Transport damages looking for the experts opinions

[James Bailey]

Ok..got the long ez I bought back to Tennessee from California..the transport guy indicated he had some straps break along the way…must have been some ski ramp launches along the way on my wings..the winglets outside behind the running lights..definitely look like bulges..I and another guy am assuming delamination…not sure if this is potentially repairable or if I am looking at building new wings and winglets

 

canard obviously was one of the items that shifted and now I have a hole all the way to the blue foam on the leading edge bottom of the canard about 20 inches from the tip..when he arrived it was sitting against the brake and the nipple had definitely created the hole that you see

 

For the real experts..please don’t hold back on your suggestions and guidance 

 

[Marc Zeitlin]

15 minutes ago, James Bailey said:

...the winglets outside behind the running lights..definitely look like bulges..I and another guy am assuming delamination…not sure if this is potentially repairable or if I am looking at building new wings and winglets...

So the thing you're calling "delamination" is most certainly not "delamination", which is when the layers of fiberglass separate from one another. What most people in the community call "delamination" is actually a "disbond", when ALL of the layers of fiberglass/epoxy separate from the underlying core (foam, usually).

In THIS case, however, there are two questions:

1. when you push on that seemingly raised area, is it soft and can you deform it easily, or does it feel very solid?
2. If you push on the top of the winglet both inboard (can push pretty hard) or outboard (do NOT push very hard), is there any relative motion of the winglet with respect to the wing at the root of the winglet, or does it seem very solidly attached?

If the answer to (1) is "solid" and the answer to (2) is "no motion at the root", then there's PROBABLY no structural damage, and probably nothing to fix. I'd have to see it in person, though, to make a definitive statement.

17 minutes ago, James Bailey said:

canard obviously was one of the items that shifted and now I have a hole all the way to the blue foam on the leading edge bottom of the canard about 20 inches from the tip..when he arrived it was sitting against the brake and the nipple had definitely created the hole that you see

This is not a structural issue - it's just a hole in the skin. Sand the surrounding area down to the skin, fill the hole with foam, sand flush, and then patch per the plans with the skin plies and one extra ply of BID. Fill and finish.

I sincerely hope that you get a large refund from the shipper.

[James Bailey]

Thank you Marc

you certainly gave me better news than what I was bracing for..I thought for sure I was about to order cnc cut foam..I will definitely do the test in the morning that you outlined 

 

I also appreciate the better understanding of terminology and definitions of delamination and de bonding and will certainly do better in the future on my statements of assumptions..I figured you and Ken would provide sage advice

 

i bought the extra insurance..let’s see how that goes on making a claim

 

good thing is the fuselage definitely faired better..I have several things to figure out why and how he did things

one example is ..I do not at this point see any kind of manual tank selector fuel valve..but I do see an electronic switch for left tank and another for right tank…both are like a three way switch center and then rocker up and down..i thought those would be to a fuel level gauge..no gauge on the dash..I need to dig deeper on the plumbing ..his son told me that he was an electrical engineer and had some small role on the Rutan Voyager project..I am digging thru the plans that he made notes on as well as his many receipts ..he may have(at this point pure unadulterated speculation) he did some kind of electronic valves..

[Kent Ashton]

Shame it got that damage but it all looks repairable.  The bulge at the lower winglet might just be tapes that attached the lower winglet to the rudder.  In that case it'd be an easy fix.   I doubt it is the big layups that wrap the outside of the winglet and the bottom of the wing but those too can be reinforced.  I would probably cut into that bulge enough to tell what happened.

[James Bailey]

No squishy feel on either bulge..both are pretty solid..and both are pretty much at the same place on both winglets..I think Kent is on to what it probably is… and winglet deflection is only at the tops and it not that much deflection, the attachment area appears to be zero movement …I appreciate you guys and your very hands on knowledge with these aircraft