Accidental flap selection

[Graham291]

Anyone done this?

Bumpy day, fiddling with the G1000, little finger knock the flap selector?

If so is there a recommended way to put a guard over the switch?

Cheers

[Don]

I am not sure about the switch guard but here is my flap story.
Perhaps 5 or 6 years ago my wife who was in the right seat hit the flap switch to landing position with the corner of her knee board and did not realize it. The knee board was in her hand and not strapped to her knee at the time. We were decending in still air and our airspeed was well over 150 knots. Unaware that the flap switch had been engaged I felt the aircraft suddenly and abrubtly change pitch additude. For a few scary seconds, I feared that maybe our elevator had departed the airframe. After a quick scan of the panel we realized that the flaps had been fully engaged. I was quite relieved that it was not the elevator and we would be able to control the aircraft. Once back on the ground we checked the flaps and hinge hardware for stress, cracks, etc. Everything was fine. The only thing that needed fixen was my underwear. With over 1600 hours logged in DA40's, it has only happened this one time.

[smoss]

Gee Don... I suppose that was on my plane???

[Don]

Steve,
It was on the DA40 hybrid model that the factory had loaned me for a period of 7 months. BTW, I saw your plane on the ramp at KTOA a few weeks ago. It is still looking good.

[Gasser]

Thanks for performing this stress test for us I won't worry too much if I set the flaps a knot or two early

[Don]

Thanks for performing this stress test for us I won't worry too much if I set the flaps a knot or two early

Yep, being a test pilot was and is not on by bucket list.
Back to the originial thread. I am not sure if it's legal to make and install mods such as a flap switch guard without some type of FAA sign off. Perhaps others on here would know.

[rwtucker]

My wife did this two weeks ago with her purse strap (don't ask). I probably returned the switch before full deployment but not before my mind replayed an old video where a guy who lost elevator control landed nicely using power for pitch only, wondering if I could do the same. I inspected everything on the ground. It looked fine, visually. Has anyone had any problem with these flaps? They seem well designed for small electrics.

[smoss]

After accidentally having the flap switch knocked in cruise a few times, I finally got around to making a 3D printed cover for it. I had my neighbor print it on his cheap printer, and it fits great. I needed to sand the interior a smidge to get just the right snugness of fit. I have the .stl file, but not sure how well the size would calibrate between different printers. Just pop it on in cruise, and no more mishaps.