Maintenance Issues
Worn noseleg
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Evidence of a worn noseleg
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The Shadow noseleg can get wobbly after much use. Check for the tyre rubbing on the trailing arms, bent bolts, worn spacers and ovalised holes.
Adrian Jones has developed an upgrade for the Shadow noseleg. It reinforces the noseleg tube, where the trailing arms are attached. |
Reinforced noseleg tube (available from Adrian Jones)
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Worn tailplane tubes
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Plastic tailplane bushes
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Over time, the four 3mm thick alloy bushes (riveted inside the boom) wear away at the tailplane spar tubes, potentially weakening the structure. Service Bulletin 2329 requires that the tailplane tubes are checked for wear every 50 hours or annually.
To avoid this wear, Danny Crosbie supplies an upgrade kit for Shadow and Streak booms (LAA Mod 11656), consisting of pre-curved plastic bushes, fastenings and instructions. The installation tools can be borrowed from Danny. |
Crosbie plastic tailplane bushes installed on a Shadow (G-MTHT)
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How to Fit a Kit
Order the plastic tailplane bush kit from Danny Crosbie. Then grab a coffee, get comfy and watch Alan Child's video (14 mins). It will help you understand the installation process. |
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Gallery - install Crosbie bushes (Alan Child)
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Hanger bracket failure
Broken hanger bracket
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Read a 2008 article (courtesy of LAA) about a Hanger Bracket failure on a Shadow. This triangular plate (F153) connects the front end of boom tube to the forward hangar tubes.
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Worn boom attachments
Worn boom holes (at rear hanger)
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A 26-year old Shadow C-D was grounded because of observable movement in the wing-to-fuselage attachments. The tail end of the boom could be moved up and down about 45mm, without affecting the fuselage. The boom tube was resting on the alloy gusset that ties the two rear hanger tubes together.
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Worn rear hanger sleeve (cf new sleeve at top)
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From the photos, you can see what kind of wear is possible on older Shadows, especially those built from kitsets. It would be worth checking your Shadow for any up/down movement of the boom (relative to the hanger tubes).
The actual repairs were very quick, but lots of time was needed to dismantle the wing centre section from the fuselage and remove the boom, followed later by re-assembly, covering and painting. |
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