Another Bird Srike

[hngrflyr]

I hit small bird in my RV-6 this morning. A saw him coming at the last second, but it was too late. My airspeed was showng about 190 mph at the time. I didn't feel it when I hit him, but he left a dent about half the size of my fist and lots of blood just outboard the #2 rib in the left fuel tank. ****!!! I spent a couple of hours this afternoon with a block of wood, a hammer and a straight edge, working the metal back. I have it looking pretty good. Thankfully there were no sharp creases. There is still a small, shallow dent right on the leading edge that isn't responding to working the metal. I want to be careful not to work harden the metal. Since there is not much flexing in this area, I would think bondo would be OK for the repair. If anyone has a better idea, I'd like to hear it.
My nice leading edge isn't so nice anymore. If ya hit em going fast they can do ya harm.

Bob Severns

[Mike S]

Some things to try-------

Let the plane sit in the sun to warm the area well-----(Oregon, sun??) and then put ice in the dent.

Suction cup-------dont laugh, it sometimes works.

Call one of the folks who repair car dents "paintless" style.

Live with it, paint a "tweedy" on the boot cowl, as they did in WW2 for enemy shootdowns.

Mike

[Build9A]

I dropped my wing and dented the leading edge while still in the building process. I thought I was going to have a heart attack, it was a really sick feeling. However, I used a filler called dupont gold (if I remember correctly), which is very easy to work with. After a little sanding and paint you can't tell there was ever a dent. Jack