Wing Spar Crack Repairs Slow Down Airbus A380 Return To Service

Flex Seal is the appropriate fix for sure.

I'm 90 years old, I think the DC 3 was born the same year as me, 1932. Great airplane, many trips in one while in the R.C.A.F.

The amount of flex in these heavy aircraft, large span modern wings during high AOA low or high airspeed events, (takeoff and landing, turbulence), means modular elasticity will have a predictable effect on aluminum and other highly stressed metals over numerous cycle events. 787's are having similar issues with titanium stringer/longeron to spar attach fittings, which is exactly what is really goin' on here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elastic_modulus

Do de maff, don't bend the wings too much.

“there are cases in which wingboxes were produced years before actual entry-into-service of the aircraft, meaning “younger” aircraft can be affected, too, if wings had been stored for an extended period.“

Not my field of expertise, but the suggestion that the wing boxes begin to fail in storage after production but before entry into service seems to beg for skepticism. Is the 7449 composite made from banana peels?

Definitely not good.
Airbus should study DC-3 design. Some of those planes are older than I am (83)and still flying

@Joe , , ,, you a financial advisor to the airlines? Hahaha..

Cheers

The mentality of the folks at Airbus baffles me. Chunks of paint and composite, wing cracks, etc. none of that constitutes a problem to them. As airframe manufacturers, they certainly are arrogant. I am sure some of their customers and some of those who might be a customer some day are thinking the same thing. They don't stand by their products, and nothing is a problem. I would not be too encouraged to buy from them. All commercial and military airframe manufacturers have had to deal with wing cracks from time to time. They figure out a fix, take care of it, and move on.

I just observe....

With these issues surfacing, maybe Boeing could have found a market for the 747-8 as a replacement to the 380 which will become too expensive to fix. Wing issues to my knowledge is something that did not affect 747's.

When I was flying lot for business my moto was "If it isn't a Boeing, I'm not going".

Good they don't fly with major issues like Boeing.

Boeings don't do this ! Great structure and amateur flight software.