java
Well Known Member
In my recently purchased RV6, there was a crack in the F671 skin. It is in front of the canopy, mid-line of the fuse, just before where the cowl joint is.
There is a stiffener (F643 channel) along the mid-line of this skin. In my 6, this stiffener terminates before meeting the firewall, and wasn't attached to the firewall. It was cracked at the last rivet (most forward) of the stiffener.
The crack occurred before I bought it (and yes, I was aware of it). The builder stop drilled it, but did so through the paint from the outside and so didn't "hit" the end of the crack (hard to see through the paint) and it propagated. I stop drilled it again from the inside (no paint to hide the end of the crack), and riveted a piece of angle in to tie the stiffener to the firewall (there was way too much flex at the end of the stiffener without it being tied into the firewall... it could be seen vibrating in flight at high RPM's).
The pic shows the original crack and stop drill before I completed subsequent repairs. You can just see the joint where the cowl starts on the left side of the pic, and the canopy is out of the pic but to the right.
My plan, now that I know I have the ends of the crack stop drilled accurately and have firmed things up with tying the stiffener into the firewall, is to watch it and if I have to, put a patch on it later if it keeps going. I'd rather not mess up my nice paint though!![Roll eyes :rolleyes: :rolleyes:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Anything else I should consider?
Has anyone else seen this problem?
There is a stiffener (F643 channel) along the mid-line of this skin. In my 6, this stiffener terminates before meeting the firewall, and wasn't attached to the firewall. It was cracked at the last rivet (most forward) of the stiffener.
The crack occurred before I bought it (and yes, I was aware of it). The builder stop drilled it, but did so through the paint from the outside and so didn't "hit" the end of the crack (hard to see through the paint) and it propagated. I stop drilled it again from the inside (no paint to hide the end of the crack), and riveted a piece of angle in to tie the stiffener to the firewall (there was way too much flex at the end of the stiffener without it being tied into the firewall... it could be seen vibrating in flight at high RPM's).
The pic shows the original crack and stop drill before I completed subsequent repairs. You can just see the joint where the cowl starts on the left side of the pic, and the canopy is out of the pic but to the right.
My plan, now that I know I have the ends of the crack stop drilled accurately and have firmed things up with tying the stiffener into the firewall, is to watch it and if I have to, put a patch on it later if it keeps going. I'd rather not mess up my nice paint though!
Anything else I should consider?
Has anyone else seen this problem?
![IMG_0550.jpg](/community/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Flh5.ggpht.com%2F_eHGSlUaj6zk%2FTKdTZGrpMSI%2FAAAAAAAAABs%2FQaZvW8nLW_c%2Fs800%2FIMG_0550.jpg&hash=b67099165c36727bbd37048aae70376f)
Last edited: