O/S/R Wing repairs

On my last post about the repairs on the O/S/R wing I mentioned how it was secured at the back with a single bolt for ease of removal. Obviously it is important that this bolt is secured firmly and that the wing is in good condition. The later was not the case on mine and could have had disastrous consequences. The section of wing surrounding the boss had fractured approximately 50% of the circumference and copious amounts of paint and underseal was disguising the fact.

Outside of the fracture which was covered with paint

Inside of the fracture after underseal was cleared away

I think the way forward on this repair will be to braze as the existing metalwork is quite thin. This will add plenty of material and is more forgiving.

N/S Doors

Finally received a call from Ribble Technology to say my doors were ready for collection. I seemed to have been waiting for months but they have done a excellent job. They have been stripped of all paint, sealer, filler etc down to bare metal then de-rusted and phosphate coated then finally a electrostatic epoxy primer. The door bottoms have had previous (bad) repairs carried out but are in better condition than I expected. The top of the doors need the usual stress fractures sorting out by brazing, the metal is very thin here and I think I need to weld in a plate in the N/S/R inner.

I will post updates when the cutting and welding begins.