140 loooong dent. Belly skins

2066 · Post by **2066** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:36 pm

Hey, Les -- sorry we've missed talking real time...so far! Wow...it sure looks like that 140 "ran over" something...or was run into. I've seen similar damage from "equipment" being moved around in hangars. As already said and I know you agree, you've gotta wonder about a prop hit ("static") at least, and a strike while overtaking "something" at worst. While it's certainly fixable, the fog of missing logs and calendar time since major would be of concern to me...unless the seller/owner was one of the "family" here

. There's some good ones around, currently for sale, that are ready to fly and that you can apply your expertise to making "upgrades" rather than taking valuable time to fix before flight. Just my thoughts. Talk soon. Mac

8339 · Post by **8339** » Mon Oct 22, 2018 5:37 pm

Hey Mac, I returned you your call and left a message. Thanks for checking in, and this airplane was not to be. Don’t have time to fix an airplane the guy wants top dollar for. So I had to pass.
Tail wheel training started today in a 140. What a cool airplane! The rudder to brake transition is a little hard with my 12.5 sneakers! I took the boats off and used just my socks..LOL!

Post by **6643** » Mon Oct 22, 2018 5:51 pm

8339 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 22, 2018 5:37 pmI took the boats off and used just my socks..LOL!

You're not the first!

8339 · Post by **8339** » Mon Oct 22, 2018 7:24 pm

thanks for letting me know! Felt a little strange but i disnt care! I could handle the airplane better.

6896 · Post by **6896** » Mon Nov 05, 2018 11:38 am

Ten years ago, I had to replace one of my belly skins during my initial build, i.e., Cessna P/N 0411134, STA 56.69 to 95.00, Illustrated Parts Catalog Fig. 23-7 pp. 43 and 45. The particular skin was 0.032 in thick, 2024T3 (formerly 24ST). I noticed that some of the upper fuselage skins appear to be 0.040 thick material though (except for roof which is 0.032). I had to replace the roof too as a separate project.

After removing the dented old belly skin, I match drilled the new skin to it. Fit perfectly. Match drilling works really well despite all of the holes that could contribute to tolerance stack-up. While the skin was out, I had wood braces to keep the fuselage from bending. Being a large part, I brought it to a professional Alodining service as at the time I did not know how to Alodine such a large part, but I have since figured out a way by improvising shallow basins lined with polyethylene.

My IA and I filed a Form 337 for this repair as it was a major repair. See photos.

PS-my dad was 83 years in photos. He is 93 years now and still working with me.