Dimpling accident "8"

I was dimpling the skins for the rudder and the stiffener got hung up and gave me an odd shaped hole that could best be described as an "8". What is an acceptable fix for this? It hasn't been riveted yet but i'm sure the rivet wont fill the hole in the skin completely. Is there a recommended filler material?

Thanks

Ryan
rv-9a emp

Welcome to the double dimple club, Ryan. It's considered a right of passage, actually. Most folks just put the rivet in the correct hole and drive it. Fill the other hole with bondo when you paint.

Put a sticker over it if you intend to fly it unpainted for awhile so folks won't see it <g>.

b,
d

PS: My '8' hole is on the VS of my RV-6, right under my 'United States of Texas' sticker.

This was my first mistake and caused great distress. I've made plenty more since. Almost every one is more serious but has been fixed.

The solution dpends a little on the shape. My double dimple was close enough that I could drill it out and put in the next size up rivet which basically covered both holes leaving only a little gap on one edge which will be sorted when painting.

Keep building. You will make more mistakes but you will fix them too.

Shamefull advertisement follows;

DeltaRomeo said:

PS: My '8' hole is on the VS of my RV-6, right under my 'United States of Texas' sticker.

Click to expand...

"United States of Texas" decals still available from n168tx(at)flytx.net

Double Dimple Club

Could be worse; mine was on the bottom of a tank skin...patching it sounded like a recipe for a tank leak so I replaced the skin. Knock on aluminum...no more after that one!

Good luck!

Mike

Just make sure you clean up the hole to remove any areas that could propagate into a crack in the skin.

Roberta

Thanks

Thanks for all the good info and support.

Ryan