There's a guy in Embarass, MN. who rebuilds/re skins control surfaces and wings. Has jigs and does really good work. Wipaire sends their sheet metal work to him.

MTV

Av8r3400 wrote:Leni - Doesn't your A&P have insurance to cover his negligence? It was his placement of and not tying down your airplane that cause the damage, right? There would be no way in hell that I would foot the bill for his f'up.

Why are you so sure that it was the mechanics fault? Some guys seem quite often to try to "blame the mechanic" whenever possible. one of the reasons I avoid working on other peoples planes.
The winds were cranking here in Homer too. Could it possibly be the winds fault?
Thankful my planes were inside.

Av8r3400 wrote:Leni - Doesn't your A&P have insurance to cover his negligence? It was his placement of and not tying down your airplane that cause the damage, right? There would be no way in hell that I would foot the bill for his f'up.

well... no.. it was my partners hangar and its one of those dumb shit moments when ya just say WTF, I knew better than that, suck it up, and pay the price and move on.

SE6601KF wrote:

Av8r3400 wrote:Leni - Doesn't your A&P have insurance to cover his negligence? It was his placement of and not tying down your airplane that cause the damage, right? There would be no way in hell that I would foot the bill for his f'up.

Why are you so sure that it was the mechanics fault? Some guys seem quite often to try to "blame the mechanic" whenever possible. one of the reasons I avoid working on other peoples planes.
The winds were cranking here in Homer too. Could it possibly be the winds fault?
Thankful my planes were inside.

Trent is right, it is no ones fault other than mine and my partners. Unless we want to pissed at the almighty for leaving us lacking in the brain department and for creating the winds that hit us LOL.

We had pulled the 180 out to put my Avid on skis and to work on his kitfox.. The intent was to pull the plane back in when we were done, but it got left outside and we were too damn stupid to tie it down. Live and learn I spose.

SE6601KF wrote:

Av8r3400 wrote:Leni - Doesn't your A&P have insurance to cover his negligence? It was his placement of and not tying down your airplane that cause the damage, right? There would be no way in hell that I would foot the bill for his f'up.

Why are you so sure that it was the mechanics fault? Some guys seem quite often to try to "blame the mechanic" whenever possible. one of the reasons I avoid working on other peoples planes.
The winds were cranking here in Homer too. Could it possibly be the winds fault?
Thankful my planes were inside.

The way the tale was told, I believed the plane to be at Leni's A&P's shop. If that was in fact the case, the A&P should and would most definitely be held accountable for the damage to the plane left in his care. That was not the case as it turns out. If I'm paying an A&P to work on my plane, you damn right I will "blame the mechanic" first if this were to happen.

If you choose to not expose yourself to this risk by working on other people's planes, then God bless you. That's a wise choice.

Thanks for keeping us posted on your project.

I don't think I could convince my wife to scrape gunk out of an old plane.

I think you have a keeper.

Av8r3400 wrote:

SE6601KF wrote:

Av8r3400 wrote:Leni - Doesn't your A&P have insurance to cover his negligence? It was his placement of and not tying down your airplane that cause the damage, right? There would be no way in hell that I would foot the bill for his f'up.

Why are you so sure that it was the mechanics fault? Some guys seem quite often to try to "blame the mechanic" whenever possible. one of the reasons I avoid working on other peoples planes.
The winds were cranking here in Homer too. Could it possibly be the winds fault?
Thankful my planes were inside.

The way the tale was told, I believed the plane to be at Leni's A&P's shop. If that was in fact the case, the A&P should and would most definitely be held accountable for the damage to the plane left in his care. That was not the case as it turns out. If I'm paying an A&P to work on my plane, you damn right I will "blame the mechanic" first if this were to happen.

If you choose to not expose yourself to this risk by working on other people's planes, then God bless you. That's a wise choice.

The way I read the original post, it was it was there also. But it didn't say the circumstances like whether it was tied down or not,, whether it had 4 ropes per side that all snapped, whether it was hit by blowing debris or a tree fell on it. we now know what happened at that particular point. It just bothers me when someone automatically applies blame to someone else without knowing the facts, whether it is to the mechanic or line guy or who ever else. If it's someones fault then sure it's there fault. Leni has taken responsibility for his own plane. I do feel for him dealing with the damage. But it could have been waaaay worse.

Have I ever mentioned that I hate getting raped working on certified planes? Sent the prop off to get it flushed. Turns out the shop says they found corrosion on the prop hub and red tagged it. I looked it over and couldn't see what the hell they were talking about. I took the hub home and Xrayed it and did a penetrant test on it and still don't see any corrosion, internal, external or inter-granular.. bottom line is it does not matter what I say or show on Xray, the prop shop says no to using it. The cheap flush just turned into a 6K overhaul. Is there SERIOUSLY 24 hrs worth of labor to overhaul a prop that the blades are good on and require no work?

I think an "Overhaul" requires a certain amount of work no matter what. What about an IRAN (Inspect and Repair As Necessary)?? Probably cheaper and just as "airworthy".

Hopefully I will have some progress pictures next time I get home in a couple weeks. By then, the engine should be back in one piece, the prop back from the shop and the wrinkled skins replaced and all parts good as new. It sucks having your plane spread across 7 states but its all coming back together now.

Since the elevators and stab are all new skins, I guess its time to bite the bullet and start stripping the rest of the plane for a face lift. It is gonna look pretty stupid half new paint and half old faded stuff so we are now thinking about paints... I have lots of experience with covering and painting fabric, steel and fiberglass, but have not done any aluminum work. Any ideas on prep, wash, primer and topcoat? I can do a search on the net, but personal experience is what I am looking for. Some paints are a bitch to shoot and you really need to be familiar with them.. tips and tricks you have learned are GREATLY appreciated here! The plane is on floats so the best corrosion protection I can get is worth some extra $ if need be.

well it is slowly coming together. All parts for the engine are back and at the IA's shop, new carb, mags etc. The prop is in the hangar waiting for the IA to get the engine built and hung back on the plane. I took the elevator and stab to a guy 75 miles away who has been doing sheet metal repair work for 50+ years and came highly recommended..... He called and said the shit was ready to pick up so I drove down there and this is what I got for $3650.00...



big gap on the stabilizer skin overlap





Clamp / plier marks all along the edge of the elevator



crack in the skin on the bottom of the elevator



top side of stab had a bubble in the skin and the rivet was pounded in so hard that when you put a straight edge over the skin the rivet head is almost 3/16" below the surface of the skin.



The stab skins dont even come close to matching the fiberglass tips



99% of the rivet heads were pounded down below the surface of the skins.

When I confronted the guy, he said all he would do was "repair" the crack in the elevator and put a 185 leading edge skin on the stab to hide the shitty work and big gaps. But as far as the rest of the rivets being pounded too hard, I was just being "to nitpicky" I don't think it is too much to ask that new skins not look like they have been through a hail storm. The bad part is he has these tagged as serviceable... anyone else see anything wrong here?

Wow.... I wouldn't be very happy at all right now and I'm sure you're not.

not happy at all right now.... Thinking about taking the parts to the FSDO and seeing what they think of a certified repair station putting out this kind of work.

If the guy would make it right, and reskin it right I would be happy, but telling me that I am being too picky pissed me off. I dont have a photo of it, but if you put a straight edge on the trailing edge of the elevator, its 2" off.

The trailing edge of the elevator. I can't find a straight line on the elevator or the stab. If you draw a string line across the leading edge of the stabilizer, the tips on each side go up about 3/8" I don't figure I need any dihedral in the stab...

man that really stinks, i would be pretty angry too. I don't think you are nit picking here...

Wow. Thats brutal! I think I'd definitely be showing his "certified" work to the FSDO if he doesn't fix it properly...

That's just not right! Those sunk rivets are not airworthy. The structure underneath is deformed most likely. I think I would tell him to buy you new skins and you'll go somewhere else to have the work done.- Otherwise, the FISDO will get to have a look and you will see him in small claims court. I wouldn't put that on one of my aircraft. My 2 cents

I think when I get home I will load the parts up and take the 150 mile drive to the FSDO.. The more I think about it the madder I get. If he dont want to make it right, then its going straight to the FSDO.

None of my business, but if that's the quality of work he does when being payed, what kind of quality would you expect when he'll be doing it on his time. I would find someone else to do it properly and ask for my money back. Other wise let the FSDO and the court sort it out.
46tcrft

good point!