R

RV701775

Active Member
I had a bad day today while priming my right elevator. After prep, I hung the right elevator up to dry and it fell off the hook about a foot onto the grass. It landed long side down and flexed a bit, but luckily I was working over my lawn. I did not see any bends or damage, but it did flex quite a bit. Any thoughts as to whether there could be hidden damage?

Also, after priming I noticed a dent in the skin. I think I may have tipped my cordless drill over and didn't notice. Any thoughts about how to fix this or if it could lead to a crack down the road?

I am going to take a break and get back to it in a day or two.

Thanks

open
 
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I can't tell for sure what to look at. Is it the place under the black tape? It looks like it is just the skin without the ribs so I dont see how flexing could be an issue.
 
Thanks. It is not black tape. Just the lighting where I cut the blue coating back. There is a small dimple in the center that I believe was caused by a dropped tool. I was planning on leaving it for the painter down the road. I don't think it is punctured.

Thanks.
 
You could probably flatten that little dimple out with no issue it'd likely never show.

I wouldn't worry about the drop/flex and if you are like probably everyone else on here - you'll have at least a few more "oh $h** moments when you mess something up. Some of us, more than a few.

Don't let it get you down- keep pounding rivets.
 
You may be able to fix this:

* Get some thick clear packing tape
* Apply packing tape in a single layer generously over dent
* Get a large spoon from the kitchen
* Put something like a bucking bar on the opposite side (to support against the pressure you're about to put on the skin)
* Massage dent using the spoon
* Watch magically as it starts to go away .. hopefully :D

I fixed a pretty bad one using this method.

Important! Be sure not to "massage" beyond your supporting "bucking bar" (or whatever you use) as doing so may create an impression.
 
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And....

The spoon trick works, but you’ll probably be left with a little center dimple that probably has a bit of a crack on the point side under magnification. Drill it for #40 or #30, dimple, and lightly set a rivet to nowhere. I think I have three or four of those, at two from the corner of a dropped tungsten bucking bar, and another from a dimpling tool error that I clearly remember.
 
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I have a similar dimple in my fuselage tail cone. I have no idea how it got there, but at some point during construction I must have accidentally banged something into the skin. I try to be as careful as possible while building, so at first it really bugged me. But now that a bit of time has passed, I'm not too worried about it. Considering the size of the finished plane, one tiny dimple doesn't seem like much of an imperfection. Build on!
 
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