Fallout from last year's devastating hail storm at the Columbia factory in Bend, Ore., has yielded some encouraging information. After the storm, Columbia did some structures testing that convinced the FAA the planes were safe to repaint and ship to customers. But the FAA also wanted the long-term durability of the hail-pummeled airframes put through a full fatigue analysis. An airframe was dotted with more than 200 simulated hail strikes that were inflicted with twice the force of the actual storm. The company's vice president of engineering, Tom Bowen, told the press at Sun 'n Fun that the airframe was put through the equivalent of 25,000 flight hours at loads greater than the utility category in which it is certified. "The airplane didn't care," Bowen said. "This test should unequivocally quell any lingering misconceptions that somehow a composite airframe is less durable than an aluminum one."
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/air-shows-events/columbia-proves-its-mettle-is-better-than-metal