On Dec 20, 12:40*pm, CTEX wrote:
I'm hunting for a first glider and have come across a few with repairs to a broken tail boom. In such a major repair, how do the shops insure that the tail group is realigned to its original position? *Do they use jigs built to factory specs? *Or rely on measurements? Or just eyeball it?

Is it customary for a buyer to measure a glider that has had such a repair, and if so, where does he find the specs? For instance, the distance between wing tip and tip of horizontal stabilizer?

Maybe this just worry-wart thinking, but I've had experience with out-of-alignment repairs on a tail dragger that caused it to fly slightly skewed - and a little slower. Is this an issue with these long-winged ships?

Don't try to over-think this, though. I've seen measurable differences
in tip-to-fin distances even on pristine never-damaged (as opposed to
(NDH) gliders. I've also measured substantial profile differences
between right and left wings of Nationals-winning sailplanes that go
like stink and fly straight as arrows. Except for the latest
generation or so made in CNC-cut molds, even production sailplanes are
hand-built things with measurable differences ship-to-ship and even
across the plan of symmetry on the same ship.

As for a tailboom repair, it's not particularly difficult to jig it
out as straight as makes no difference. If it was done by a reputable
shop like JJ's, or inspected and blessed by a reputable glider fixer,
I wouldn't give it a second thought.

Thanks, Bob K.