Wing spar - major oops! - how to repair?

This didn't help me sleep at night... while bucking the bar slipped and dented the wing spar as you see in the following pics. I didn't catch it til after I did the next rib line so I drilled out abut 20 rivets so I can get to the area for repair.





So the questions are - does it need repair (99.99% YES!), what type of repair? Here's what we are planning to do:

Blend the area smooth, then fabricate a doubler from .063 2024-T3 (same material as spar?)... the doubler would cover the entire bay and be 1.25" wide (which covers both sets of rivets).

And then there's this weird spot on top of the spar where the skin crushed the spar. Not sure if it's a crack... but we were thinking of stop drilling the crack and routing it out.


Will call Vans to confirm. I hate screwing up my nice QB wing... but I guess I see these kinds of repairs at the airline so I'm sort of used to it. Hate to see it on your own bird, though.

Wow! That does need a proffesional opinion. Are you bucking and riveting alone. Get a helper to buck for you. These skins are not easy to do alone. It is much better to be able to hold the gun with two hands to help prevent this. Teach your wife, kids, dad, mom, neighbor, anyone, to help. I had my hubby, Rich, come along to the RV Assembly seminar so I would have a helper. I do not like gunning to many rivets without my Buck Richard of the 21st Century.

I invited a friend over to help me buck after my two 'normal' buckers were busy. But I'm not sure if those were some that I tried to do alone or not (trying to show him technique). I don't remember feeling the bar hit the spar that badly.

It looks a lot worse than it probably is. My 'normal' riveter came over and that's when we found it (before we started the rest of the skin)... the skin is now pulled back so we have access to the bad spot.

makes my stomach sick just looking at it. The spar is .063 but I'm not sure what alloy or temper it is... probably 2024-T3 like the rest.

All my Boeing books regarind structural repair are at work - guess I have to wait.

I'm sure it isn't all that bad. Being on the bottom is better for a number of reasons. The spar web is where the real strength is. Just don't ever do any negative 9G pullups.

Oops

Take good pictures and email to Van's for advise. If there is a crack you do not want to drill in this area. Don't beat yourself up. Things happen...

Well suggestions on what to do covered the whole spectrum. Van's response was if it were their plane they'd do nothing and move on.

I'll probably smooth out the damage then put a doubler on... just because that's what we'd do where I work.

Scott:

It appears by your photos that you're riveting on the top skins, right? Well, just wait until you do the bottom ones. You'll get a couple more dings on the spar flanges. I cleaned mine up with a scotchbrite wheel on an angle die grinder. It's not easy to reach the flanges once the bottom skins start going on.

Remember that the spars are anodized, and the anodiziation process leaves a *very* brittle surface that is easily marred.