Air, Water and Light: Essential elements of life for mere mortals. Air, Water and Light: Essential elements of destruction for aluminum, steel, epoxy, paint and just about any other mortal-made object. Moral of the story: Coat every surface, including bolt holes, to keep air off. Keep everything dry. Keep epoxy in the dark. Easy to say; lot of effort to do.
Sid Wood Tri-gear KR-2 N6242 Mechanicsville, MD, USA smw...@md.metrocast.net ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Just a heads up really for anyone on the list flying an older KR2 ... I have a recently imported 30 yr old aircraft and had a condition report done on Friday. This is where a qualified aircraft engineer comes to have a look as part of the re registration process ..... He found three instances of exfoliation corrosion, two on the flap attachments at the base of the fuselage (one on each side) and one on the elevator trim horn. Although I hadn't seen the flap attachment brackets, when It was pointed out to me, it was obvious, with the aluminium crush plate peeled open in layers, the layers pinched together by the bolts .......... The scary one was the trim cable attachment. This just looked like a slightly rusty clevis on the cable. The corrosion on the horn was mostly hidden. Once I had dismantled the connection, I gently scraped the control horn with a screw driver, and the aluminium just peeled back in layers under where the clevis had been sitting and, in the line of the cable, the material just crumbled away leaving the pin (if it had still been in place) free to pull out! There are a couple of pictures of the elevator horn here ... http://www.recreationalflying.net/showthread.php/141493-How-an-L2-saved-my-l ife-. .... Regards Martin
