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Old March 29th 10, 09:57 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
Mike the Strike
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Posts: 952
Default Aluminum top Cobra trailer leaks - how frequent?

On Mar 29, 1:50*pm, John Cochrane
wrote:
On Mar 29, 8:59*am, mattm wrote:



On Mar 29, 9:24*am, John Cochrane
wrote:


On Mar 29, 6:59*am, AK wrote:


A few people told me that their Cobra trailers with aluminum tops
developed leaks. I wonder how frequent this problem is. Obviously
aluminum top is nice to keep it looking good, but one of the the
purposes of a trailer is too keep the glider inside dry. In New
England we sometimes get 4 inches of rain in a day. Thx, AK


I have an aluminum 2001 cobra, and have had several leaks. The major
problem is the seams around the tail doghouse. Artful application of
silicone sealer has stopped the leaks, but it took several tries. *I'd
be curious to hear of better fixes. Obviously, drilling out all the
pop rivets and then reassembling it with new sealer would be best, but
that is a huge pain we'd all rather avoid.


Next time, I'm getting the fiberglass top.


John Cochrane


Well, even the fiberglass top can leak a little. *When I put my plane
together the other day
there was a string of mud spots on the leading edge of my wings near
the root end. *Those
parts of my wings are under the passive vents installed in the
trailer, so I'm getting some
moisture in through or around those vents.


-- Matt


This might also come from the even worse problem of metal-top (all)
trailers -- condensation.

Any day the 5 am temperature goes below the dewpoint (most days in the
spring), the glider inside the trailer will be sopping wet. It dries
out by noon if you have a good vent. But your beloved glider is
spending 4-5 hours a day covered in water.

I've attacked this successfully with a dehumidifier, but that needs
power which we don't have at my current airport.

The new insulated tops might help. Has anyone noticed a big
difference?

John Cochrane


Somehow, we don't seem to suffer from this problem much in southern
Arizona - perhaps that's because our dew point is often way below
freezing (it's about 20 F today at El Tiro) - check our weather
site.....

http://www.mike-the-strike.net/Soari...ast/ElTiro.htm

May I suggest changing your gliderport rather than your trailer!

Mike