Do not assume that the pretty paint job on the RV you just bought, or are in the process of buying, represents the aircraft build quality that's hidden from view. This photo was taken of bad rivets found on a horizontal stabilizer, after the paint had been chemically stripped, prior to us repainting it with the new owners custom paint design. Our customer was not the original builder of this aircraft, and needless to say, he was not a happy camper. Our staff has built nine experimental aircraft ourselves, including four RV's, so we were able to fix this issue. But buyer beware! Most RV's are built with awesome build quality, but some builders out there cover up poor build quality with paint.
I am just guessing as to what actually caused this, but apparently, there were some rivets protruding above the skin. And instead of drilling out the bad rivets and replacing them correctly, whoever painted this plane decided to just sand these rivets down flush with the skin. And whoever did this, did not use a small piece of fine grit sandpaper, but instead used a large piece of rough grit sandpaper, and probably a power sander as well. In the photo you can clearly see large scratch marks over the entire skin surface, not just around these two rivets. It appeared to me as if whoever sanded these rivet heads completely off then covered them over with Bondo (or some similar material). When we chemically stripped the horizontal stabilizer, and the Bondo was removed, the rivet heads stood out like a sore thumb. You can't tell it from a still photo, but if you press your finger down the skin flexes around these rivets, and the rivets are not holding onto the skin at all in the area around these rivets. You can also notice a small piece of Bondo (or whatever material was used) still remaining in a dent between those two headless rivets. So a section of horizontal stabilizer skin was not properly attached to the underlying structure. Buyer beware! If you're considering buying an already built RV, DO NOT assume that if you cannot see any visible damage, or poor build quality, and it has been painted, DO NOT assume that you are looking at a well-built RV. Make sure that you have a very experienced RV expert do an extremely thorough pre-buy inspection. As the old saying goes: What do used car salesmen do after the retire? They start selling airplanes...
I am just guessing as to what actually caused this, but apparently, there were some rivets protruding above the skin. And instead of drilling out the bad rivets and replacing them correctly, whoever painted this plane decided to just sand these rivets down flush with the skin. And whoever did this, did not use a small piece of fine grit sandpaper, but instead used a large piece of rough grit sandpaper, and probably a power sander as well. In the photo you can clearly see large scratch marks over the entire skin surface, not just around these two rivets. It appeared to me as if whoever sanded these rivet heads completely off then covered them over with Bondo (or some similar material). When we chemically stripped the horizontal stabilizer, and the Bondo was removed, the rivet heads stood out like a sore thumb. You can't tell it from a still photo, but if you press your finger down the skin flexes around these rivets, and the rivets are not holding onto the skin at all in the area around these rivets. You can also notice a small piece of Bondo (or whatever material was used) still remaining in a dent between those two headless rivets. So a section of horizontal stabilizer skin was not properly attached to the underlying structure. Buyer beware! If you're considering buying an already built RV, DO NOT assume that if you cannot see any visible damage, or poor build quality, and it has been painted, DO NOT assume that you are looking at a well-built RV. Make sure that you have a very experienced RV expert do an extremely thorough pre-buy inspection. As the old saying goes: What do used car salesmen do after the retire? They start selling airplanes...
