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Strange crack in skin. Why would this happen?
Okay, friends. We've been building for awhile, and completed the leading edge (outboard) section on the left wing back in November. While out in the garage this week, we noticed what appears to be a crack in the skin, top-side, right along the rivet line where the bracket for the stall warning assembly lies. As you can see, however, the crack does not extend to the rivet hole. Why on earth would this occur, and what can be done about it? (We are sending Van's the same question, but wondering what the collective knowledge of the Van's-verse would say.)
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Is this a crack or is it something that has been smashed onto the skin during riveting?
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Is it truly a crack?
Could it have been a sliver of something hard getting in the way during dimpling or riveting? |
Get all that plastic off. If you have been building for a while it may already be a nightmare to remove.
And you can get corrosion growing under it. You are not doing yourself any favours, trust me. |
It may just be the lighting, but you appear to have creases in the skin.
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Not a crack
I doubt it is a crack. A crack can only be formed by repetative or extreme bending of the metal. Since this is a new assembly that has not seen either of these it is most likely a scratch or coining from debris when riveting. You can burnish most of this out if you want to with a scotch bright pad. I would not worrie about it though. Work towards good quality not perfect quality. The latter will never result in a finished airplane.
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There may be a "drill shaving" contaminate under the skin that is sandwiched under the skin, between skin and rib.
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Do you have kids/wife ? Never underestimate their ability to damage something in a way you could not ever imagine - and then deny it no matter how much supporting evidence you have. Most of the time they don?t even realize or remember what the did.
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The dimples seem a bit oversized too, but maybe that's the camera angle.
Where in Denver is your project? I'm sure I or someone else would be happy to stop by and check things out in person. |
Denver Builders
Andrew,
Give me a call if you want to plug in to a great group of builders in the denver area. Bob Markert 303 882-7410 |
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