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B1-RD strike force takes out RV-7A

hecilopter

Well Known Member
Well they finally got me. Been trying to shoot me down for years now. Looking for someone who has dealt with a bird strike on the leading edge. Is it structural? Can you bang it out and fiberglass over? I dread having to drill out/remove/replace the entire outboard leading edge skin. I will call Van's tomorrow and send them the pic. Anyone dealt with anything similar to this?

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UPDATE: Fixed in 2 days by Poplawski!

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A couple of years ago a buddy of mine hit a bird with his brand-new -8 and it put a dent in the leading edge much worse than yours, even put a crease next to an adjoining rib. Another friend of ours knew an old metal man who came out to fix it. This particular metal man made his living fabricating Indy car bodies back in the days when they were aluminum. He made a wood buck matching the leading edge curvature, put it inside with a small bottle jack with a piece of wood against the spar. He then jacked the dent out and finished it up with a spoon and dolly. I'm not exaggerating by telling you that there was absolutely no trace of a dent when he was done. Since the paint cracked it was stripped, so nothing was there to cover it up. To this day I'm still amazed at how that gentleman made the repair. He's since passed away.
 
Oftentimes....

......get bird strikes doing Ag work, Rusty. No, that hit is not structural and fortunately, I think that you can reach it through the landing light lens with a "ball" off a trailer hitch. We have several different diameters to match the leading edge radius and gently tap from the inside with a dolly on the outside.

A good metalworker/bodyman can bring it nearly all out with minimal filler.

Regards,
 
I Feel Your Pain.....

...........hit several in my years of flying low level helicopters, that's why I am always in a helmet with visor down. Sorry I can't offer any technical advice.
 
Ouch man, that sucks... Glad these guys are saying it looks repairable without too much hassle... sure is a beautifull plane... (and pretty **** fast too!) :D Best ride I've ever had! Let me know how the repair works out! I'd be glad to help in anyway.
 
Pierre is correct in that a good body man should be able to re-form with minimal need for filler. Even if he can't reach the inside, he can likely use a stud welder and slide hammer to do the grunt work. As long as the spar isn't damaged, it's likely easily repaired. Suggest you review your repair plan with an A&P.
Terry
 
That is some nice paint! What a shame.:(

The pictures don't do it justice! Whoever painted that plane put alot of effort into it! Very nice plane. I've never hit a bird with a plane yet... I hit them all the time driving down the road. :rolleyes:
 
Update

Thanks everyone for chiming in! I talked with Bruce from Van's and sent them the photo, he said it is NOT structural (no spar damage). In fact, they have seen a few bird strikes fixed with just bondo. He said just bend it out the best you can, bondo/fiberglass/sand and repaint. I called the insurance company (Nationair) and they said for no more damage than that it would not raise my rates to turn in a claim. Sooo, I am going to let Poplawski look at it and see if he thinks he can fix. If so, I may just let him do it because I know he can make it look as good as new.
 
Lucky Spot

At least you can get to it. Could have been much worse....say gas tank or heaven forbid, the !^#^$%&#& canopy.
 
Dent DR

I have a buddy of mine who has a "Dent Dr." business. You know those guys who do paintless dent repair. I've seen him take out hail damage on a car with no paint work and no trace of the damage. Amazing. He said he has removed dents from all kinds of crazy stuff even refrigerators. They have special tools to get into tight places. Unfortunately I think you will need some paint work. I'd try finding one of these guys in your area and have them give you a price on it. Try calling car dealers, body shops or even your insurance agent to find who is the best in your area.

Good luck
 
That looks like a simple repair. With luck very little in the way of filler would be needed. The paint is an easy repair also. No worries, mate.
 
simple fix

should be a very easy fix, like bruce said, doesn't appear to be structural, but a great lookin plane otherwise!! good luck gettin her all patched up!!
 
Took it to

Poplawski early this morning. He said, "I think I can fix that" (but not right now) :(

So I guess I will schedule with him as soon as he can and leave it in his capable hands. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions! Can't wait to get it looking normal again, I just hate opening the hangar and seeing that! This is what it SHOULD look like...

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A FREIND OF MINE HIT ONE TWO WEEKS AGO ON A RV6A IN EXACTLY THE SAME SPOT. HE HAS ALL READY FIXED IT BASICALLY THE WAY ROCKETBOB EXPLAINED. AFTER HE MADE THE FORM FOR THE LEADING EDGE AND USED A JACK INSIDE YOU COULD HARDLY EVEN SEE THE DENT IT TOOK VERY LITTLE BONDO.
 
Hi All,

Bird strikes are a common event in Coastal Florida. A number of pilots call "Dent Doctor", we have one in Daytona Beach that is great. When he gets done a little polosh is all that is necessary.

John H.
 
We had one that was worse than that and it was in the third bay in from the wing tip so we could not reach it well enough to work it from the tip as are arms were just not long enough. We made a hard wood block from a pice of oak salvaged from a wood truck pallet. We were able to get a very good fit by using the first bay inside of the wing tip to fit it to the exact shape of the leading edge. When this tool was finished to a vert smooth sanded finish it was used like a bucking bar to push out the dent from the back and to be a form to use to smoth the leading edge aginst. It was necesarry to cut a four inch hole in the lower skin about 12 inches behind the leading edge to get acess. The leading edge was returned to the correct shape and smothness with good and careful tin work, it was so smoth that no bondo or that kind of filler was needed, the area was sanded back to primer and hit with a coat of the original high fill primer and sanded to the desired smothness for painting, then the paint was repaired per the original paint build up. The whole cut was flush patched with a flush rivited doubler and cherry flush rivited patch which was then lightly filled with Super Fill and the area preped and repainted like the leading edge.

The aircraft won best workmanship at Sun-N-fun after the repair and if you were not told you would not find the repair. It only took us 20 hours to do all the work up to paint prep to do the repair and return the aircraft to flight, the paint took a long evening as it takes about ten layers to follow the original coating system and there was a lot of tapeing to repair the difrent colors and pin stripes.

You are in luck as you can work through the landing light hole and from the wing tip end (with the wing tip removed). With good work you may only need to buff out the paint when finished the tin work, good luck.

Best regards,
Vern
 
I've always wondered if something like this could be used for removing dents. I'm not an engineer, so I can't tell you the hardness specs between aluminum and brass. The system uses a rare earth magnet and a smooth steel ball placed on opposing sides of the metal. The steel balls come in graduated sizes to fit into tight places or to cover large areas.

Note, if you wear a pacemaker, you don't want to get close to this thing.:eek:
 
Fixed!

Got a call from Poplawski on Thursday morning to come get it. WOW! Fixed in 2 days! What an outstanding job, looks brand new... I could not be happier with that kind of service!

fixedka7.jpg
 
That is a great repair! I really love repairing RV's and that is a fix you can be proud of! Now stay away from those kamikaze birds!
 
I've always wondered if something like this could be used for removing dents. :eek:

this is really smart. they are just basically making a movable english wheel. for the thickness of the metal we are talking about this would probably do a great job. you may wish to push most of it out then use this. many people try to stretch metal with an english wheel but smoothing is what they really excel at. i don't think that this would stretch the metal at all. as for the electro magnetic tool i have not got any experience with that but if the premise is correct it too should work. there is video linked to the one above in the related videos that seems to show it in action. that may have been on steel and have different results.(i am watching on a computer with sound turned off).
leon
 
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