[rollei_list] Re: I'm back!

  • From: Don Williams <dwilli10@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2006 18:22:58 -0700

At 05:48 PM 7/6/2006 -0700, you wrote:

Kieth,

Naw! What he really means is that the main wing spar has the web made of aluminium and the spar caps are made of a different metal. This leads to
bi-metallic corrosion in which the least anodic metal is corroded away.


Probably Don could explain it better, as I just had 3 Margaritas and might have difficulty explaining metallurgical problems.

Glad to hear from Don again.

Jerry

Rocky explained it a different way, but I may have it wrong since I was sitting in my car to depart Wilmington after a dive session and he was kneeling outside with the engine running.


My understanding is that the main spar was extruded with one aluminum alloy on the inside and another over that. That completely hid any anodic effects from casual inspection and the problem was found as a result of either a crash, or at least a failure on the ground, maybe even when a plane was being chopped up in the bone yard.

I can't say Jerry is not correct about built-up construction since he's in the business, but that doesn't explain why a simple inspection of a built-up assembly wouldn't have disclosed the problem earlier.

Anyhow, I just found Kent Rockwell's email address and sent him a query. The message hasn't bounced yet so I suppose I have the right one.

I do know that Rocky did about 50 Mustangs at Corona and then quit that business, not sure why; however I think the job just took too much personal supervision, given the ultimate risks. I also know that he did not do Tom Cruise's P-51.

I do have the notion that some re builders did not always install a new-model main spar, but on the other hand I haven't heard of any crashes in the civilian sector due to wing failure.

We will see.

Don Williams
La Jolla, CA

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