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Walked out to the plane, and found a dent

B

BHunt

Well Known Member
Well, walked out to my 8 on the ramp at Kickapoo today and saw a small dent on the top of my flap. No idea what happened..... is this repairable? I didn't build the plane, so I haven't done sheet metal work, and I hope it's not a "you're gonna have to just use filler." I'm based at Ogden and there's a "aircraft restoration and paint shop" here but haven't talked to them. Open to some pointers.

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I'd ignore it and go fly. Hangar (or ramp) rash, doesn't look like anything sharp hit it (meaning no likely crack initiator).
 
walked to plane and found a dent

If this is bare aluminum which is what it looks like, you can use a heat lamp and ice cubes to pop the dent right out. Heat up the aluminum until it is hot to the touch and pass the ice cube over the dent. It should pull it right out.

Your other choice is to use dry ice. No need for the heat lamp. Just pass the dry ice over the skin and that will pull the dent. This is more dangerous than using the ice cube if you've never used dry ice! Gloves are very necessary to avoid freeze burns.

I've pulled dents using both methods out of cars after hail storms. Just have to be a lot more careful not to damage the paint. Bare metal is really easy compared to dealing with paint.
 
ronwright5 said:
If this is bare aluminum which is what it looks like, you can use a heat lamp and ice cubes to pop the dent right out. Heat up the aluminum until it is hot to the touch and pass the ice cube over the dent. It should pull it right out.

Your other choice is to use dry ice. No need for the heat lamp. Just pass the dry ice over the skin and that will pull the dent. This is more dangerous than using the ice cube if you've never used dry ice! Gloves are very necessary to avoid freeze burns.

I've pulled dents using both methods out of cars after hail storms. Just have to be a lot more careful not to damage the paint. Bare metal is really easy compared to dealing with paint.
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Interesting. I would like to see the results if you try this. Write us up a little post on it.
 
Call a paint-less dent repair guy. Many body shops and car dealers will have a relationship and contact info for a paint-less dent repair company. They are usually called to repair hail damage on vehicles. And, since many vehicle bodies are made of aluminum, they're used to working with it. They use little pry tools to get into the smallest spaces and work the metal back into shape. A flap would be very easy for them to do.

I had some workshop rash, errant rivet gun/bucking bar dings repaired before paint. I also had some light to moderate hail damage post paint that was repaired flawlessly! It is relatively inexpensive and very quick. I had about 20-25 dings due to hail. It took the guy about 2 1/2 hours and he charged me about $200. I think half the time we were talking about the RV and flying!
 
Flap position down

Always leave flaps in a down position unless no one can get to your plane. Uneducated kids and some adults have stepped on flaps in up position to get a better look inside. A lot harder to step on with flaps down.

Steve
 
Jerry,

I don't think automobiles use the same alloy as aircraft.

In a similar repair to the bottom of a wing, the DER spec'd a patch of the same thickness with approximate 1/2" rivet spacing around the perimeter.

FWIW
 
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Tried the heat gun with ice technique, actually not bad. Got SOME of the ding out but not completely. I think it would work better if it was a larger dent. But I think I'm going to call a paintless dent guy...
 
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