Originally Posted by
hsw_ping
Can anyone explain why the low wing-hours for the Piper? I've not been able to get a decent explanation and it seems to be something that people quote a lot, but I'm not sure of the reason.
Surprised no-one has answered before now - spar fatigue is the short answer. You could look up
this site for the AD & further info.
FWIW I learnt a little about aircraft structural fatigue from Nevil Shute's book
No Highway, which was an interesting read for a youngster of my time.
At the time of writing this I believe the subject of structural fatigue was fairly speculative but as he was an engineer of some repute I suspect there was a degree of experiential thesis there. Certainly the story pre-dated the Comet issues, but not to a huge degree.
Sorry for the drift, the main thing is to ensure your [prospective] Tommy is up-to-date with all its AD's (there are others) and well in time as this wing spar mod shows..!
FP.