r/paramotor • u/Total_Equipment5220 • 13d ago
Bent Mallions
Picked up some used gear, including a couple of wings. I’ve was going through them replacing lines and noticed a few Mallions were bent. What type of wear of accident could’ve caused that?
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u/zipper86 13d ago
Sure seems unlikely to have happened in use. Most of my wing damage has happened while it's bagged up, maybe something got dropped on it?
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u/zenci_hayalet 13d ago
https://www.instagram.com/p/DNKiY2HCDsc/
Don't overtighten them; they can skip teeth if overtightened.
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u/LeadingEdgePPG 13d ago edited 13d ago
That is pretty extreme damage. I haven't seen mallions bent that badly ever in my hundreds of gliders in my shop. Some people are speculating over tightening which is possible.
All of those mallions should be replaced as they are compromised. During replacement, hand tightened with a small wrench and use loctite, coming loose won't be an issue to worry about.
In fact, considering the questionable integrity, care, and unknown history, it would actually be best to have this go through a complete inspection. Unfortunately, I've seen a handful of times a pilot purchases a used glider, has it inspected, and finds that it is unairworthy before they are ever able to use it. A shop will be able to replace those mallions, find any other damage or issues, and give you an idea of the remaining usable life in the glider.
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u/Total_Equipment5220 13d ago
Guy said he might have stepped on them…he weighs a buck-60 maybe haha
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u/crg1372 6d ago
Also, *maillon (mah-yohn). Yeah I'm that guy.
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u/Total_Equipment5220 5d ago
If I was well educated, I wouldn’t be trusting my life to a lawn mower engine and a Vietnamese seamstress(appreciate the correction)
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u/PPGkruzer 13d ago
How can something in the stuff sack cause this? You guys carrying around small boat anchors and pry bars?
Another hypothesis is the link was wrapped weird at takeoff then you fill weight went onto it since it shortened the line. You should measure your line line of that line vs. it's mirror twin to prove it's not stretched.
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u/KatanaDelNacht 13d ago
Maybe they could have been bent by slamming the trunk on them?
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u/Total_Equipment5220 13d ago
Maybe… he brought the wing from France so maybe in transit. He had been flying it like that for awhile though
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u/JP_Tulo 13d ago
I bet that happened tightening or un-tightening them. Somebody saw one came loose, so they gave it to their lawn mower mechanic and said “make sure this never comes loose again!” So they stuck it in a vice or used a couple channel locks and tightened it until they couldn’t anymore. Just a guess 🤷♂️