Service Bulletin No. 70

When I first bought N9GZ from the John Mark Stroud back in '09, I noticed some small cracking at the base of the vertical fin. These cracks seemed to be a paint issue but I followed up with John and he provided some email correspondence from the factory on their take on the issue. Their view was quote "Nothing I see gives me a concern for structural integrity since the vertical fin structure relies primarily on the vertical fin spar and secure attachment to the fin trailing edges and bulkhead C. The cracks are surface in nature, stemming from flexing or expansion of the adhesive joint on the right half of the vertical fin."

So I kind of forgot about it since there wasn't any structural problems with the plane. Over the next two years or so, the crack grew slightly and if anything,  I was starting to let this small blemish on an otherwise nice paint job start to bother me. I knew that I had to get this fixed one day but I kept putting it off. I was worried about matching the color and wondering who could I trust with painting the plane. Then I started reading of some other owners who had similar cracks and thought maybe there's something more going on here. It wasn't long before Glasair released Service Bulletin No. 70.

The you read through the bulletin, you'll see what amounts to the issues and the fix. It involves sanding down the area and also installing a reinforcement piece to the vertical spar at bulkhead C. I ordered the part for the spar and had Joe at A&P do the install. Thankfully there were no deep cracks and everything pointed to just some cosmetic cracking. However, now I had to see who could paint the plane to match the original color. Well, the closest guy also happens to be the best around, Ed's Aircraft Refinishing over at Brookhaven airport. The problem was getting an appointment.

Eventually, Ed found time for me and did a great job adding the additional composite to the area and matching the paint.

So for now, all good.