y2kiah Posted September 17, 2020 Report Share Posted September 17, 2020 I noticed today while looking over the airplane that the inboard right wing trailing edge has a distinct crease in the sheet metal, centered at one of the flap attach points. Further down the wing there are a series of indented dimples. At the outermost flap attach point, there is a protruding dimple. I can't say when this may have happened as it's the first time I've noticed it. It's very possible I bought the airplane already in this condition. Could this be a possible twisting up and aft of the flap attachments, possibly from a flap overspeed? Some of the dimples are in areas between the brackets, but there is a definite line and pattern to them. The left wing is smooth all the way down and doesn't show any of this. Or, could this be a just a bad riveting job? Any concern here? What else would you look for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoam Posted September 17, 2020 Report Share Posted September 17, 2020 Check the logs book to see if that flap has been replaced..? That looks like it may have been hit from behind to cause that type of crease..? While doing the research you might have a mechanic review the flap mounts for any associated damage to the sub spar and hinges... PP thoughts only, not a mechanic, just haven’t seen anything like it... Best regards, -a- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PT20J Posted September 17, 2020 Report Share Posted September 17, 2020 This is a guess since I haven’t seen the airplane. Mooney has a very close spacing between the flaps and the wing. Frequently, the flap will rub on the wing. You can see the witness marks on the flap where this has happened. In extreme cases, it wears the rivet heads down on the flap leading edge. There in no adjustment for this. One fix is to flex the wing skin upwards to slightly increase the clearance. It looks like someone did this rather crudely. Skip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricJ Posted September 17, 2020 Report Share Posted September 17, 2020 I found a rashy ding underneath the aileron on my airplane I'd never noticed before, and couldn't figure out how it could have happened. Finally I went back and looked at the pics from the ad from when it was for sale before I bought it and it was already there back then. d'oh. +1 on checking the logbooks and inspecting the flap attachments, etc. It could be that some other damage was repaired and those were deemed not worth bothering about. Good find and worth looking into in any case. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y2kiah Posted September 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted September 17, 2020 All great suggestions, I will be researching the logs this weekend, and will have my mechanic inspect the flap mounts. There are no cracks or anything structural to worry about from what I can see, but the fairings and wing inspection covers are coming off this weekend for a closer look. I think Skip is really onto something, the clearance above the flap with the bend in place leaves very little gap. The dings look like tool marks where leverage was applied, or marks from someone's thumb as they were bending. Once I really focused in I found some sloppy rivets on a couple flap mounts on both wings, looks like one layer of sheet was pushed up by the rivet rather than joined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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