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Rear Spar Damage

Bill.Peyton

Bill.Peyton

Well Known Member
I decided to purchase one of the harbor freight scopes, so I was taking a look at my rivets on the left lower skin W-1005L and found that I had nicked the rear spar with the bucking bar when I was setting two rivets. The dings look to be around .005 to .010 deep. I tried a little 220 grit paper followed by scotch brite, but I did not want to take too much material away. As you can see, the dings are right on the bend area.

IMG_1586.jpg


Below is the area where the photo was taken.

IMG_1587.jpg



Any suggestions on how to proceed would be welcome.
Bill
 
I'm not sure what the 'official' verdict would be on that; I'd be tempted to just add it to my condition inspection checklist because trying to repair it might cause more problems than leaving it. As for prevention, wrap the edges of your bucking bar in a layer or two of electrical tape. Go slightly past the edge so the tape curls and protects the corner of the bar but still leaves plenty of surface for bucking. It will wear off in use, so replace as needed and it is easy to peel off if you need to use a different face on the bar.
 
Personally, I only use magnification devices to get metal slivers out of my fingers. Never point them toward the plane! Leave it alone! IMHO.
 
Another vote for moving on. As for the bucking bar, I just rounded the edges/corners over and that eliminated most of those kinds of problems for me.
 
Scope?

Throw that scope away.
You are now able to inspect areas that no one else has ever been able to inspect and the over 7000 RVs that are flying have not lost any wings because of nicks on the rear spar.
Round the edges of the bucking bar just like the others have said.
 
Blending depth is generally considered acceptable to 10% of the material thickness, I would not blend beyond that depth without engineering approval from Van's.
 
Walt said:
Blending depth is generally considered acceptable to 10% of the material thickness, I would not blend beyond that depth without engineering approval from Van's.
Click to expand...

And at a 10:1 blend ratio. (.01 deep x .10 wide)
 
So it looks like I could go a little more than .005 with the blending at around .5" wide. I don't believe the pits to be more than .005, but it is hard to say since I can not get to it easily. Fortunately it is rear of the bellcrank cover plate, so I can work with it, although drilling the rivets out in the last bay may allow me a little more room to work.
I will call Vans when they get in today and see what Ken has to say.
 
Just for a suggestion next time.

Many professional assemblers do all kinds of various plastic tape wrapping on their bars to avoid things like what you shared in this thread. It may take extra time, but it could get you a step closer to the level of perfection you may desire.

I really did not see what I would consider damage, just a little dinging/peening.
The rivets looked a little under bucked but airworthy.

Have Fun!
 
No worries whatsoever,

I have sent 164.5 pictures (not really this many but you get my drift) to Ken at Vans regarding small dings, dents, nicks ect. Everytime I send a picture to him I get an immediate reply that says something like this..."I'm surprised you even noticed that. Build on. There is no way to build an aluminum airplane without nicks, dents, dings. Perfection is the enemy of progress, your plane is safe and will fly well. In order to be concerned you would have to really damage the surface."
My opinion is build on. Everyone of us has many of the same marks on our planes.
 
Dings

I think I would leave it as is now, but check the 220 grit paper you used, make sure it is aluminum oxide paper (other types are not compatible with aluminum). Now that you have used it, you have probably removed the Alclad layer. Make sure you primer this area or coat it with Dinitrol.

I use short lengths of bicycle inner tube on my bucking bar to minimize ding (still get one every once in a while)
 
I sent the photo to Vans and they said leave it alone, prime it and move on! Thanks for all the advice, my new tungsten bucking bar is now taped like the rest of them, the tounge depressor is a great idea, I think I'll pick some up and move forward
Bill
 
Spar Ding

Bill, as a A&P i have seen stuff far worse then what you showed here. It is good to be very picky and if you do not like something just ask another RV Builder.

Are you a member of your local EAA chapter. It not WHY Not. Go join, there are a tone of awesome people in the eaa that will be glad to help and advise you. Each EAA chapter has a Tech Adviser/Inspector. He is very experienced and will be glad to inspect your work and give you great suggestions. I have mine review all my work before closing up any major assembly. A second set of eyes are worth a million bucks.

Again if some thing does not look right than, go ask. Never get in the mode of that's good enough. I have replaced a tone of rivets that looked good enough with ones that turned out great.

If you want some hints on riveting shoot me a e-mail and i will be glad to assist you.
 
John,
Thanks for the advice an d the offer. My good friend, also an IA has been inspecting as I go along. I also have a tech advisor who also has been looking at my work as I go along. It's just good to get multiple inputs on things such as this when on the fence. I ended up following Vans recomendation and sanding just a little more to further round the edges followed by a little scotch brite and most all of the dings have all but dissapeared. Then a little primer and on with the project.

Thanks again.
Bill
 
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