avee8tor13 said:
How do the RV's wing skin hold up against hail?
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I have seen ONE (1) RV-6A with hail damage. Maybe Rosie will add a note. The aircraft is at Rosamond where he is based. The owner-pilot that has the aircraft did not build it but purchased it after it had hail damage. He got a good price on it. The wing skins looked the same as they did on a Cherokee that also had hail damage. In other words, the RV with hail damage looks like a certificated aircraft with hail damage. The hail damage RV flys as well as one without the hail damage. It has been reported that the hail damaged RV is slight faster but I do not have first hand information.

(my verbal description of the hail damage on the aircraft that I have seen is that it looks like it was hit with a bunch of golf balls)
 
The first RV I ever flew was a hail-damaged one that at the time belonged to a friend of mine. Looked terrible, flew fine! He sold it to a guy out in California, maybe it's the same plane? (it was bright red)

mcb
 
mburch said:
The first RV I ever flew was a hail-damaged one that at the time belonged to a friend of mine. Looked terrible, flew fine! He sold it to a guy out in California, maybe it's the same plane? (it was bright red)

mcb
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Maybe it is the same airplane. It is RED but not sure I would call it bright red but would call it Fire Engine Red.
 
RV6_flyer said:
The hail damage RV flys as well as one without the hail damage. It has been reported that the hail damaged RV is slight faster but I do not have first hand information.
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I used to fly a hail damaged Cherokee when I lived in Albuquerque.
We called it the lead sled. You always had to add additional power on final as it sunk like a rock. The wing looked like it had been shot with a bb gun.
 
hail damage

makes one think about insurance, that's for sure.
3 months after I bought my -9a, a hailstorm went thru with marble size hail ( on average).
all the .020? skins, elevator, aileron showed some pockmarks, perhaps 1 mm deep at most. An ercoupe nearby had much worse marking, and a Cherokee across the taxiway from it has just had the wings fully re-skinned.
If mine were a dark colour, it would be an appearance issue. As it is, not worth worrying about. I can't imagine any speed effect. I did not have covers on anything but the canopy.
 
Are there any covers to protect against hail? I was thinking about some sort of plastic/vinyl covering with quilt batting material.

I'm planning on using my 9a to travel up north for a few weeks at a time, and I don't think I'll usually have a hangar available.
 
RV6_flyer said:
It has been reported that the hail damaged RV is slight faster but I do not have first hand information.

(my verbal description of the hail damage on the aircraft that I have seen is that it looks like it was hit with a bunch of golf balls)
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Of course it's faster! Just like a golf ball, the dimples slightly disturb the boundary layer and help avoid separation. We've all heard of engine hanging parties, but I'm surprised that more builders don't have their buddies come over and help pound their newly-skinned wings with ball peen hammers. :eek:
 
Sounds right

mburch said:
The first RV I ever flew was a hail-damaged one that at the time belonged to a friend of mine. Looked terrible, flew fine! He sold it to a guy out in California, maybe it's the same plane? (it was bright red)

mcb
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I was still building and a red 6 landed at my airport. I rode my bike over to it and it was completely dented. The guy said they had to replace all the glass, cowl etc... He said it flew fine.

I thought it would be a cool idea to paint it white and put the Nike logo on the wings.:eek:
 
Nothing Flies Like.....

a Titleist:D


RV7Guy said:
I was still building and a red 6 landed at my airport. I rode my bike over to it and it was completely dented. The guy said they had to replace all the glass, cowl etc... He said it flew fine.

I thought it would be a cool idea to paint it white and put the Nike logo on the wings.:eek:
Click to expand...
 
Titleist effect

We used to have a pocked up 180 Arrow on the rental line we called "The Titleist". Flies farther, less drag. Some say it's the tightened skins, but I think it's the dimples causing an inverse vortex generation energizing the stratonaceous boundary layer, gotta be.
 
hail to the dimples

...so, because only my left wing is dented, the darn thing keeps turning to the right! :)
guess I'll have to get out the hammer, or stick my left arm out?
Install rudder trim?
who knew......could become a selling feature?
 
The 6a in question at Rosamond belongs to John Manduca who also owns Smoking Airplanes. It is Red with yellow graphics. It is a great flying airplane for sure, even with all the hail damage. He also owns a Glassair 1 (we won't hold that against him), that I think is for sale if anyone wants a plastic plane. Me neither;)
 
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