What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Wing leading edge dent

Lars

Well Known Member
Sponsor
Helped a good friend weigh his pride and joy almost-done RV-14A today. In the process, an error chain got clanking along. Rolled off the scales and an errant wing jack put a big dent in the left leading edge. All of us present are well aware of what we did wrong, why, and how we would prevent it from happening again, so please, no verbal finger wagging or scolding. The owner is going to call Van's for advice tomorrow, but meanwhile, I thought I'd solicit input from any sheet metal wizards present.

As the photos below show, the leading edge of the wing bounced off the top of the jack as it rolled backward. It roughly t-boned the W-1009-L1 rib, buckling it, and leaving a nasty ding in the skin. Much of the deformed area around the dent looks like it could pop out if the deformed rib were removed. But at a minimum, that rib will require replacement. The question is whether the skin can be saved, and how (make wood bucks, pound out dent, etc).

The ultra-conservative approach would be remove wing, remove tank and wintip, drill off lower outboard skin, remove entire forward skin/rib assembly and replace, then reassemble (safest approach). Would like to not do that, if possible.

The pic of the rib, taken through the stall tab access hole, doesn't look bad, but the lower forward edge is creased and buckled badly. It's a goner.

Looking for constructive input, thanks all!

i-cN4NmwJ-XL.jpg


i-5KgV2ks-XL.jpg


i-NgX8SvG-XL.jpg


i-8FBVRhb-X2.jpg
 
I had to do a similar repair on my first RV - it slipped off the wing rack and the steel support brace ripped the leading edge.

So you know, it is not hard to replace the skin and the rib. For me start to finish is was only a couple of days. Considering this will be a many decade airplane, do it right now so you never have it bugging you down the years.

Carl
 
Setback

Lucky it is not yet painted and nobody got physically hurt.

I expect the skin will have to come off in order to replace the rib. And the skin appears stretched, so it will not pop out. Realistically I think he will probably end up replacing the skin. It's a question of whether this can be done without removing the wing, to help reduce the amount of work.
 
First off, thanks for the good description of the accident and the excellent photos. They clearly show the problem.

I'm with Carl here. I'd probably replace the skin and rib. Might as well have it right.

Good luck with the repair!

Dave
 
What Paul said. The skin stretched, and it is very difficult to shrink tempered aluminum, in particular given limited access.

New airplane deserves a new skin anyway
 
It?s depressing for sure, but it?s not a terrible job to replace the rib and skin. A friend of mine had similar damage to the top side of the outboard skin. Maybe he?ll chime in here and write about his experience in replacing the skin.

As for me, the right forward side skin was damaged due to a pneumatic hose failure. It was an outward dent. I though about pushing it back in and filling the dent. For those of you not familiar with the RV-8, that skin covers the landing gear box, a very complex area with hundreds of rivets. I couldn?t bear the thought of sending my new airplane out for its first flight with a bondo repair. It was an easy decision.
 
Rolled off the scales and an errant wing jack put a big dent in the left leading edge. ------so please, no verbal finger wagging or scolding. -----I thought I'd solicit input from any sheet metal wizards present.

Guys, this is a request for info about repairing the damage.

The plane did not slip off wing jacks.

Stray rabbits removed.
 
So sorry to hear about your mishap, we all make mistakes. Since you are now quite proficient at sheet metal work, I would replace necessary parts with new and look forward to that first flight. Hope at least you got the bird weighed.
 
Heart breaking, especially at this stage.

I have seen some "dent doctors" do amazing job, they massage the dent out instead of banging it out and their tools reaches far out. They did a work on my mother in-law car that was virtually undetectable. I suppose it would be worth given it a shot and if did not work then replace the skin.
 
I know a local guy that dropped one of his rv-10 quick build wings and damaged the leading edge. I know that he got someone to come in and repair. I don't know if he damaged a rib or not. I can ask how it was repaired if you are interested. Send me a PM if you want me to look into it for you.
 
New skin and rib is my voite. The good side is these are CNC punched skins and ribs, so parts and putting the new one on will be easier. However you might have to drill out the upper skin aft of the spar to get access as you likely know. I think with some help, you can get this repaired in a week... BTW BUMMER...:( :(


Fix - trim out the damage (skin and rib) in situ (in place). Install repair parts to skin and rib.
Fabricate custom doubler one gauge more than existing skin. Repair rib similarly, reform if able and trim out kink. Install skin doubler and rib repair with blind cherry max rivets if you can't squeeze or buck solid rivets. The doubler/rib repair should have TWO rows where it overlaps. You want 2 fastener diameters edge margin min, 4 diameter spacing between rows and 6 diameter fastener pitch along a row. It could be done in a day by a sheet metal mechanic (RV Builder :). Would it be strong enough. Yes. Will look like a repair? Yes, but once painted with a little filler it would not be too noticeable. If you bugger up the repair no loss go to plan A and replace skin and rib.
 
Last edited:
I had to do a similar repair on my first RV - it slipped off the wing rack and the steel support brace ripped the leading edge.

So you know, it is not hard to replace the skin and the rib. For me start to finish is was only a couple of days. Considering this will be a many decade airplane, do it right now so you never have it bugging you down the years.

Carl

This is the best direction, IMO. Otherwise, you'll be looking at a $100K airplane with a patched up wing every time you open the hangar door. Given that you have the skills, I bet you can get back to this point in a week or 10 days after the parts arrive from Van's.
 
Thanks, all. The skin is getting replaced, along with the damaged rib. The folks at Van?s think it can be done without having to drill off the outboard bottom skin, which is what I was hoping to avoid. Though someone with arms like Gumby, the strength of a gorilla and the manual dexterity of a brain surgeon would be a helpful accomplice. I have previously re-skinned a wing on a one-off late 40?s air racer. This should be at least slightly easier.

And, as Mike S. pointed out, it did not slip off a wing jack. Said jack was unfortunately lowered insufficiently and in the wrong place. In fact, had the aircraft been on the jacks when the tail was raised, this thread wouldn?t have happened.
 
Hi Lars,

I had to do some reskinning on my Dad's RV8 last year. What I found out afterwards was that I spent more time thinking about it, worrying about it, and planning it than actually repairing it. If you just built the airplane you have all the tools and your skills are fresh, so I'm betting it will go quick.

I can't comment specifically on the wing because I wasn't working on that, but one thing I found that was that strategically using cherry max rivets in a few places solved a lot of problems. Yeah, they are a little spendy, but if ten or twenty dollars in rivets saves you a day of time that might be worth it.

Our wing leading edge has a nice dent between nose ribs from what I'm assuming was a bird, so this repair is in my future as well. Good Luck!

DEM
 
A different angle on my original question

Leading edge skin and bent rib removal will probably commence today. I have lots of experience drilling out rivets, so not too concerned about that part.

For those who have done this, how did you buck the rivets that attach the skin trailing edge to the spar? Access to those rivets is from behind the spar on RV wings; during the build process they are normally bucked before the outboard bottom skin goes on.

The outboard leading edge is about 5 feet long on an RV-14. Access to the trailing edge is only through the bellcrank inspection port on the bottom of the wing, and through the rib holes at the outboard end. Has anyone reading this replaced an outboard leading edge skin using only solid rivets and without drilling off the outboard bottom skin?

And yes, we are prepared to use pulled rivets as required. Van's tech support recommended MK-319-BS rivets for this, for what it's worth. I was prepared to use CherryMax rivets for this, and I have access to an actual CherryMax pneumatic puller, but 3/32" CherryMax rivets are unicorns so holes would have to be opened up to 1/8".
 
L/E repair







My RV-7 had a nasty thing happen to it over the summer. The incident inflicted similar looking L/E damage to your 14. The "thing" that hit my wing leading edge also gouged the lower aft wing skin so it had to be replaced. With the lower skin out of the way the leading edge to spar rivets were easy to buck. The new piece I got from Van's was updated with a stall warning panel so that allowed good entry forward of the spar. I'm thinking your access may be more limited with the lower skin in place but its really amazing how far you can reach in with a bucking bar. Of course it helps to have help. (Thanks Brian D.)
Oh and if you do end up using some MK-319-BS rivets, they will be forgotten after you apply paint...
 
Last edited:
My RV-7 had a nasty thing happen to it over the summer. The incident inflicted similar looking L/E damage to your 14. The "thing" that hit my wing leading edge also gouged the lower aft wing skin so it had to be replaced. With the lower skin out of the way the leading edge to spar rivets were easy to buck. The new piece I got from Van's was updated with a stall warning panel so that allowed good entry forward of the spar. I'm thinking your access may be more limited with the lower skin in place but its really amazing how far you can reach in with a bucking bar. Of course it helps to have help. (Thanks Brian D.)
Oh and if you do end up using some MK-319-BS rivets, they will be forgotten after you apply paint...

Thanks, Neal. That was a heckuva a dent. After getting the tank off today and looking things over, I suspect that drilling off that outboard bottom skin is unavoidable if one wants to use solid rivets everywhere. Bets are hedged. Someone, somewhere, who manufactures MK-319-BS rivets is a little happier after the order that was placed today.
 
Back
Top