the wing mods on 558 are now well underway and thankfully seem to be fully paid for, but can you learned chaps tell me, in lamens terms, why they are needed, is it down to fatigue life of the metal or similar? A
lso it seem such a huge job just to replace a section of of the leading edge, how come its such a major undertaking, Obviousley it is more than just a bit of plating replacement like patching an old car :rolleyes: but how come its such a major task…….this isnt a criticism in anyway, Im just after learning a little more…….
By: TonyT - 17th January 2014 at 19:22
Reading it they are reinforcing the wing skins, they will form the front D section of the wing, the flat side of the D being the spar, same thing they obviously carry some of the load and strength of the wing…. So it’s beefing it up.
It’s a major task because you need the skin to sit flush with the surface to ensure the strength is retained and you are working with compound curves (bend several ways at once, additionally you have to be uber accurate drilling out. And attaching the new skin, as you can weaken the structural strength with poor riveting / mis aligned holes.
A spar cap by the way think of a I beam the top and the bottom of the I are riveted on, these are the caps.
By: TonyT - 17th January 2014 at 19:17
Not read what there doing, is it the spar caps?
Best way to describe fatigue is think of a paper clip bend it back and forth and it eventually snaps, a wing in flight also bends up and down, so they put a life figure on it which is substantially below the failure figure to be on the safe side, later on with experience etc the fatigue life may be extended or a scheme to replace the spar caps / strengthen the spars may be incorporated to increase the wing life.
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January 17, 2014 at 7:12 pm