ASH 31Mi

On Dec 22, 8:06*am, Tuno wrote:

So, the factory seems to be firmly convinced that residual moisture is
the shrinkage culprit.

Either that, or a very convenient way to blame the customer for the
problem. Personally I don't buy it. The humidity inside a wing in
some US states and many European countries is probably far higher for
a sailplane that has never been loaded with ballast than for one in
Arizona that has been loaded, dumped, and stored with the fill caps
off.

I got water inside the wings of my 28 when I landed out and got dumped
on by a torrential thunderstorm. The winds were high enough I secured
the airbrakes full open. Water filled the airbrake boxes and then
made its way into the wing. I tried very hard to drain in out, I
tried to vacuum it out with long tubes, but nothing worked. I could
still hear it sloshing around in there. I called the US agent
thinking the next step would be to drill holes in the wings, and he
said don't worry about it. I had pulled off the aileron push rod
seals to vent the wing aft of the spar and left them off for a few
days. After cooking in the trailer in the Arizona sun for a week or
less there was no more sloshing. All the water had gone.


Andy

"Tuno" wrote in message
...
Bumper,

How often do you fly with water ballast?



As Darryl says, many 26E's don't have water, especially if they have fuel
bladders in the wings, as mine does. To get heavy, I add fuel.

To minimize my carbon footprint, I've installed igniters for when I need to
dump ballast.

bumper
zz
Minden