Fixing dents in skins

[andrew phillips]

I ran off the bucking bar (plate) when back riveting the stiffeners to the elevator. Now there is a small raised dent on the exterior of the skin. Can this be fixed? Do I have to remove the sifener and happer it out? Should I just get a new skin?

[Don]

I did the same thing on the rudder. The advice that I got from Van's was that the skin had been stretched and my options were to very lightly dent it in on purpose and then add a thin layer of fill and paint over it or I could replace the skin. They encouraged me to get over the disapointment of having a blemished but sound plane and keep building. The cost and time involved in building a perfect plane are pretty high - especially for first time builders. I took their advice and I'm glad I did. Odds are it won't be your last goof and it can be fixed so no one but you will know its there and odds are you'll forget about too, eventually. Hopefully all your mistakes will be so minor.

[TSwezey]

Just Bondo it and be done. When it is painted nobody will be able to tell. Not even you. It won't be your last time doing it either!

[Pmerems]

Gents,

There is no such thing as a perfect airplane!

There are 10,000 (estimated) rivets in an RV-4/6/7/9. The odds are that not all will be set right or look perfect after a minor bucking mishap.

As Van suggested as long a it isn't a flight safety issue move on and get over the disappointment.

I found it takes a few days and then another issue comes along to get all worked up about replacing the previous issue.

Paint hides a lot of sins.

Paul

[jrdalton]

I didn't worry about it along the way (OK, I worried about it, cursed when it happened, but made peace with it).

When I assembled the entire tailcone I then went through and filled the dents with filler, sanded, and then primed. Can't tell they were there now.

Jeff

[Captain Avgas]

Originally Posted by andrew phillips

I ran off the bucking bar (plate) when back riveting the stiffeners to the elevator. Now there is a small raised dent on the exterior of the skin. Can this be fixed? Do I have to remove the sifener and happer it out? Should I just get a new skin?

Lots of builders ding their empennage in a number of ways. And then many of them ask the forums if they should get a new part or just move on.

The people who replace parts because they're aiming for excellence rarely respond to this type of enquiry. On the other hand the "close-enough-is good-enough crowd" are always keen to chime in with the usual typical advice of "move on" or "you'll do worse before you're finished". They've obviously settled for mediocrity or less and they'd like you to do the same.

My advice is get a new skin and a few stiffeners. The price is negligable and you might feel better building a plane to the very best of your capabilities.

[cytoxin]

Originally Posted by Captain Avgas

Lots of builders ding their empennage in a number of ways. And then many of them ask the forums if they should get a new part or just move on.

The people who replace parts because they're aiming for excellence rarely respond to this type of enquiry. On the other hand the "close-enough-is good-enough crowd" are always keen to chime in with the usual typical advice of "move on" or "you'll do worse before you're finished". They've obviously settled for mediocrity or less and they'd like you to do the same.

My advice is get a new skin and a few stiffeners. The price is negligable and you might feel better building a plane to the very best of your capabilities.

all to true. i even quit calling vans on my little screw ups. if i decide it sucks then i order new stuff. i was pretty bad at first but now i mark the part make a note in the log and if i want to i'll fix it when the plane is nearing final assy.
however a ding is no reason to replace parts, a dent well maybe. if it'll fill with spot putty then leave it. on a side note i have many spare parts that i'll bet 99% of the average builder would use.

[pczar3]

My tech counselor has a great line. "Unless you have one and half airplanes you're not building!" I'm almost to that level I have replaced a couple skins that I dinged early on. I'm not trying for perfection but it sure won't hurt if it turns out that way!

pczar3
Paul Czarapata
N694BP - Reserved
Wiring in progress!