Shop for stub wing spar cap replacement/repair

[redbaron1982]

Hi all,

Hoping to get the annual on my newly acquired Mooney wrapped up soon, and having found corrosion on the wing spar cap, I'm starting to look for shop to do the repair (basically replace or if possible repair the RH stub wing spar lower cap.

I prefer a shop in Texas, as I live in Houston, so far, I have this in mind:

• Don Maxwell
• Dugosh
• Swta.net

Is there anyone else I should consider? I've contacted all of them, the best price so far was from Don, Swta.net requested for more pictures, that I've sent, but they never replied even after a couple of emails.

So, again, the "winner" so far is Don, but I'd like to make sure I've explore all the possibility for this big ticket repair.

[EricJ]

Looks to me like you're on the right track.   I don't think you can go wrong taking it to Maxwell's for that work.

[LANCECASPER]

3 hours ago, redbaron1982 said:

So, again, the "winner" so far is Don, but I'd like to make sure I've explore all the possibility for this big ticket repair.

I doubt that in recent years anyone has done more than him.

[carusoam]

Spar cap corrosion is not a very common occurrence…

If the other guys don’t call you back… they may be telling you nicely to go see DMax…

All three shops mentioned are good quality… odd that you are not getting a response…

keep in mind… some parts of aviation ar still only a phone call away…  don’t be afraid to dial…  you are going to want to compare quotes to some extent…

pP thoughts only not a mechanic…

-a-

[chriscalandro]

What’s the quotes damage

[AerostarDriver]

When my Mooney had rear stub spar corrosion, Don was the only one who would even consider taking it on. However, I would caution you to budget for a wing replacement. We originally went into it thinking "oh, it's only going to cost 7-10K". We ended up walking out at a total cost of 24k and got a new to us wing. 

"It is the worst corrosion I have ever seen" -D.Maxwell

 

[carusoam]

9 minutes ago, DCarlton said:

Very common?  Does anyone have pics or diagrams of which access panels to access to identify the more common occurrences?  If I experienced wing related corrosion, I'd probably total my airplane and move the engine and avionics to a kit plane. 

The reason we have inspection panels….

is so every surface can be seen…

If you haven’t looked behind every inspection panel…  you might want to try it…

Some panels come in pairs you can see everything in the bay from one or the other… 
 

So technically you don’t need to open them all…

Inspection panels in the fuel tank are a challenge to see behind…. Don’t accidentally open these….

When you do owner assisted annuals you have a tendency to open everything you can to clean and see what’s in there…

All aluminum has reserved the right to corrode… Spars are really strong, extra light, and resist corrosion only mildly…make sure they are nicely coated in some nice yellow/green anti-corrosion paint..,

if the paint is missing, clean and repaint properly…

PP thoughts only not a mechanic…

Best regards,

-a-

[DCarlton]

18 hours ago, carusoam said:

The reason we have inspection panels….

is so every surface can be seen…

If you haven’t looked behind every inspection panel…  you might want to try it…

Some panels come in pairs you can see everything in the bay from one or the other… 
 

So technically you don’t need to open them all…

Inspection panels in the fuel tank are a challenge to see behind…. Don’t accidentally open these….

When you do owner assisted annuals you have a tendency to open everything you can to clean and see what’s in there…

All aluminum has reserved the right to corrode… Spars are really strong, extra light, and resist corrosion only mildly…make sure they are nicely coated in some nice yellow/green anti-corrosion paint..,

if the paint is missing, clean and repaint properly…

PP thoughts only not a mechanic…

Best regards,

-a-

I saw Aerostars pics after I responded.  It looks like the best you can do is look for the white residue along the edges of the spar cap since you can't obviously see between the wing skin and the spar.  That suggests to me the corrosion has to be progressed to see evidence from the underside.  I worry a little about this because I see ACF50 migrating through my wing skin rivets.  With the wing painted, I'm surprised it can get to the surface.  Sorry for not noticing you said corrosion is NOT very common on your original post.   

[Ragsf15e]

2 hours ago, DCarlton said:

I saw Aerostars pics after I responded.  It looks like the best you can do is look for the white residue along the edges of the spar cap since you can't obviously see between the wing skin and the spar.  That suggests to me the corrosion has to be progressed to see evidence from the underside.  I worry a little about this because I see ACF50 migrating through my wing skin rivets.  With the wing painted, I'm surprised it can get to the surface.  Sorry for not noticing you said corrosion is NOT very common on your original post.   

It’s ACF’s job to migrate everywhere.  If it’s coming out thick and is a big mess, perhaps they used too much, but you should definitely see some leaking out.

[carusoam]

Acf50 and CorrosionX get misted into the interior of the plane… it creates a fog that does a great job of coating everything….

It also creeps into fine passages…

While it is creeping… it also takes remnances of aluminum dust with it….

After using CorrosionX in my M20C’s wings…. The outlines of the rivets on the top of the wings would appear…. And stay around for a month or so….  The anti corrosion material, was dissolving away the loose bits between the rivets and the wing skins…and passing them to the surface…

 

It turns out there is tiny amounts of freedom between the wing skin and the rivet… and the paint has a micro break around the rivet head…

This has never been so visible until after I used the CorrosionX…

Of course… it is better to use CorrosionX than it is to not use it… the CorrosionX isn’t the cause of the paint challenge, or loosening rivets or anything….

If it can get between rivets and wing skins… it can get between spars and wing skins as well….

 

PP thoughts only, not a RedOx chemist…

Best regards,

-a-

[201Steve]

Relative to fogging the wings, what’s the thought on how a coating of ACF50 would affect say, your autopilot servo? You’ve got a Garmin roll servo in there… any trouble with it having said chemical all over it?

[carusoam]

7 minutes ago, 201Steve said:

Relative to fogging the wings, what’s the thought on how a coating of ACF50 would affect say, your autopilot servo? You’ve got a Garmin roll servo in there… any trouble with it having said chemical all over it?

Very important…..

before fogging an aircraft….  All the electronics in the equipment bay get bagged and sealed from the fogging experience…

It would be really bad form to have a waxy coating added to any of the internals of electronics equipment…. Especially servo clutches…. 

 

There is probably applications instructions right on the can for this stuff….

There is plenty of does and don’ts around here for these products….

Best regards,

-a-

[201Steve]

23 hours ago, carusoam said:

Very important…..

before fogging an aircraft….  All the electronics in the equipment bay get bagged and sealed from the fogging experience…

It would be really bad form to have a waxy coating added to any of the internals of electronics equipment…. Especially servo clutches…. 

 

There is probably applications instructions right on the can for this stuff….

There is plenty of does and don’ts around here for these products….

Best regards,

-a-

I figured it had to be. I’ve just never seen that mentioned when discussing. Thx!!!

[carusoam]

Steve,

It is in the expect hardship category if not taken care of properly…

Back in the day… there wasn’t much on the shelf back there…

Today there might be 50amu of sensitive electronics on the shelf… and a couple of complex servo motors in the area….

 

PP thoughts only, not a mechanic…

Best regards,

-a-

[kortopates]

not saying any of the above aren't good choices, nor have I reviewed the seriousness of the repair. But if I was comtemplating a significant sheetmetal repair I wuld want to send it to the one of the best sheetmetal repair business in the country. Beegles Aircraft in Greely, Colorado is one of the best sheet metal shops on the planet. Such a shop specializes in these kinds of repairs unlike the Mooney shops that might do this kind of repair occasionally. 

[thinwing]

Beegles definitely has the reputation for aircraft sheet metal.....thats all they do and are expert