Cracks in Rudder spars

[Chris Bullerdick]

[David Lawrence - N8378P]

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[Stephan Mackenzie]

I checked mine yesterday...

Removed rudder, stripped paint to bare metal, and sure enough, on the top hinge point, a small half inch crack right around where the edge of the cast hinge would impact the spar....

I have a local structures guy that will replace the spar, radius the edges on the hinge hardware and re-assemble, while we are doing the Horn and Tubes...

[Pat Donovan]

I checked mine a couple of days ago and found no cracks, but did find a single, full size washer associated with the right hand bolt between the bracket and the spar. No washer associated with the left hand bolt. Apparently the bird left the factory that way even though it's very bad practice.

Replaced the washer with a 'sloping' shim extending across both bolts to eliminate the uneven stress, while maintaining the necessary hinge alignment.

Pat

[Doug Linville]

[Chris Kuyoth]

[Bob Williams]

[Jim Worley]

[Ben Ayalon]

[howard]

My 250 had a crack about a quarter inch long under top hinge . fixed at XU aviation in london ont quickly for about 500 bucks. they put a new spar in rudder . Good work , bolts dropped right back in.
Howard

[fowlerflaps]

Just had my 1969 PA30C rudder removed and checked for cracks. No cracks evident during inspection. My aircraft has apprx 5500 TTAF.

Chad

[Ben Ayalon]

I wonder if the rudder cracks are just like the horn cracks, another "singles" issue.

Ben