Aircraft:
All ultralight aircraft using cables to operated any control system. Some aircraft with
reported problems: Chinook, Buccaneer, CGS Hawk, Challenger,
Incident report:
Several ultralight pilots have reported abnormal wear on control cables, especially where
the cable passes through a cable guide, or fairlead.
In some ultralight aircraft with
complete body enclosures it has been found that when the aircraft was parked dirt and
debris are washed to the rear of the aircraft, where it accumulates around the control
cables and the guides.
Then the control systems back and forth action, coupled with the
debris wear into the cable causing it to fail.
In some cases this wear is impossible to find in even the most thorough preflight, unless
access is cut into the area where the cables are routed.
This wear has also been found in
aileron systems using cables for controls, where moisture and dirt collect in the trailing
edge of the wing, around routing pulleys and guides.
Suggestions:
It is highly recommended that if you have a ultralight aircraft which routes its control
cables through guides, ( in some cases the guide is just outer cable protection) that you
check for any fraying of your cables at any spot where the cables may come in contact with
dirt, and make access panels if necessary to visually inspect any hidden areas.
