Dear
subscribers,
I need some help/advise. I
purchased a used IVP with 250 hrs. It did not look very nicely and I knew that
it needed some work. I had a pre purchase inspection/anual done at Lancair and
they confirmed that everything was in a working condition and that the
airplane was safe to fly. Based on this I made my purchase
decision.
I took the airplane apart and I am
rebuilding it right now (I did not have the money for a new kit). After
painting the wings we got a paint bubble during the buffing in the sun. I dug
into bubble and found some of that brown rubber under the primer (the sealer
that is used to seal the inside of fuel tanks - unfortunately I decided to
just grind of the original paint and leave the primer on) I decided to grind
of all the paint and primer around my leading edge and found that brown rubber
stuff on several spots along the leading edge. After removing the rubber I
found wet spots in the carbon fiber. After looking at the wing closer I found
blue stains on the very outside of the leading edge (visible by looking into
the wing after removing the winglets). This probably should have been found by
Lancair during the annual/pre purchase
inspection.
I think my whole leading edge is
soaked with fuel since I see stains where no fuel tank is. I would also
consider this as a safety concern. My friends from the FBO here think the
design of a wing without any inspection panels is hazardous anyway. So I won’t
find much help there. One professional Lancair builder recommended to paint
the outside of the wing with sealer paint – I don’t feel very comfortable with
his advice.
Can anyone give me advise on how
to fix this right. I would also feel more comfortable if I would have
professional help on this – any advise on this? Do you think I would have any
success asking Lancair for help on this since I purchased the plane based on
their evaluation.
Ralf
Bronnenmeier
Bluffton, OH
45817
Phone: (419) 369 12
33
E-mail:
bronnenmeier@grobsystems.com