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| Had scary event happen last week on my little 235. While making a preflight walkaround I moved the left aileron and it started to fall off the wing. The outer hinge pin (piano wire type) was completely missing and the aileron was being held only by the inboard hinge. When I made this discovery the aileron and hinge LOOKED all right and was in proper position. Only the movement popped it loose. I had flown the plane the day before for my $100 hamburger with no problem so the pin must have been working free for some time and made it's final escape at the end of that flight. The pins are extremely difficult to see so a preflight inspection would normally just be to check for free movement. Based on the tight aileron clearance and blocking structure in this location it would seem impossible for the pin to escape. The wing tip had to be removed to reinstall the pin and even then it is difficult to do. My other pins have a bend on one end to prevent their coming loose, but this one must have been different. I didn't build the bird so don't really know how this wire was installed. My suggestion is get a bright lite and make a very close inspection to look for pin slippage. An inflight separation could have challenged even my superb skills (joke)!! Pat Halloran
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