Left Aileron Hinge Binding

[bbuckley]

I had a great training experience tonight flying from KSFO to KOAK on the Pilot Edge network. About halfway through the flight I couldn't get any left aileron control deflection. After declaring an emergency and safely landing using rudder for left lateral control, I checked into the maintenance hanger and it said I should have done a pre-flight and that the left aileron hinge was binding. I did do a Shift 8 pre-flight as always but I didn't notice anything different in the pics of the aileron hinges. Did I just miss it? Is there actually a different pic to catch the hinge binding?
Thanks!
Bruce
(BTW RW commercial pilot and fly C172 regularly)

[Oracle427]

Yes there will be a difference in the picture and it is subtle, just as it likely would be IRL. You should see the hinge out of alignment with the pin missing or partially out. At least that is how I found it once.

[bbuckley]

Thanks. I tried going back (with the C172RLog.dat.bak files) to see what the hinge pic would look like misaligned or binding but no luck. I think I know what to look for IRL.

[Oracle427]

I know what I saw when it was damaged in sim. Thankfully, I've never had it fail IRL. I like my money in my wallet.

[Nick - A2A]

Bruce - it might be considered cheating a bit, but .bmp images of the various possible control surface linkage defects can be seen in the C172's 'panel' directory if you're curious.

Cheers,
Nick

[bbuckley]

Bruce - it might be considered cheating a bit, but .bmp images of the various possible control surface linkage defects can be seen in the C172's 'panel' directory if you're curious.

Cheers,
Nick

Ahhh... I consider it "pre-flight training". It'll make me even more aware on a real pre-flight too.
Thanks,
Bruce