Wing Tank L.E. dent

[KatieB]

By far the worst dent in Tony Boy (aside from the crushed empennage & wing skins that I'm replacing) is this nasty little crease in the leading edge of the left wing tank.
I think its a result of the tiedown strap buckle the salvage company used when they trailered it out of Sun n Fun.

(Photo URL not working, but if you click the link in my signature and scroll down to the bottom, there are a couple pictures of it in there.)

Now that we have a clean new outboard leading edge skin next to it, it looks worse than before. I'm sure that popping it out will not help, and will risk tearing a hole in the corners of the crease. I'm now wondering, should I fill it cosmetically as best as I can, or build a whole new tank? A small scar here or there is OK, I mean, the poor little guy went through a tornado! But, I fear this one might be beyond cosmetic. What do you guys think?

[apkp777]

It's beyond cosmetic. You could do an internal flush repair doubler. That and some bondo and you would never know it was dented. However, the time it would take to do that repair is not much more than making a new tank. Time to warm up the proseal!

[KatieB]

The more i think about it, the more I agree with you, Tony. Then by the time the bird flies again, I will have experienced the most-bemoaned RV challenges: elevator trim tab, fiberglass tips, canopy skins, and proseal! Thank goodness the engine baffles are still good...

[terrye]

Like many RV builders I dreaded the thought of building the fuel tanks. And the first few times I mixed proseal and tried to use it, I nearly glued myself to the wall. But l found education and practice made for a relatively easy job. The education was provided by Rick Galati (Rick6A of this website), thanks Rick. The rest was methodical practice of Rick's methods. In the end the process was just exacting and time consuming, and I'm glad I did it. Just another aircraft building process mastered. The hardest part was keeping the proseal neat. I used some large syringes from the local farm supply and made my own nozzles from 3/8" aluminum tubing. I let the proseal beads dry overnight and cleaned off the excess on each side of the bead with MEK. Use lots of gloves, a painter's bunny suit, a respirator and patience and you'll be fine.

[apkp777]

Hey, the only thing more challenging than building an RV3 is...re-building an RV3! In the end, you will have a great plane with an interesting story. It's looking good so far. Keep it up. You will be flying in no time.