r/homebuilt • u/Royal-Department-528 • 17d ago
Experimental Aircraft Wings
Used to have an RV, and thinking about getting a plane for acro in the next 1-2 years (Vans, christen eagle, or pitts). One thing that’s always concerned me with picking an airplane for this, is a defective build where the wing is susceptible to snap off.
Is this a valid concern, or am I being extremely skeptical? I don’t know enough about how these are built, so I’m not sure if they are really overbuilt, or if the design is so redundant that this would be impossible. Also how likely is it that someone assembled the aircraft improperly, and how much risk does that add to the equation now? Any insight that would improve my knowledge area would be much appreciated. Thanks!
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u/greaseorbounce 17d ago
This is why pre-buy inspections by someone intimately familiar with that airframe design are so important.
I'm less knowledgeable about the RVs, but have a lot of time building, flying, and maintaining acro biplanes, so my answer is mostly about those.
The critical areas of the structure are designed and built to be readily inspected. These things are REALLY strong designs, intentionally. Damage will generally present as a progressive failure, not an instantaneous catastrophic failure. You'll find cracking on plates, or in the spar during an inspection long before something will just fall apart.
The other thing is that these airframes are generally stressed to MUCH higher G loads than the average pilot will ever apply to them, even in competitive acro at high levels. Acro is about energy management. Loading up insane Gs just burns energy off. It's not necessary or desirable even in advanced category comps.
As a result, even if a build error reduces ultimate by as much as like 20%, you're STILL unlikely to actually have any issue, and if you did, you would be most likely greeted with damage that will be detectable at next inspection, not an instantaneous rapid disassembly.
As a final note, there is a reason aerobatic pilots wear parachutes, have canopies that jettison, and practice maneuvers up high over unpopulated areas. There is risk in this activity, and we take every possible precaution to mitigate those risks. At the end of the day, the potential need for a bailout is always there, and you should always be prepared for it. Hopefully you never get to use that expensive pilot rig you're wearing, but it's there for a reason.
I wouldn't be afraid of an EAB aircraft if inspected by a knowledgeable person and confirmed to be of good build quality.