Good thing this happened during pre-flight. I think I mentioned that I didn't like the use of the curved aileron control horns on the connectors between the upper and lower ailerons. The geometry was all wrong so the forces that transfer the lower aileron movment to the upper aileron tended to pry the horns in ways that reallly stress them. As I was warming up the engine I ran the controls through their range of motion and this little shit popped out. My wife kindly hopped in her car for the 2 minute drive from my house and brought some CA (failed to have any in my field box), but it popped out again after 15 min drying. So I packed up and headed home.
Shame... the winds were light, the filed recently mowed, the sun obscured.
When I got home I took some epoxy horns and cut them to fit. I wanted straight alignment so the forces are more linear and not trying to pry the horns loose. I didn't change the upper aileron horns... I suppose I should.
I drilled a few holes in the tab to hold the epoxy, and epoxied them into place with 15 min cure. After a couple of hours they are solidly secured. i painted them black, and in the morning will connect them. i am confident this will solve the prying problem. I will consider changing the upper ones too.
Tomorrow is supposed to be rather windy... it may be a few days before I can fly again.
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