gwav8or Posted Thursday at 02:41 PM Report Posted Thursday at 02:41 PM So my '67F is in for it's annual inspection. I had to use a new maintenance shop this year since my previous mechanic decided to go somewhere else. Well, I just got the call that no Mooney owner (or any aircraft owner) wants to get. The mechanic said they found some corrosion on the wing spar at a splice joint. I'm gonna visit the shop in an hour or so and will get some pictures and some more information. Mechanic said we need to discuss how the want to repair/correct the corrosion. This shop isn't an MSC. I've had them do a few other minor things for me and so far I've liked the shop, their mechanics and the work they've done but this is major, imo. The airplane hasn't sat outside for the last 30 years, so I'm confused as to how the corrosion even got started. The plane has lived in Oklahoma for most of it's life. I'm probably gonna ask the shop to give Maxwell a call. I'll post more info once I have it from the shop but how should I proceed? How potentially bad is this?
KSMooniac Posted Thursday at 02:56 PM Report Posted Thursday at 02:56 PM It depends on what type, where it is, and how much... please share details and quality pics when you get them. And yes, definitely consult with Maxwell before choosing a path.
Hradec Posted Thursday at 02:57 PM Report Posted Thursday at 02:57 PM The spar splice plate is steel, it is against the aluminum. If the corrosion is in the steel not too big of a deal. Drill rivets, remove steel plate. Clean plate, reinstall. If corrosion is in the aluminum it's a bit trickier. Get in touch with a mooney structure guy. Call Don maxwell shop. Get pictures. I just finished a 6 yr project. Left spar cap and aft stub spar replacement. Did it all myself with consultation with the structure guy at maxwell. 3
hammdo Posted Thursday at 04:35 PM Report Posted Thursday at 04:35 PM Is it the spar splice plate inside the cabin in front of the rear seat? Mine was replaced and I have a pic if you want one and I have log entries.. -Don
gwav8or Posted Thursday at 05:09 PM Author Report Posted Thursday at 05:09 PM (edited) 34 minutes ago, hammdo said: Is it the spar splice plate inside the cabin in front of the rear seat? Mine was replaced and I have a pic if you want one and I have log entries.. -Don Very much appreciated Don, but mine is mid-wing on the left wing. I saw the pics, doesn't look good to my untrained eye. The plate is corroded and looks like it may be into the aluminum spar, but they need to remove the plate to know for sure. The steel plate wasn't corrosion protected from the factory, so there's dissimilar metal to metal contact. The shop is gonna correspond with Don Maxwell and will send the pics to him and copy me on the correspondence. I'll post the pics when I get them. Edited Thursday at 05:11 PM by gwav8or 1
hammdo Posted Thursday at 05:17 PM Report Posted Thursday at 05:17 PM Ugh, such a nice bird. Wonder when this all started. Hopefully it is repairable. Mine has been corrosion sprayed many times. Hope to keep the reaper at bay ;o) -Don
gwav8or Posted Thursday at 11:05 PM Author Report Posted Thursday at 11:05 PM Here are the pics my mechanic sent to me. Mechanic also sent to Don Maxwell. Don replied that my shop could buy the parts and replace the spar cap and the splice cap. Said the cost is about $15k per side. These pics are from both sides, r & l wing. Didn't expect this. I'm not sure what my shop is gonna quote for this but if both have to be repaired and the cost is $15k per side, plus the annual. That's a huge chunk of money. I will most likely be putting my Mooney on the market after this debacle is over. I can handle normal maintenance and have pretty much had an open checkbook for this plane since I bought it but this much money at one annual is just hard to stomach. 1
EricJ Posted Thursday at 11:29 PM Report Posted Thursday at 11:29 PM Those first pics are not nice. :'(
hammdo Posted yesterday at 12:00 AM Report Posted yesterday at 12:00 AM Not sure if rodent pee did that… -Don
gwav8or Posted yesterday at 12:25 AM Author Report Posted yesterday at 12:25 AM (edited) Quote Not sure if rodent pee did that… -Don Didn’t think about that but could be a possibility. Haven’t seen any nests or any baby rodents running around lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited yesterday at 12:26 AM by gwav8or
takair Posted 23 hours ago Report Posted 23 hours ago 3rd picture down seems to have mouse droppings. What is going on in the picture with bare aluminum? Is that same area? Looks like some grind markings on the aluminum. Also, something furry hanging out in the next bay? you said this is half way out? Trying to picture where that steel plate resides out there.
Ragsf15e Posted 22 hours ago Report Posted 22 hours ago 3 hours ago, gwav8or said: Here are the pics my mechanic sent to me. Mechanic also sent to Don Maxwell. Don replied that my shop could buy the parts and replace the spar cap and the splice cap. Said the cost is about $15k per side. These pics are from both sides, r & l wing. Didn't expect this. I'm not sure what my shop is gonna quote for this but if both have to be repaired and the cost is $15k per side, plus the annual. That's a huge chunk of money. I will most likely be putting my Mooney on the market after this debacle is over. I can handle normal maintenance and have pretty much had an open checkbook for this plane since I bought it but this much money at one annual is just hard to stomach. Really sorry to see that, and for the troubles it will cause you. I know you aren’t in a corrosion prone area, but do you know if it has been sprayed with ACF recently? I’m surprised that it grew so much without being spotted a while back? Maybe the rodent idea is real? 1
Thedude Posted 19 hours ago Report Posted 19 hours ago Can someone point out the areas of concern or issues in the metal? I'm a noob here and I don't know what corrosion looks like.
Paul Thomas Posted 11 hours ago Report Posted 11 hours ago 7 hours ago, Thedude said: Can someone point out the areas of concern or issues in the metal? I'm a noob here and I don't know what corrosion looks like. The white part that looks like it's crumbling. The FAA publishes a document that shows what form of corrosion there are and how to treat them. https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_43-4B.pdf 2
Jsno Posted 10 hours ago Report Posted 10 hours ago I would have them clean up the corrosion, measure how much was removed and send the info to Mooney to determine if it is still thick enough to be airworthy. 1
DCarlton Posted 8 hours ago Report Posted 8 hours ago 2 hours ago, Jsno said: I would have them clean up the corrosion, measure how much was removed and send the info to Mooney to determine if it is still thick enough to be airworthy. We've talked a lot about Mooney and LASAR and offered plenty of ideas. Does anyone know what services Mooney still provides? Do they still provide engineering and technical support services? Any services beyond making parts for LASAR?
jetdriven Posted 6 hours ago Report Posted 6 hours ago W have a M20J with a spar issue and they said call a DER they wouldn’t get involved. 1
gwav8or Posted 6 hours ago Author Report Posted 6 hours ago (edited) Quote Really sorry to see that, and for the troubles it will cause you. I know you aren’t in a corrosion prone area, but do you know if it has been sprayed with ACF recently? I’m surprised that it grew so much without being spotted a while back? Maybe the rodent idea is real? It hasn’t been sprayed with ACF since I’ve owned it. My fault. Should have done that as soon as I got the plane. I (and the shop working on my plane) believe that the corrosion is a product of a “long time”. I really can’t imagine that much corrosion popping up over the course of a couple years. Which if true is frustrating. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited 6 hours ago by gwav8or 1
gwav8or Posted 6 hours ago Author Report Posted 6 hours ago (edited) My shop contacted Maxwell and they weren't very helpful. The shop said they were gonna reach out to LASAR and Dugosh and see if they'll offer any input. If this gets too expensive, the plane may get parted out or sold as is. This really breaks my heart as I thought this would be my "forever" plane. Seems likely it will end up being my last plane. I'm not sure yet what "too expensive" is but I'm not feeling to positive about it at the moment. Edited 6 hours ago by gwav8or
gwav8or Posted 6 hours ago Author Report Posted 6 hours ago 27 minutes ago, jetdriven said: W have a M20J with a spar issue and they said call a DER they wouldn’t get involved. I think that's gonna be pretty much everybody's response. Nobody wants the liability. They'd rather push it off to the FAA.
EricJ Posted 6 hours ago Report Posted 6 hours ago Looking at your pictures again it looks like the later pictures are after removing the corrosion. They don't look that bad as long as there is sufficient material left, which could be determined with reference to the SMM and other structural repair references. You're not that far from Maxwells and they have a lot of experience with this sort of thing. You could fly it there and get an opinion directly from them rather than somebody trying to extract talent over the phone. They would then be able to treat it or repair it if necessary. There is also a reputable aircraft structural repair shop in Colorado if that's an option for you.
Paul Thomas Posted 5 hours ago Report Posted 5 hours ago 1 minute ago, gwav8or said: My shop contacted Maxwell and they weren't very helpful. The shop said they were gonna reach out to LASAR and Dugosh and see if they'll offer any input. If this gets too expensive, the plane may get parted out or sold as is. This really breaks my heart as I thought this would be my "forever" plane. I'm not sure yet what "too expensive" is but I'm not feeling to positive about it at the moment. The scary part of these projects is what else you may find when you open things up but I'd imagine it would be very hard to sell as is. I am sorry you are going through this. 28 minutes ago, jetdriven said: W have a M20J with a spar issue and they said call a DER they wouldn’t get involved. So sad; I could understand wanting to charge for their services but not even wanting to get involved... I'm surprised Mooney doesn't have a relationship with DER for cases like these.
LANCECASPER Posted 3 hours ago Report Posted 3 hours ago 20 hours ago, gwav8or said: Didn’t think about that but could be a possibility. Haven’t seen any nests or any baby rodents running around lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk If it is caused by rodent urine your insurance may help with the cost. Read through this post and you'll notice the results: Your shop needs to be on board and before they do any clean-up an adjuster should look at this.
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