SIGNATURE RESTORATIONS  

Next item to tackle was the center section. Over the years this has been a known area of corrosion, but it’s difficult to assess until the fuel tanks are removed. That is a job that many are unwilling to tackle. “When we began disassembling the first center section, we found similar problems to what we were finding in the wing. The center section is also constructed of extruded stringer. Once we stripped the paint off of the extrusions we saw where they were coming apart. We also had a big surprise on one airplane when we pulled the gear casting and found a pretty good size chunk of intergranular on the forward spar. We would have never found that had we not removed the gear castings. Given what we found in the center section, we decided it was prudent to manufacture and approve the stringer for the center section as well.”

As the team tore further and further into each section of the airplane, the list of items that would need to be inspected on future airplanes grew. “On my airplane, we found the casting that holds the fuselage to the center section was beginning to corrode from the backside forward. If we had not drilled this off of the spar we would have never seen it. Now this is on our list to drill off and inspect on each airplane. This also gives us the opportunity to epoxy prime both of the surfaces,” Savage explains. << 3 / 5 >>