Flaperon Hangers

[ae491]

Hello ALL

We just made a big mistake. We were working on the wing at the shop. and I had it in the gig to hold it while I was working on it and really was finished with. We had planned to mount and Rig the wing for engine and taxi tests this weekend but I accidentally stubbed my tow on one of the flaperon hangers while moving it. Busted it clean off.

We had not yet done Service Bulletin #9 as we are not in England and really didn't want to cut the wing back open at this point.

If we glue the broken piece back into place with a high quality epoxy then perform Service Bulletin #9. Will it be good as new or do I need to replace the Rib? Please tell me there is a good way to do this repair, then replace the whole rib.

[akflyer]

You need to replace the rib tail to do it right. yes, that means opening up the wing right at that rib. I had to fix a "fix" just like the way you are describing what you want to do because it broke within the first 10 minutes of flight. I did not know that the jackwagon who owned the plane before my buddy had done that for a repair on a "newly rebuilt" and unflown plane. I got the honors of trying to kill myself on the first test flight after the previous owner had "fixed" the plane then sold it.

Just my .02

[Marshawk]

We had the same problem with our kitfox 2, the flaperon hanger was broken clean off, we open up all the wings to upgrade it with the aluminum angle pieces and epoxied the broken flaperon hanger back on. after we riveted the two pieces of angled aluminum on the sides it seemed very strong.We been flying for 25 hours and there has been no problems. The upgrade really added some strength to all the hangers. I guess it boils down to what ever your comfortable with since your flying it.

willis

[avidflyer]

I had a bit of a bump on the end of the flaperon on my Avid MK IV one time about 250 hrs ago and this is what I did. I sanded the paint off of the sides of the rib, cut two pieces of 1/4" thick aircraft plywood to fit, and glued them on each side of the broken rib with T88 epoxy. It has worked just fine for me and I'm sure it is a good bit stronger than it was to start with. Before I glued them in place, I cut just enough off the insides of the pieces so the metal flaperon hanger would slide into the space. Used longer 10/32 bolts to hold things togeather. It worked for me. Take care, Jim Chuk

[GDN]

Yesterday i saw same problems on mine from the wing to the end of flaperons rib, small cracks on each rib and the cover start to be raided by a vertical forces.
I saw aluminum reinforcements fixed on the top on the ribs and on the leading edge of wings, is that upgrade sold by Kitfox LLC ?

Is someone had pictures ?

I know i didn't do that 8 G loop last week

[GDN]

Here is the cracks position, red line on picture and what i have seen on others kitfox

[Captdill]

I had the same problem with my Model II when I got it. I don't have a pic handy, but will try to describe my fix. I bought the SB kit from (then)Skystar for all the other ribs. For the broken rib, I fabricated one aluminum piece that would look like the two from the SB from the top, but on the bottom you can see that it is actually one piece doubled over the bottom edge of the rib. Also, I made the fabricated piece longer so that it reinforces nearly to the rear spar. It was glued and riveted to the rib in the same fashion as the SB pieces, and the end product looks nearly the same for all ribs. The broken end was glued and sandwiched between the aluminum. I'll send a pic on request. I now have about 55 hours on it.

[GDN]

Would like to have some pictures if you can Captdill ?

Thanks in advance

Fly safe

[Captdill]

I had to get to my home computer before I could send these. This first picture illustrates my original idea to fabricate two brackets that would appear identical to the SB hardware once installed, but extending all the way to the rear spar. I abandoned this design for something similar, but I thought better. I will send a few more pics to explain.

[Captdill]

Still working on the original intent, this pic compares the longer fabricated piece to the Skystar SB 9 bracket. Once covered up, the only visible difference would be the extra cap strip rivets securing the longer bracket.

[Captdill]

Subsequent to snapping the previous photos, I had the epiphany that I could make the repair stronger and more resistant to torsion and shear loads by fabricating a one piece bracket, which was doubled over around around the bottom of the rib. With this design, it was not possible to cut to the full height of the rib just aft of the spar, however I deemed it the better trade-off. Hope this helps.

[metalman]

we replaced all the hangers on our Skyfox(aussie kitfox copy) 2187

2188

[GDN]

We had the same problem with our kitfox 2, the flaperon hanger was broken clean off, we open up all the wings to upgrade it with the aluminum angle pieces and epoxied the broken flaperon hanger back on. after we riveted the two pieces of angled aluminum on the sides it seemed very strong.We been flying for 25 hours and there has been no problems. The upgrade really added some strength to all the hangers. I guess it boils down to what ever your comfortable with since your flying it.

willis

Is Kitfox sell this aluminium pieces to reinforce the rib end ?

[metalman]

GDN if your asking about my hangers , then no they are not a kit fox part . I designed them and drew then in Cad , I had a local guy cut them on a cnc router .
Cheers Mat

[Marshawk]

Ours were 2 pieces of angled aluminum that sandwich the wooden hanger and then riveted them together.we just made up the aluminum pieces. Unfortuneatly, I think there was a service bulletin with a good picture of the aluminum pieces. I don't think we took any pics but I can take a picture of the finished product if you want

Willis