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After nearing completion of the repairs to my ES-P, I thought it
prudent to pass on my experience. A neighbor was visiting recently and
noticed a fresh six foot long crack in the paint, down the right side of my
plane, at the junction of the top and bottom of the fuselage. The plane is
two years old and has about 175 hours. It is almost always flown above
16,000 feet, up to and including FL 280.
Upon inspection it was obvious that there was a week point where the
top and bottom of the fuselage overlap, where there is no core for
stiffening. To my knowledge, Lancair has never supplied a construction
manual for the ES-Ps, but rather given out the ES manual with supplements from
the 4P book, but nothing for this joint. After joining the top and bottom,
and reading the requirement for one bid, two inches wide, over this joint, I
concluded that was not sufficient for a pressurized plane, and applied two bids
three inches wide over both the inside and outside. Obviously
still not enough. Another neighbor (it's nice living in an
airpark) dug out a page from a 4P manual and it showed a requirement for three
bid, two inches wide. After all of the paint and filler was removed, it
was determined that the joint was sound, with no delamination's or structural
failures yet, just to much flex. Eventually this flex would have caused
the joint to fail, and if at full pressurization, could have been
catastrophic.
I talked to a professional builder, and he said they always use
carbon fiber for this part of the construction, which makes a lot of sense since
the fuselage is made of carbon fiber. I have put in three bid, six inch
wide, carbon fiber over both inside and outside, for strength and
stiffness. This is in addition to the two bid, e-glass that was already
there. Since I have had to tear up the plane, I decided to do both sides
to be sure I don't have to do this repair again.
The point I am trying to make is, if you own an ES-P, you need to keep a
close eye on this joint to see if yours is strong enough. My plane has at
least 1/8 inch of micro fairing over the outside, and that may have contributed
to the paint cracking since micro doesn't flex very well.
Just a friendly warning!!!
Cliff Scheel
N272CS
Dry Creek Airpark
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