Rolladen- Schneider LS3A flap seals- Do they really make any difference?

On Friday, July 6, 2001 11:52:12 PM UTC-4, clay thomas wrote:
"November Bravo" wrote in message ...
The are two LS3's at oour club, and aoriginal flaperon LS3 and an LS3A.
Both have the seals and both showed a significant performance increase.
Have never had a problem with the seals coming off or getting bent.
"dennis raphael" wrote in message
om...
The flap seals at the wing root consantlty seem to get bent up , fall
off, and otherwise look lousy. How much good do they really do for a
recreational soaring pilot??? Any differnce in flight charactoristics
I will notice?. For those who dont know what I am talking about, the
seals are a piece of flexible plastic that attach to the top and
bottom of the flap next to the fusalage to seal a 3/8 in gap at the
rear 5 inches of the wing root where the flap raises and lowers.
thanks


I made some new ones two years ago and have had no problem. I used
clear mylar obtained at a drafting supply house. I attached with high
quality double sided 3M tape. Let me know if you need the templates to
cut new ones.If the thichness of the mylar is correct,they will never
fold over in flight.

please send the templates. thanks pck at aigroupinc.com

I owned an original LS 3 for many years. Never had a problem with the seals in flight. But the wing root brackets in the factory Komet trailer would crease them unless they were taped together in a gentle curve before lowering the lid. I think I recall adjusting the brackets in the trailer to eliminate this problem. Dick Johnson's testing indicated there was some performance loss without the seals. I know of at least one owner who used auto body putty to build up a flat spot on each side of the fuselage so the butt end of the flaps could "wipe" against them (with a felt seal) and dispense with the flexible seals entirely. I watched them perform this minor modification in the hangar on a rain day at a contest back in...1979?

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"
U.S.A.

You were flying contests in 1979? You must be one of those legacy soaring pilots ...:-) kk

On Sunday, January 6, 2013 12:54:25 AM UTC-5, wrote:
I owned an original LS 3 for many years. Never had a problem with the seals in flight. But the wing root brackets in the factory Komet trailer would crease them unless they were taped together in a gentle curve before lowering the lid. I think I recall adjusting the brackets in the trailer to eliminate this problem. Dick Johnson's testing indicated there was some performance loss without the seals. I know of at least one owner who used auto body putty to build up a flat spot on each side of the fuselage so the butt end of the flaps could "wipe" against them (with a felt seal) and dispense with the flexible seals entirely. I watched them perform this minor modification in the hangar on a rain day at a contest back in...1979?



Chip Bearden

ASW 24 "JB"

U.S.A.

Hi,

it would be great if anybody could send me some information on how to build these seals (templates, dimension, material, etc).

Thanks,
--oliver



Am Sonntag, 6. Januar 2013 13:57:29 UTC+1 schrieb KiloKilo:
You were flying contests in 1979? You must be one of those legacy soaring pilots ...:-) kk



On Sunday, January 6, 2013 12:54:25 AM UTC-5, wrote:

I owned an original LS 3 for many years. Never had a problem with the seals in flight. But the wing root brackets in the factory Komet trailer would crease them unless they were taped together in a gentle curve before lowering the lid. I think I recall adjusting the brackets in the trailer to eliminate this problem. Dick Johnson's testing indicated there was some performance loss without the seals. I know of at least one owner who used auto body putty to build up a flat spot on each side of the fuselage so the butt end of the flaps could "wipe" against them (with a felt seal) and dispense with the flexible seals entirely. I watched them perform this minor modification in the hangar on a rain day at a contest back in...1979?







Chip Bearden



ASW 24 "JB"



U.S.A.

I Just recently made some using this Template:
http://www.goddard.com/wipers/wiper1.pdf

They seem to be working great. I ordered some 0.040" thick Mylar which seems to work perfect. I selected a thicker material to see if it would be more robust than what I had before. The material before was quite thin and tore in a couple places. I have about 50 hours of flying on my new wipers and they appear to be holding up quite well. I may go back and re-cut them this winter just to make them about 1/4" wider, but we will see.

-SW

On Tuesday, June 17, 2014 12:43:37 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Hi,



it would be great if anybody could send me some information on how to build these seals (templates, dimension, material, etc).



Thanks,

--oliver







Am Sonntag, 6. Januar 2013 13:57:29 UTC+1 schrieb KiloKilo:

You were flying contests in 1979? You must be one of those legacy soaring pilots ...:-) kk







On Sunday, January 6, 2013 12:54:25 AM UTC-5, wrote:



I owned an original LS 3 for many years. Never had a problem with the seals in flight. But the wing root brackets in the factory Komet trailer would crease them unless they were taped together in a gentle curve before lowering the lid. I think I recall adjusting the brackets in the trailer to eliminate this problem. Dick Johnson's testing indicated there was some performance loss without the seals. I know of at least one owner who used auto body putty to build up a flat spot on each side of the fuselage so the butt end of the flaps could "wipe" against them (with a felt seal) and dispense with the flexible seals entirely. I watched them perform this minor modification in the hangar on a rain day at a contest back in...1979?















Chip Bearden







ASW 24 "JB"







U.S.A.

On Friday, July 25, 2014 1:04:22 PM UTC-4, Sierra Whiskey wrote:
I Just recently made some using this Template:

http://www.goddard.com/wipers/wiper1.pdf


Here is the url for the templates along with revisions I made to the above design and pix of them installed.

Regards,

Zero One (Larry Goddard)

On Friday, July 25, 2014 at 10:04:22 AM UTC-7, Sierra Whiskey wrote:
I Just recently made some using this Template:
http://www.goddard.com/wipers/wiper1.pdf

They seem to be working great. I ordered some 0.040" thick Mylar which seems to work perfect. I selected a thicker material to see if it would be more robust than what I had before. The material before was quite thin and tore in a couple places. I have about 50 hours of flying on my new wipers and they appear to be holding up quite well. I may go back and re-cut them this winter just to make them about 1/4" wider, but we will see.

-SW

On Tuesday, June 17, 2014 12:43:37 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Hi,



it would be great if anybody could send me some information on how to build these seals (templates, dimension, material, etc).



Thanks,

--oliver







Am Sonntag, 6. Januar 2013 13:57:29 UTC+1 schrieb KiloKilo:

You were flying contests in 1979? You must be one of those legacy soaring pilots ...:-) kk







On Sunday, January 6, 2013 12:54:25 AM UTC-5, wrote:



I owned an original LS 3 for many years. Never had a problem with the seals in flight. But the wing root brackets in the factory Komet trailer would crease them unless they were taped together in a gentle curve before lowering the lid. I think I recall adjusting the brackets in the trailer to eliminate this problem. Dick Johnson's testing indicated there was some performance loss without the seals. I know of at least one owner who used auto body putty to build up a flat spot on each side of the fuselage so the butt end of the flaps could "wipe" against them (with a felt seal) and dispense with the flexible seals entirely. I watched them perform this minor modification in the hangar on a rain day at a contest back in...1979?















Chip Bearden







ASW 24 "JB"







U.S.A.
RE "I ordered some 0.040" thick Mylar"

DO you mean 0.004" thick (extra zero in there)
Clear Polysester Film

McMaster part # 8567K42
https://www.mcmaster.com/#polyester-(pet)/=1bmm306


My LS3 seals are getting a bit ratty looking too.

Thanks wfpalmer at gmail