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Mark.Gray(at)Takata.com
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 Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:12 am Post subject: broken cage |
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I have been preparing my Firestar II for its airworthiness inspection and last night was sitting in it admiring the completed work. As I moved to exit the plane I heard a band and found myself flat on my back, the seat back support tube that crossed the cage behind the seat had separated from the cage sides. The side tubes had been ripped out leaving gaping fish mouth shaped holes. There was no sign of corrosion around the welds or in the tubes. If this had happened in flight I imagine I would have had a lot more to worry about than welding it back in and a little fabric repair. I don’t think it would have been possible to control the aircraft without the seatback as there is nothing that could be easily used to support oneself in a position to hold the stick. I doubt I could have even reached the chute handle since it is located forward of the throttle.
I weigh 230lb and am not very rough on my bird, so anybody flying a Firestar II may want to give these connections a good going over. I will be checking all the welds in my frame with magnaflux as soon as I can get my hands on one. Total time on the cage is approximately 400 hrs.
Mark Gray
Firestar II N229K
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The information in this email and attachments hereto may contain legally privileged, proprietary or confidential information that is intended for a particular recipient. If you are not the intended recipient(s), or the employee or agent responsible for delivery of this message to the intended recipient(s), you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, retention or use of the contents of this e-mail information is prohibited and may be unlawful. When addressed to Takata customers or vendors, any information contained in this e-mail is subject to the terms and conditions in the governing contract, if applicable. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify us by return e-mail, permanently delete any electronic copies of this communication and destroy any paper copies.
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JetPilot
Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 1246
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jb92563
Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 314
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 6:27 am Post subject: Re: broken cage |
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Did the welds fail or was the tubing metal peeled out with the weld?
Sounds like the welds are suspect, how did you weld them? Gas/Arc? What filler material?
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_________________
Ray
Kolb UltraStar (Cuyuna UL-202)
Moni MotorGlider
Schreder HP-11 Glider
Grob 109 Motorglider
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The BaronVonEvil
Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 76
Location: Walla Walla, WA.
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| Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 7:23 am Post subject: Re: broken cage |
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Hi Mark,
When I first got my Firestar II (used), I noticed that the very same tube in my plane was curved. I inspected the tube and welds for cracks or breaks and could not find any. I then very carefully straightened the tube.
I too realized that the seat back was deforming the tube so what I did was to make a support platform that transfered the pressure from the seat back to the main gear truss which is a heck of allot beefier.
I made the platform out of 1/8" ply and placed wood stringers cut to the same thickness as the seat support tube in a pattern of an "H" (with a double horizontal leg) underneath the ply to transfer the pressure of the seat back. to the main gear truss. The two horizontal legs of the "H" line up between the seat stop bolts and the gear truss. Platform was a snug fit to make sure there was full support of the seat back support tube.
I also ended up purchasing a heavier duty seat back from Kolb. Mine would bend right at the point where the seat makes contact with the seat back stop bolts.
I have not had any problems with the seat back or the seat back support tube.
Best Regards
Carlos Grageda
TBVE
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FLYMICHIGAN(at)comcast.ne
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| Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 5:06 pm Post subject: broken cage |
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Mark.Gray(at)Takata.com
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| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 4:28 am Post subject: broken cage |
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| Quote: | | The welds did not fail it was the side tubes that peeled out, this was a factory welded frame. It is hopefully going to be re-welded with gussets added by a local EAA guru this weekend. Mark |
Time:
07:28:39 AM PST US
Subject:
Re: broken cage
From:
"jb92563" <jb92563(at)yahoo.com (jb92563(at)yahoo.com)> 012345678
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The information in this email and attachments hereto may contain legally privileged, proprietary or confidential information that is intended for a particular recipient. If you are not the intended recipient(s), or the employee or agent responsible for delivery of this message to the intended recipient(s), you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, retention or use of the contents of this e-mail information is prohibited and may be unlawful. When addressed to Takata customers or vendors, any information contained in this e-mail is subject to the terms and conditions in the governing contract, if applicable. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify us by return e-mail, permanently delete any electronic copies of this communication and destroy any paper copies.
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