I'm doing an annual inspection on a Catabria 7KCAB and have found the spar/stringer on the belly, going from the elevator pulley bracket going aft, under the battery, toward the tail of the aircraft, has a couple of problems.
Starting at the tail and coming forward approximently 12 to 16 inches of the spar/stringer is rolled over. Severe damage starts where the spar/stringer has twisted and rolled over and shows evidence of the twist with cracks and breaks. Under the battery compartment the spar/stringer shows signs of longitutidinal splitting in the wood in 2 or 3 spots that are 3 to 4 inches long. Damage from the spar/stringer is putting pressure on the right elevator pulley, (the pulleys are approximently 15 inches forward of the battery), preventing the right pulley to move freely. The most forward part of this spar/stringer, directly under the elevator pulley's, is poking through the fuselage fabric.
Questions? Is this spar/stringer structural or for conturing the fuselage? Is this a normal identified problem with this spar/stringer on the Citabria? How hard of a repair is it to install a new spar/stringer and can it be done without removing the fabric? Are there preassembled wood spars/stringer on the market that can be purchased or do they have to be made IAW the AC43.13 using the old spar/stringer as a template? Any help would be appreciated. E-mail: lbraswell1@satx.rr.com.
Starting at the tail and coming forward approximently 12 to 16 inches of the spar/stringer is rolled over. Severe damage starts where the spar/stringer has twisted and rolled over and shows evidence of the twist with cracks and breaks. Under the battery compartment the spar/stringer shows signs of longitutidinal splitting in the wood in 2 or 3 spots that are 3 to 4 inches long. Damage from the spar/stringer is putting pressure on the right elevator pulley, (the pulleys are approximently 15 inches forward of the battery), preventing the right pulley to move freely. The most forward part of this spar/stringer, directly under the elevator pulley's, is poking through the fuselage fabric.
Questions? Is this spar/stringer structural or for conturing the fuselage? Is this a normal identified problem with this spar/stringer on the Citabria? How hard of a repair is it to install a new spar/stringer and can it be done without removing the fabric? Are there preassembled wood spars/stringer on the market that can be purchased or do they have to be made IAW the AC43.13 using the old spar/stringer as a template? Any help would be appreciated. E-mail: lbraswell1@satx.rr.com.