Double TW spring updgrade

[C5Engineer 1170]

I had the little crappy single spring on my airplane since I got it. It bent during an off airport landing the other day and I've been told it's not if but when it was going to snap off. I picked up the this double TW spring from Airdale for $120. I had to drill an extra hole in the channel for the second bolt and I had to open up a small hole in the fabric to put the bolt in. You have to grind the head of the bolt down some to fit between the longerons. Also I had to re-rig my chains because it's longer than the stock spring. The geometry of my TW is much better now. This is a new type of spring that Brett just started selling. It has much more flex than the previous versions of the airdale double spring.

BEFORE

AFTER

And this is what happens when you open a place on an airplane that has been sealed since it was built. I found all this crap in the very bottom of the tail where the tubing comes together. Basically everything that had been dropped anywhere inside the plane made it's way here. Some of it probably came from when the horizontal stab was off several times in the past because that makes a straight shot down into the tail. That's a gascolater screen, a hinge pin, a castle nut, and other random crap. There was also a Penny stuck in there that I couldn't get out. Guess it'll be my good luck penny.

Testing the new spring

[akflyer 1427]

when I pulled the covering off mine I found about 5 pounds of shit in the tail including about 5 sets of keys, a shoe, some wheel chocks, about 15 bucks in change and shitloads of nuts, bolts, cotter keys etc..

[saskavid 47]

Looks real good Joey. I notice that the new spring has attachment provisions for 2 bolts to be used to attach to the ac frame. Was your plane already setukp for that or did you have to do some drilling and other finingilling to make it work?How wide is the top spring before it was ground down to fit?

Mike

I had the little crappy single spring on my airplane since I got it. It bent during an off airport landing the other day and I've been told it's not if but when it was going to snap off. I picked up the this double TW spring from Airdale for $120. I had to drill an extra hole in the channel for the second bolt and I had to open up a small hole in the fabric to put the bolt in. You have to grind the head of the bolt down some to fit between the longerons. Also I had to re-rig my chains because it's longer than the stock spring. The geometry of my TW is much better now. This is a new type of spring that Brett just started selling. It has much more flex than the previous versions of the airdale double spring.

BEFORE

AFTER

And this is what happens when you open a place on an airplane that has been sealed since it was built. I found all this crap in the very bottom of the tail where the tubing comes together. Basically everything that had been dropped anywhere inside the plane made it's way here. Some of it probably came from when the horizontal stab was off several times in the past because that makes a straight shot down into the tail. That's a gascolater screen, a hinge pin, a castle nut, and other random crap. There was also a Penny stuck in there that I couldn't get out. Guess it'll be my good luck penny.

Testing the new spring

[saskavid 47]

Duh..too busy looking at the pretty pictures to read what you said about the installation. The more gradual spring bend should prove to be more durable over time.

Mike

[dholly 718]

...This is a new type of spring that Brett just started selling. It has much more flex than the previous versions of the airdale double spring.

That looks a lot better than your old setup Joey! I have the 'old' Airdale double on the Avid+ where I suspect it is just fine for a heavier airframe, but I wonder just how much stiffness differs between the two. Just curious, did Brett offer any actual comparison figures by chance?

[C5Engineer 1170]

Here is a vid I took for another guy to show how much flex this one has....