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N144SD post crash rebuild - don’t judge a dent by its cover.

bobhope2505

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In the first photo you see a leading edge rib that was pulled out of a badly damaged wing. In the second photo you see what looks like very minor damage to the wing skin. In fact, this was overlooked until the wing was on the table and cleaned off. In the last photo you see what I found when I opened up the wing. I was shocked to see the extent of the damage to the internal rib given how minor the damaged appeared from the outside. To my eye, the damage to the rib where almost nothing was visible outside is worse than the damage to the wing that is obviously destroyed. You can’t judge a dent by its looks.
 

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This has been my experience as well. Damage that appears slight can be much worse.
Airplanes are akin to an egg. Very strong when force is applied as designed. However, it doesn’t take much in a concentrated area, or in a manner not intended, to do a lot of damage.
Good post.
 
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