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Is this wing flyable, or does it need to be rebuilt?

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Cass256

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 29, 2020
Messages
71
Location
Burlington, Vermont USA
Long story short, my RR3 was ground looped (something smacked the wingtip's leading edge, the ground or otherwise) before I got it & the left wing has "minor" damage.

wing 1.jpg
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Sorry if there's any formatting issues, posting from my phone for the first time.

As you can see, two of the aluminum drag tubes are damaged (one bent, one broken at the rear spar) & the root rib & wingtip are warped. I'm confident I can replace the damaged drag tubes, but I'm not sure if I should even be flying this wing, the spars sweep backwards about 1° or 2° as well.

As far as I understand the history on the plane, it was ground looped & then put in a trailer, so I don't think it's flown since (thankfully). Everything else looks fine (other than some slight bends in the trailing edge piece) & I probably wouldn't've noticed the damage if I hadn't taken the fabric off.

Is it worth it to repair this wing? Would it still be airworthy? Or should I just build a new wing from scratch & not risk unseen spar damage?
 

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