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wing fell off stand

T

tomhanaway

Well Known Member
So close to the end and this happens. Had wings on stands and was bringing inside due to projected high winds. Spar end slipped off rack and dropped about 6 inches onto ground.

Two pictures attached.

Do I need to rebuild the whole tank section?

Alternatively, I could round out (reform metal at tip for the space from the rib to the edge) and fill the remaining (other side of rib) with Rage or equivalent.

Dent is about 2.5" long and 1/2 inch deep.

33lkuax.jpg


8zo221.jpg


**** it.

Thanks for any help and advice.

Tom Hanaway
Boynton Beach, FL
 
Tom
I don't think you need to rebuild the tank.
A couple of things that need to be looked at. The seal of the tank might have been disturbed from the deformation and of course the cosmetic aspect
of it.
From experience with someone else's tank and very similar circumstances
I am pretty sure you will be able to push the dent back out.
You will need to remove the access plate and you should be able to easily reach the part that needs to be pushed out alond with some straightening
of the inboard tank rib. You may not succeed in pushing it all the way back but within a 1/4 inch or less should be possible. The rest can be repaired with fiberglass filler or other (Rage).
While the cover is removed apply additional Proseal to the inside seam to be sure you won't have a leak.
 
Bent leading edge

Same thing happened to me. I have in bend in the same spot and one 2 feet from the wingtips.
I bent out the inboard corners, that were accessible, and left the dents on the leading edge alone. Cosmetically it's a eye sore, but according to Vans it wont be a problem when flying.
I sealed the prosealed on the outside, just as a precaution.
I would not open up the tank and mess with it, if you verified it is sealed correctly, more harm can come from opening it and trying to reseal than leaving it dented.
You can fill the dented area with epoxy if you chose. Mine is painted so maybe one day in the future I'll do it.
 
It's amazing what an experienced sheet-metal body repair guy can do with a slap hammer. If you have access to a high end auto body shop, see if someone will come out and look at it. Normally they might try the slap hammer on the crease, working it down and allowing the dent to relax back out. A little sanding over the area hammered and some primer and you might be no worse for the wear...

Jeremy Constant
 
I feel for you - terrible thing to happen. Luckily, it looks like it's not too difficult to fix.

I almost had a similar incident. The dollies at each end of my wing stand are on castors. As I was wheeling them around, the spar end caught and tipped. The whole lot was going over and I had horrible and expensive visions. Somehow, I managed to pull the whole thing upright again. I have no idea how - it was like the stories you read of the mother lifting a car off her child........
 
I would hold off on primer until you know what paint system you are gong to use. This will ensure the primer you use will be compatable with your paint system. My painter had to remove all of the primer I used for "repairs" to make sure it would not react with the stuff he used. I wished I would have known that!

Just food for thought.
 
Ouch!!

Tom, those photos take me back to that sickening moment four or five years ago when I did exactly the same thing. The damage looks identical. I tried to find my posts on this forum about my incident, but could not find them. Anyway, I got pretty much the same advice you are getting today. I found a gray haired sheet metal wizard and he made it look like new. Unfortunately, when I did the leak test, it failed. So, we started removing proseal and found a hairline crack in that end rib. We ended up replacing the end rib, and with the help of a good friend who is an A&P and also a sheet metal guru, we got it installed and sealed without too much trouble. Note: if you have to order a new end rib, be aware that the part number that ends in "R" is for the left wing, and the part labeled "L" is for the right wing. Ask me how I know.:rolleyes:

My advice to anyone using wing cradles is to clamp or fasten the spar securely to the cradle. That is the step I had ignored when I built my cradles. After that, I used hardware store bolts through the bolt holes, with some neoprene hose to protect the spar bolt holes.

This has happened to a few others over the years, too.
 
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