Qantas enginners have discovered cracks in the wings of their A380.
Are the wings of A380 made of composites ?
By: Cking - 10th January 2012 at 09:59
this one was an ASR Sea king that had had a bump and went for a major service to give it a good going over. it was discovered that prior to its heavy landing a crack had started that went around almost a 3rd of the bulkhead that held the whirlybits,engine and gearbox to the rest of the airframe. the crack had been getting bigger over a period of time judging by the sludge trapped within.
When I worked on Seakings, we got a telex from the Navy technical branch telling us to look for cracks in two stringers that the gearbox was bolted to. They said if the crack was more than an inch long, ground the aircraft and give tham a call. We found a crack 1.5″ long running through two rivit holes. We ran around like headless chickes for a bit then gave the navy a call. They said “Only 1.5″??? we’ve got one thats SIX FEET long!!!! Just keep an eye on it and repair it at the next major”
As for the 380. The found the cracks during an inspection and they have repaired them already. Whats the story??
Rgds Cking
By: Arabella-Cox - 10th January 2012 at 05:54
If this was really such a problem, the story would have been plastered all over the BBC, keen as they to take an anti-Airbus line (I say this because I recall their unfavourable coverage of the A380 when it was entering service).
The mug of tea explanation is probably the correct one.
By: pistonrob - 9th January 2012 at 20:34
ive seen cracks in all nooks n crannies on all the BBMF aircraft, also Tornado`s, Hawks,Sea kings,Tristars,C130,Wessex,Harriers during my time in the RAF but nothing realy major except this one.
this one was an ASR Sea king that had had a bump and went for a major service to give it a good going over. it was discovered that prior to its heavy landing a crack had started that went around almost a 3rd of the bulkhead that held the whirlybits,engine and gearbox to the rest of the airframe. the crack had been getting bigger over a period of time judging by the sludge trapped within.
the media love to get hold of stuff and blow it way out of proportion.
the real story was probably an engineer discovered a crack in his mug of tea that was resting on a wing of an A380
By: Ship 741 - 9th January 2012 at 18:52
All aluminum airplanes crack. And I’m pretty sure all the primary wing structure on the A380 is aluminum. The report doesn’t give a good indication where the cracks are located, if they are propogating, and at what rate. Airbus saying they are secondary is good enough for me.
A report of this type might be alarming to the layman, but reeks of sensationalism to those experienced in the industry.
By: Bmused55 - 8th January 2012 at 10:34
Certainly makes ones eyebrow lift.
By: VeeOne - 8th January 2012 at 06:23
Makes you wonder about the safety of this new composite wing design compared to the old and well understood metal-wing-with-spar system.
By: MSR777 - 7th January 2012 at 23:18
Makes good video and sells papers……….moving on;)
By: Newforest - 7th January 2012 at 22:45
‘Ground the Airbus’ says an engineer! 😀
By: Arabella-Cox - 7th January 2012 at 18:39
Not sure but this will certainly cause a stir, even though they are claimed to be benign.
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January 7, 2012 at 6:23 pm