Rip In Inner-Gear Door Sheet Metal

[lsearcy]

On Saturday, my partner noticed that the inner gear door on the pilot side had a rip in the sheet-metal.  I have attached pictures. While it is near the rivets, it does not appear to have been a failure of the rivets but rather a jagged tear.  I am not sure how a tear like this could occur.  Two questions, (1)  can this be repaired with some type of metal adhesive or is a weld (or even new gear door) necessary.  The pieces do overlap where an adhesion could be made.  Second, has anyone had this occur before and what was the cause.  Thanks.

[DAVIDWH]

Looks like you are beyond the classic duct tape repair.

 

Might try to seal with Bondo and re-rivet..

 

If no joy, I would start harassing Wentworth AC salvage.

 

Guess pre-flights are useful after all!!

 

Best

[orionflt]

after a quick glance at the pics it looks like the outer skin could be removed and reskinned by a good sheet metal guy. personally I would see if i could find a used door somewhere, might be an easier/quicker fix

 

Brian

[1964-M20E]

Someone who is good at sheet metal most likely could make one and replace the existing one. It appears to be slightly more complex than a flat piece of aluminum riveted to the sub part. However, for the time being until you make a decision get with your A&P remove the inner doors it and fly without them for now.  The only drawback is a little bit of speed will be lost.

 

I think if you are competent you may be able classify this as an owner repair of a fairing and do it under preventive maintenance.

 

[N601RX]

The door may be closing too tightly and flexing the edge, or someone previously may have made a habit of exceeding gear down speed.

[rbridges]

Someone who is good at sheet metal most likely could make one and replace the existing one. It appears to be slightly more complex than a flat piece of aluminum riveted to the sub part. However, for the time being until you make a decision get with your A&P remove the inner doors it and fly without them for now.  The only drawback is a little bit of speed will be lost.

 

I think if you are competent you may be able classify this as an owner repair of a fairing and do it under preventive maintenance.

 

 

maybe a knot.  I've got them on my plane and have been told it's 99% esthetic, 1% speed.

[PLN_FXR]

Agree with several posts above; the door was likely rigged too tightly - although the wear patterns don't appear to show excessive tightness.  None of the photos are sufficiently detailed to determine if this is a fresh break, or an old break that has been progressing (hard to take that type of photo).  There does appear to be a paint chip about 2/3 up the length of the crack on the edge of the door, so you could have impacted something (bird, rock, runway light, whatever).  This can be repaired with an external (scab) repair (ugly; not recommended), or via re-skinning or replacement of the door.  Whichever you choose to do, get her on jacks and verify proper rigging and adjustment.  Good luck, and keep her flying! 

[PTK]

Gear down speed has been exceeded one too many times!

Call Ronnie at Dugosh. You send to him and he will reskin it.

[laytonl]

I did the scab approach on two different Mooneys and I think it looks fine. On my current Mooney, I have not painted the scab yet, so I might can post a photo if you want to see it. I riveted it to the existing skin and had my A&P inspect and sign off. Lee

[Rustler]

I had this happen on my J some time back. You can remove the door and send it to Don Maxwell for repair.

 

When he was done, I flew to GGG, he replaced them, and he adjusted them to factory specs. I was really pleased with the work they did. Pretty inexpensive.

[jezzie]

same thing just happened to me, bought a new one. The 2 to 2 1/2 inch overlap is not that robust. It could have been just a combination of gear retraction and turbulance that created the right conditions for this part to fail. And no I was not flying inverted

 

eldon

[lsearcy]

LASAR has them in stock as a trade for 495.00 primed and ready to paint. Dan in the parts department said it is a very common problem and they keep them in stock.  I think that is the way I will go unless anyone has one for sale cheaper.  Thanks.

[N601RX]

I know someone who is parting out a J model if you need his contact info

[jetdriven]

same thing just happened to me, bought a new one. The 2 to 2 1/2 inch overlap is not that robust. It could have been just a combination of gear retraction and turbulance that created the right conditions for this part to fail. And no I was not flying inverted

 

eldon

No amount of turbulence will tear a gear door like that. But aluminum work hardens, so if it flexes every time the gear goes up, it will eventually fail in fatigue.

[Jeff_S]

This happened to both my gear doors. It's a flimsy part and will wear out pretty quickly if the doors aren't aligned well. I bought the new doors from LASAR, had them painted, and then had Joey Cole really align and tighten them correctly so there is not undue pressure on that leading edge. That's what really kills them.

 

Of all the "extra expenses" associated with retractable gear, this has been the only one that I've really experienced (so far, knock on wood). But having to replace both parts, then get them professionally painted, then re-aligned correctly, put me back more than $2 AU* all in.  Such is life.

 

*No, not Australian dollars...Aviation Units!  And if you have to ask how much that is, well...don't ask!

[laytonl]

Here is a photo of my repair. I went out to the hanger and painted the patch yesterday. Lee

[Flymac]

Old thread...but just experienced the same issue from a long flight the worked a smaller tear into quite a large one...calling around the usuals LASAR and Paul L...I'm in PA however...anyone repaired recently/happy with results from anywhere on the East coast by chance?

[KSMooniac]

Don Maxwell has a sheet metal wizard on staff now...I'd call him first.

Sent from my LG-US996 using Tapatalk

[jetdriven]

On 6/8/2014 at 3:05 PM, laytonl said:

Here is a photo of my repair. I went out to the hanger and painted the patch yesterday. Lee

That’s a functional patch bit if  were dimpled and  flush rivets used, would be much less visible. 

Edited August 10, 2018 by jetdriven

[laytonl]

9 hours ago, jetdriven said:

That’s a functional patch bit if  were dimpled and  flush rivets used, would be much less visible. 

Yes, I should get a dimpler.  Lee

[jetdriven]

1 hour ago, laytonl said:

Yes, I should get a dimpler.  Lee

Don't feel bad its a fine repair. I just notice things on these planes.

[INA201]

We riveted a piece of aluminum over our tear and worked great looks like it belongs there.

[Flymac]

What type of metal is the outer sheet made out of?  Is it a specific aluminum grade and thickness I assume...say if one wanted to make a flush mounted patch or at least make the patch out of the same material.  How does one determine this when the parts bulletin is always in Mooney Part numbers?  I know in the Service Manual they list many of the outer skins and such like 2024 T3...but didnt see it on all items like these doors.

[N201MKTurbo]

5 minutes ago, Flymac said:

What type of metal is the outer sheet made out of?  Is it a specific aluminum grade and thickness I assume...say if one wanted to make a flush mounted patch or at least make the patch out of the same material.  How does one determine this when the parts bulletin is always in Mooney Part numbers?  I know in the Service Manual they list many of the outer skins and such like 2024 T3...but didnt see it on all items like these doors.

Call Mooney and ask them.

I would assume it is 2024-T3. Just measure the thickness with a caliper.

[N201MKTurbo]

To get the curves they may use 2024-0 and heat treat it after forming. After heat treat it will be very close to 2024-T3.

The heat treat consists of heating to 930F for 30 min then water quench withing 8 seconds then 4 hours of ageing at room temperature.

It would be good to re-form it right after the quench to remove any distortion from the quench. It gets hard during the aging.

Edited August 14, 2018 by N201MKTurbo