something crazy happened today

Here I am flying my nice pa-12 along on a very windy day and I hear this VERY loud pop. The plane kept flying fine so flew it back to my place on the lake. It turns out the right fuel tank cover on top of the wing was ripped off luckily over a lake. All the screws that hold that 33"x 37" cover are still in place, which means the aluminum ripped out of them. That is the freaky part!!?? I did a good preflight before departing and all was good. Has anybody ever experinced this problem? BTW I need a right side fuel tank cover if anybody has a spare

Doesn't the PA12 have a hinged cover with the hinge at the leading edge?

I find a lot of fuel tank covers cracked and also with the wrong screws. The leading edge and trailing edge screws should be machine screws and shouldn't be very long or they dig into the spar cap. The screws on the sides go into Tinnerman nuts.

I have the round style air filter and had the cover disappear during a flight one time the nut was still there but no cover hmmmm. Took off flew for an hour no stops inbetween landed and noticed it was gone looked where I taxied, took off, and landed never found it. I would of thought with the wind pushing on it wouldn't allow it to come off....bought a new one with a reinforcement rivited on the front shouldn't waller out this time.

I was flying my buddys 182 YEARS ago,, I was right seat and he was left.. This was his old 182 and the hinges werent that good on the right door...

Anyway,, flying along and SWOOOSH... the door blows off,, flipped up and dented the bottom of the wing.. He flew around the next day and found it in a farmers field.. retrieved it and put it back on with top hinges to make a jump door out of it..

I guess the old duct tape finally wore out and let the hinges slip.. :lol:

Same here. Lost a bunch of the air filter nose bowls??? Where the heck do those go during flight? I lost one of the inspection covers right after I bought the darn thing. I could see it slowly wiggilin off. It was like throwing 7.00 dollars out the window.

eslboat said:

Here I am flying my nice pa-12 along on a very windy day and I hear this VERY loud pop. The plane kept flying fine so flew it back to my place on the lake. It turns out the right fuel tank cover on top of the wing was ripped off luckily over a lake. All the screws that hold that 33"x 37" cover are still in place, which means the aluminum ripped out of them. That is the freaky part!!?? I did a good preflight before departing and all was good. Has anybody ever experinced this problem? BTW I need a right side fuel tank cover if anybody has a spare

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Have heard of on 12 stlye departing also with loud pop... He was diving at the time...... I assume its balloning then front hinge comes loose from leading edge and then balloons more and good bye!

I will send my customer a note he had a set we just upgraded to -23 Dakotas..... Aren't left and right the same other than notches for straps cut out?... Been a while.......

Thanks Mike , They have different part #'s so not sure if they are the same .

They are different covers. The holes are closer to the edge on one side. I think I may have one I could send you. I will look on fri when I get home. Text or call.

Kevin Cencer
612-306-6745

tank cover

I had the very same think happen to me, when it went it wrecked both ribs that it was screwed to. Mine had the tank cover that hinged. The hinge broke at every screw hole where it was attached to the metal by the front spar. I examined the other hinge and found that every hole under each screw was egg shaped. When I pushed down on top of the hinge it would move up and down. When I recovered the wings I attached the tank lids in the same manner as a super cub using nut plates and did away with the hinge.

Just some thoughts on the way the -12s tank lids are on there.....

The outboard and inboard edges of the tank lid are held on by some small L-shaped brackets which support a tinnerman clip for a #8 sheetmetal screw. Thats fine, however it seems many of the tinnermans are stripped and arent really holding anything down. I used the clips for the inboard edge and nut plates and machine screws for the outboard edge. I think the machine screws are a much better and safer idea. Make sure that after you cover the wing, the tank lid is flush with the leading edge. Its kind of hard to refit the hinge over the fabric and drill the holes, so take some time and care to make it right.............

Many of the tank lids have oblong holes and I have a couple of tank lids that line up very poorly. Over the years people have tried to force a screw in a hole that isnt lined up and they get oblonged. :lol: I have used some large area washers along with machine screws. The washer provides a little more area and dosent allow the lid to pull away from the wing as much. It looks fine and works well.

Finally, make sure the inboard edge of the lid is under the wing fairing. I have seen them on top and it seems like asking for trouble. Easier to open, but............?

When you open the lids, its always a two person job. If you let the lid swing or get blown over center, you will wreck the leading edge of the lid and hinge.

Thanks Kevin! That would save me a lot of time fabricating a new one !!

I had the exact thing happen to me. Load bang, sounded like a slap on the hood of a car. Landed right away, and tank inspection cover was gone. My belief is the bolts that held the hinge were comprimmised. Not original design error.
PS! It fell harmlessly into Florida wetlands. I was unable to recover it.

Steve Pierce said:

Doesn't the PA12 have a hinged cover with the hinge at the leading edge?

I find a lot of fuel tank covers cracked and also with the wrong screws. The leading edge and trailing edge screws should be machine screws and shouldn't be very long or they dig into the spar cap. The screws on the sides go into Tinnerman nuts.

Click to expand...

Yes. Mechanics do not understand screw hole sizes or what to do if one spins. Apparently there is some school somewhere that instructs mechanics to replace screws with the next size up, even if it deforms both substrates. This school also instructs mechanics that a screw is a screw....even if it is a sheet metal screw. They still fit in machine screw holes so it must be right.

behindpropellers said:

Yes. Mechanics do not understand screw hole sizes or what to do if one spins. Apparently there is some school somewhere that instructs mechanics to replace screws with the next size up, even if it deforms both substrates. This school also instructs mechanics that a screw is a screw....even if it is a sheet metal screw. They still fit in machine screw holes so it must be right.

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Who works on YOUR aircraft?

Web

Another reason to put Atlee tanks I'm your -12, no tank covers to blow up & go bye bye.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

wireweinie said:

Who works on YOUR aircraft?

Web

Click to expand...

Web,

I guess it is the prior owners.....

I work on my stuff as much as possible.

Tim

My favorite is when the top wing root fairing rips off except for the last couple of screw at the trailing edge. It flails around out there slicing up the fabric.

behindpropellers said:

Web,

I guess it is the prior owners.....

I work on my stuff as much as possible.

Tim

Click to expand...

Just because a pilot crashes because of poor judgement doesn't mean all pilots do the same. Not all mechanics (or avionics types) make bad decisions just because a few do.

Web

My PA-12 is 2 weeks older than I am. The old metal on the tank hinge has been vibrating for 70 years. They fly up because there is lift on top of the wing. Not good if it hits the tail.

There are a lot of lifting forces on the top of a wing. I watched a home built biplane which resembled a Stearman with a one piece top wing doing an airshow in Florida. After one particular high stress maneuver I noticed something flapping at the top tip of the left wing. Within a very short period of time the fabric separated along the entire leading edge from tip to tip/ It peeled back with the entire piece of fabric standing vertically flapping in the breeze. The airplane slowed nose high trying to remain airborne. The pilot bailed out and the plane crashed and burned.

THERE ARE A LOT OF UP LIFTING FORCES ON THE TOP OF A WING. WHICH WITH A FORWARD AIRSPEED HAS CONSIDERABLE RIPPING FORCE!

skywagon8a said:

There are a lot of lifting forces on the top of a wing. I watched a home built biplane which resembled a Stearman with a one piece top wing doing an airshow in Florida. After one particular high stress maneuver I noticed something flapping at the top tip of the left wing. Within a very short period of time the fabric separated along the entire leading edge from tip to tip/ It peeled back with the entire piece of fabric standing vertically flapping in the breeze. The airplane slowed nose high trying to remain airborne. The pilot bailed out and the plane crashed and burned.

THERE ARE A LOT OF UP LIFTING FORCES ON THE TOP OF A WING. WHICH WITH A FORWARD AIRSPEED HAS CONSIDERABLE RIPPING FORCE!

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Everyone should fly a rag wing Ercoupe so that they can see Bernoulli at work.

Glenn

I owned my 12 for 30 years and no problems with tank covers.....and then pop. Almost all screws were still attached including hinge screws. I had that side tank replaced at the annual 4 months earlier. Fortunately minor damage, need less to say I had the cover, brackets, nut plates, clips and screws replaced all new. I wish I would have read KJC's comments before installation of the tank. I was also pleasantly surprised the insurance covered the total cost. I really didn't want to put a used cover with oblong holes back on top.

Live and learn