Earthstar Forums

Tail Boom Jockeys,


I have a separation in the fiberglass "boat tail" joint just above where the tail boom meets the fuselage. As I remember, it has always been there and I had assumed it was simply a separation of the joint where the "teardrop" shape of the fuselage meets. I have noticed lately that the separation appears to have gotten a little longer. My intent was to fiberglass over the joint to close it up & strengthen it. However on further inspection, I find that by moving the tail boom up and down there is a slight distortion on the fiberglass (the joint gap gets a small amount larger & smaller as the boom is moved up & down). Knowing it is possible there is a crack in the boom socket mechanism somewhere I have made an initial flashlight inspection from the cockpit (of the tailboom area) and cannot see anything suspicious however I know Mike S had a crack in his tail boom socket, so I'm investigating it further.


Has anyone else had this issue (besides Mike), or is a small amount of movement normal?


Thanks much,


Skot


HKS Odyssey

Hmmmmm, that does raise an eyebrow. I look at mine all the time and there are no cracks or movement. I would look real close with a strong light and have somebody else wiggle the boom up and down. Seems to me there should be no play whatsoever.

This is exactly how mine started out 2 or 3 years ago. I took out the fuel tank and could not find anything wrong then. I just assumed it was the tube flexing. Last fall it seemed to be a little worse so when I did my spring annual I climbed right in there and had someone move the tail boom and it was obvious.

Mike S

Hi Skot
Just my 2 cents worth. Where the fiberglass meets the tail boom this connection will be in a shear force when the tail boom flexes.It doesn,t take much to shear the joint. Unless you used aerospace adhesive to bond the fibergass to the tail boom I believe it will eventually crack your fiberglass to boom connection. (Mark - I am assuming the boom does flex some what.)
It does not mean you have a cracked tailboom just a bad bonding job of the none structural fiberglass.
Fred

Hi Fred
Yes there is flexing of the tail boom and the fiberglass is not structural but if there is looseness at that joint than there may be damage to the welded tail boom socket or steel tubing.
Most of the time it's a false alarm, I have 2300 hrs on my odyssey and at an annual inspection we noticed more than normal flex. I found a broken steel tube on the bottom.
This plane has been used for training and flowen mostly from rough dirt strips with lots of tail wheel strikes on over rotations. I cut the fiberglass to give access and after welding the broken tube and painting with black rustolium Taped the fiberglass back in place and fiberglassed on the inside after sanding the inside surface so that the polyester resin and fiberglass will stick than bondo and paint the seam, no need to get to carried away, just return it to its original design.
Happy Flying
Mark

Sent from my iPhone

I’ve seen the boom flex when the plane rocks back on the tail wheel after a wind gust, as the Gull 2000 normally sits on it’s nose wheel, although mine has only 8 lbs on it and is easily flipped back on it’s tail wheel if not secured. When it’s breezy, I just put it on it’s tail so the boom doesn’t flex and maybe crack the fiberglass, and when I’m at a fly-in, it’s secured like a J/JT2 model, or a 3-legged stool slid under the boom to keep it up. I now have a new area to look at during annual condition inspection.