Hail Damage Repair

[KSMooniac]

Bondo on control surfaces is a very bad idea for the weight and balance reasons.  

FWIW, Maxwell told me his new guy is very, very good.  Don got the last pair of new ailerons from Mooney last fall before they ran out (I don't know anything about recent production/inventory) and gave them to his guy to build jigs using the brand new ailerons.  He has since used those jigs to reskin damaged ailerons with great results.  

Like John 4352H, I've chased rigging issues ever since I bought my plane and my problem is a twisted aileron AND flap on one side.  Of course there aren't any records of why they are not straight, but I'm contemplating getting both of these fixed this year and hopefully finally getting my baby to fly straight.  

If you can get factory new (especially via insurance) that would certainly be my first choice, but if they are not available, or if you're paying out of pocket (like me) then I would recommend giving Maxwell a call.

[Becca]

Ditto what Byron said.. deleted.

[Parker_Woodruff]

Quote: Becca

Ditto what Byron said.. deleted.

[John Pleisse]

Quote: jetdriven

[Becca]

Quote: Parker_Woodruff

Unless I misunderstood Don Maxwell when I saw him in person yesterday, they're making them with a few weeks' lead time.  You can likely get them on order from your preferred MSC.

I believe Don has 1 new and 1 used aileron in stock and can likely get another new one...

[mike28w]

  Many years ago, I had a hailstorm attack my Piper Cherokee.  I took all sorts of photos for insurance reasons and was treated quite fairly by the insurance company.

  It took about a year to get around to having it repainted. I was very surprised just how many of the smaller dents had resolved by then....

  If that ever happens to me again....I think that I would make it a point to park the plane outside as much as possible on hot days. , let it get good and warm and then wash it with cold water...then repeat as often as possible.....couldn't hurt, might help ???  

  Just my opinion, no facts

 

[DaV8or]

Quote: jwilkins

Bondo on control surfaces USED to be considered a cut-rate way to repair more than very minor hail damage.  It had a bad reputation as the bondo changes the W&B of the control surfaces.

Maybe they have better ways to do it now.

Jim

 

[butchgilbert]

After seeing your pictures, I wouldn't do a thing.  Although it is a cosmetic issue, since the airplane is stored outside, you may get it repaired and have another thunderstorm roll across the field the next day.  I say live with it, and wait until the next paint job to repair, IMHO.

[DaV8or]

Quote: butchgilbert

After seeing your pictures, I wouldn't do a thing.  Although it is a cosmetic issue, since the airplane is stored outside, you may get it repaired and have another thunderstorm roll across the field the next day.  I say live with it, and wait until the next paint job to repair, IMHO.

[M016576]

You won't notice a thing with that light of hail damage.  It's cosmetic only... Those aileron skins are extremely thin, it doesnt take much to dimple one.  I wouldn't do a thing about it, unless you've got 10k burning a hole in your pocket or had already planned on a new paint job 

[jetdriven]

The problem is it devalues your airplane 5-15K.   Can you live with that?

[jasonwojo]

My first Mooney ('77 201) was a total loss from inflight hail.  I can explain more about the accident another time, but I did fly 30 miles around a storm only to have hail thrown out the top of it and pepper my plane that far away.  I had possesion of the plane for a while before turning it over to the insurance company.  It was definitely airworthy since I flew it to multiple repair facilities for estimates.  I would reccomend having 4-5 shops look at the plane since they have an eye for what to look for.  They saw dents in places I did not see.  My quotes were all over the place.  I had them quote for factory replacement parts.  For your info, the insurance company was going to cover the cost of a complete paint job of all upper and side surfaces.  Painting just your feathers will most likely not match the rest of you paint job.  If I ended up repairing the plane, many of the paint shops were only going to charge a little bit more to paint the entire plane.  The repairs most likely would have consisted of factory new, used, and fabricated parts.  The later two would have paid the diference for the complete paint job.  While waiting for the insurance company to make a final decision, many of my hail dents disappeared on their own.  I believe the cool nights and very hot summer days worked those little guys out on their own.  As another avenue to save costs, I was told you can swap your left and right elevators (flipping them) so the minor dings were facing down and basically not seen.  Just some ideas for ya...