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Aileron - Repair or Replace?

snoopyflys

Well Known Member
Hi All,

This weekend, my left aileron experienced what I want to call ?hangar rash?. I had the aileron off of the airplane, laying on a table, gust of wind came thru the hangar sending it to the floor. Damaged the outboard trailing edge and a small dent with a crack in the skin on the inboard end. For the dent damage, i figured I would stop drill and fill with some sort of filler (not Bondo). What is more challenging is how to repair the trailing edge that appears to have taken the brunt of the fall. I attempted to "pull out" the crumpled aluminum edge ever so gently but in doing so, a crack/tear appeared along the trailing edge. So, I stopped. Here?s what I am facing. First the trailing edge of the aileron;

btSjau3mY6Tc5U_MLKyMxpFUTosBlAQuxn8yTcQsLQlsMSQHu3RMQiwDN6IRR6owHWHY_gNacV3LSVjkgkhMrphCUCnufYiLZVzim8PycW-rXiu0Rx97KHNc3EvDwtW4KbSaLyGMI7S24xzJNEYqXhTGDkEzy0QtqovELt_VZjB9SmluvKGzIYAgXXT_-67Bd_bpAQ1jG9M3M-Wy2wdJWLsxrWxtgZRJCRPfho_QjYmtC19ZoEquSW0GXaNeB6iilyiNXdUKiayRiX0qW_ukNIYnwLVbN4qj9HytUtKYOXg_Vsk620Vyx2L1IQYXSqa4ZXHld-9dOLR-4JTF5YaY6JQCKBm4L_ktccb9ohYKccpI1jo1L3h0eT1QU7MoAXsyjxPIMdgZB6MRJF8hOvCoj4W788iVE0hyM1TawMGcacRyZ6VTHkGcw8b6y6isWi_9yDgW8PCz4qlFFS4VsRVd6P8jQvCO8Gz-Ul0nWLEqcbSzb1aUk6AuaQZFJX3F1BYhkrRvVFDSpa_V2DH1oUNORpqz5OaEmsW7BZLh6iEWmPrfawrcRfLa2w7-l3GTME8FtggY5K8dNWhP0-JN7vkemGhzkvf3ej2iBsFDJg39Z7FJtKqSG6Cn86-AwMpPQTrUJswtmWC3l6tITBUGcwQJQczMUuKPt9cz=w800-h600-no


Here's the dent with the crack;
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The aileron as a whole does not appear to be bent or twisted as it seems to to lay flat on a table. Any suggestions on how to repair the trailing edge? Is fiberglass an option or am I possibly facing a rebuild?

Thanks,
 
Looks like a doable repair. I would consider a small backing plate where the tear is, held in with a few MSP-42 pull rivets, then straighten as best as possible with nothing sitting proud of the profile, then fill it for cosmetics and aerodynamics. I would use polyester filler (i.e. bondo) for some of this, so you obviously don't want my input on filling. I used polyester filler for various dings and imperfections. 600 hours and still as pretty as the day I painted it.

Larry
 
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Aerospace certified epoxy.

Checkout 3M 2216. You can stop drill where appropriate. Apply backing aluminum where advisable all bonded AND filled with 2216. $50 for the kit of tubes at ACS.
 
It may be repairable but if it were mine I would never stop worrying about that flight control. Every time I went flying it would be in my head. Repairable or not I would replace.
 
Sure.

This is very repairable, but that is your call. Check with Van's if it makes you feel better, 43.31 may have some ideas in it as well.
Yours, R.E.A. III # 80888
 
That crack along the tip of the trailing edge would keep me up at night. I'd send the pictures to Van's for their opinion, but looks like only the skin is damaged so you wouldn't have to re-build the whole aileron. There are quite a few of us in the Multiple Aileron Skin Club. Join us! :)
 
I had my right aileron sitting on top of the wing about to mount it when a gust from an approaching storm flipped it up and off the wing. Same damage. I just built a new aileron. Took a couple days of work...but worth it in my opinion.
 
Or, maybe it won't drive you crazy...

I had a similar catastrophe with my elevator while I was painting:

X5LQsg68n2BEpVBCHvEvkIcqJge2N-Ku5GA4QkYnFcqEKhpYIsIAiKcGQJyqADIvY1yjUCM-sIt_1LsYq0nZc-CQySi1XB8S4GKx4EBosBdKemVts_RTFIaYoIdZgUFPg9YA9eCAT59UyYj1TCwT3BTBJX9JWw_GoScTtb_ojpEpdPKpFkDClsQgrUH-uye7XxyiD6Q1QMOpquDp_Cqj9txv4wl2liF9qBERH5elEXYMdMbTwYKY8FwhN8uMchf2Ful68YzF5FV_mpGf_V4XtmYEAk-sgGXh8nze-j8NKFqOvHet-pIWu_ls3LHc225xeM8IVckQQU1_egqbCAZxpySfyjoKUv30Aeflz7YObp4oHxAZ5F_k7CDCK5z_rlFfn5qHbw7bT-FtzoJcYkgT8w_AMWOKeu3r0ocgHII07TvQkMJUjJbWhdouk2-lQ7QORC9GygH0kZNxcAq3pPw1LU5PicNc4h4b-bxr6aumdCjT6FmoyMGfZaJES2r0AvzdaRzAVlUGp_U3p9Adq3oVkrycl5jU5vv5qht8pmAVhUWMhwZ-MDlaWePUwV332rTqKAsTPp3mnP-kybpoxfnTtIUnKH6pVGqvGJsGnX3U3r_qfsuZOCU6n73ial3jI-HylGMA2ynhWBA3BONqzEC09QRo9vVDwTaKgA=w1024-h768-no


I ended up repairing it with a new fiberglass tip over styrofoam. The repair is virtually invisible unless you look directly at the inside edge. I have 300 hours on the plane now and haven't thought about it since I finished the repair. At the time, I thought that I would fix it quickly now and then build a new elevator or reskin it later. Now, I have no interest in fixing it since it doesn't seem broken to me.

If you are interested in more pictures and some colorful prose, here is the blog post I made at the time:

http://roughandreadyaerospace.blogspot.com/2015/06/step-130-time-out-for-disaster.html
 
Thanks for the Replies

I really appreciate and thank everyone for posting replies to my "hangar rash". I did contact the mothership but only asked what the cost of a replacement aileron would be. Basically, I need to come up with a parts list and quantities then order. No Sub-kit for easy ordering :(. I will be following up about the balance issue if one were to do a repair.

Thanks Joe Rainbolt for sharing your "disaster" as the pictures posted and blog post closely describe what happened to my aileron. Once I have confirmation from Vans on balance concerns, I may just give the repair a chance. Re-skinning may not be a good option as there are far too many rivets to remove and doing so would potentially cause more damage than the original problem. I always have the option to rebuild sometime down the line. As some have mentioned, I will worry about it when flying, along with all the other "repairs" made during the build. :rolleyes:

Thanks again.
 
This is totally repairable. I am sure Vans will suggest something like an internal riveted doubler. It all depends on how OCD you are and how perfect the rest of your airplane is. In industry nobody would replace a skin for that, not when the clock is ticking and the operator is losing money with the airplane on the ground. I sign off on repairs on biz jets and regional jets for things like that all the time. So it is up to you, but a correctly done repair will be perfectly safe and not very visible if it is done well.
 
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My wife Marilyn's RV-4 had hangar rash trailing edge damage from pushing too far into a Tee hangar (before she bought it) when it happened a second time, I called VANs and ordered a pair of Quick Build Ailerons for an RV-8. These pre made ailerons are the same as an RV-4 except heavier skins. I can't remember the price, but it was very reasonable. I got matched white Concept Enamel for the local PPG paint store and had her RV-4 looking good and flying better in short order.
 
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