the tongue of my 25
year old Comet trailer snapped almost in two! It was more than 95%
severed, sagging mid-span, hinged and hanging by a mere thread of
metal. That had activated the trailer's surge brakes as I drove and
they were HOT, barely touchable at the hubs.

I called AAA who told me that they'll help with my car, but not with
trailer problems. So I thanked the agent (not really) and called back
to report my "car" problems, asking that they send a flat bed truck.
The driver arrived shortly thereafter, put the trailer up on the flat
bed, and delivered the trailer a few miles away to the repair shop
that recently repacked the wheel bearings.

I consider this a gift that a) it happened near home instead of
central Nevada and b) that it didn't break all the way off,
doubtlessly causing me to get on the brakes and bash the trailer into
the back of my SUV!

If you've got a similar vintage Comet trailer, you might want to
inspect for this - though, from the looks of my failed tongue, I'm not
sure there'd be any outward signs...

Has anybody heard of this kind of (near) catastrophic tongue failure
before? Now what?

Eric
ER

Yup. My Komet II with its Ventus Bt inside started to fold just behind
the axle. I was in Jaca in Spain at the time and about 900 km from
home. When the lid was opened the tail sagged to within about 2 inches
of the hardtop. On inspection the lower longitudinal stringers ( 25mm
square steel tubing ) had stress fractures almost completely through
just behind the rear axle attachment points.

The local agricultural mechanic in Santa Cila took the trailer into
his shed and I had it back about 3 days later with a really 'robust'
repair and a measly repair bill for I think about Euro 150. That
trailer is still on our airfield and has been to Spain several times
subsequently.

If you have any old trailer I'd keep an eye on those stringers. The
weight of the aft fuselage, wing stands, tail dolly, ramp and other
stuff that tends to get put in there on long trips all that distance
from the fulcrum must put some serious loads on the metalwork!

Ian