Dang, more damage than I expected. Glad it’s back in the air! Hope the find the drone pilot. People need to stay away from the fires and give professionals all the space they need to do their job and save lives!
I was watching a YouTube video on a drone channel about this and a guy posted in the notes that his brother was one of the people repairing this. He said this was about a $50,000 job.
That could be more correct. I can’t find where I read it, but someone on Reddit had mentioned it going back to yrq - with sone discussion of the route and stops etc
I don't think this is a case where the aircraft would be allowed to fly. More likely, they shipped the part, tools, and techs to the plane to fix it. I doubt they'd have gotten a ferry flight permit with the damage, that would have been grounded until fixed.
I don't think maintenance of these plane is done in YRQ. If anything, it would be done at their base in YQB but for such job, I don't see why they would fly across the continent instead of fixing on site.
I think part of the challenge is the drone that hit the super scooper was below a particular weight class and so its flight path was not automatically registered. They have the device they know what it is and they’re working backwards on trying to identify it. I know that people in the drone community are also trying to figure out who it is as well.
The most expensive piece would be the new frame/rib and it's just stamped metal. The skin would just be regular sheet metal they have in their shop. This is a kind of a common repair so people are used to doing this kinda of quickly.
And it is a really nice, straight wing, no compound curves and a perfectly rectangular section of skin. Pretty much best case scenario, all things considered.
Can't leave that aluminum exposed at all. It oxidizes fast, and they are scooping salt at times so that makes it worse. It needs prep, primer and paint...
Uh yeah.. this is the entire point of Alclad.. pure 1100 aluminum that’s designed to corrode and protect the rest of the aluminum underneath. This is why DC-3s and DC-10s could be bare.
This is also why some missing paint won't stop a flight no matter how hard some people try to make it so. Our training heli pilots are the worst about this. Now composite is different, I get nervous when I see missing paint. That's how I find half of my voids, just tap where the paint is missing.
The oxidation seals the aluminum. Bare aluminum is pretty corrosion resistant because of this. All your doing when you alodine aluminum after working it is making it corrode so it seals itself. Salt and dissimilar metals are usually a little rough on aluminum though, especially carbon fiber on aluminum. That's why everything is painted now.
You would prime the part before installing it so the back would have some surface protection on it. With it already being primed, it would be easy to paint it after installing.
Shop people are fucking amazing. I remember when Strasburg Railroad #475 had a "mishap" and ran into a backhoe taking out a large chunk of the front of her smokebox. Their shop had that shit repaired in less than a week.
The damage was mostly cosmetic on that crash. The front part of the smoke box doesn’t have the tubing in it, it’s a big open space. They had to replace the headlight and weld the smoke box door back together. Still, it took them less time than the auto shop I took my car to did to repair some minor hail damage. https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/strasburg-details-96-hour-repair-to-engine-no-475/
Those are spring clecos, they're used to keep holes aligned while marking/drilling repairs. I would usually swap to butterfly or draw clecos when actually shooting stuff on. The draw and butterfly clecos can be tightened so you can get the repair tighter before shooting or pulling rivets.
Depends on the thickness of the material or how much it’s holding. Butterfly or draw clecos take a lot more time to install and remove and quite often regular clecos produce more than enough force.
It's stronger than the metal you use on a car. Most car stuff is 6061 and is pretty soft. Aircraft use 2024 and 7075. Both are pretty strong with the latter being more so at the cost of being harder to bend.
Last we all heard, FBI wanted information and was showing the remains of a crashed DJI drone. Which should be more than enough to trace back the owner if they had any pretend of legitimacy in that airspace...
You’d think so. Grab the serial number, it’s associated to an account / email. From the account / email / phone - you have name / location.
Problem is serving DJI the request for data and they comply, and then whatever the email/phone platform is.
That only gets you the person associated with the drone, not necessarily who was flying at the time.
Now you have to place them at the same location and time the drone was there, off with another request for cellphone records etc, which towers and times it was connected to. Triangulate that shit.
Also see if they’ve been active on any social media platforms, and used any mapping apps, furthering your case etc.
You have a person, who likely owns the drone, who was likely there at the time flying it, is that enough to convict them?
It’ll happen, the wheels of justice / investigation turn slowly.
Then it’s the whole charging them, courts, convictions, appeals etc.
Much easier if the person hands themselves in, admits it all and takes a plea bargain.
Remember. That little drone punched a hole and damaged the internal structure. They also have lithium batteries that you wouldn't want inside the wing structure and burning either. I hope they find the idiot who flew it.
What a beautiful sheet metal repair!
Respect to the shop floor for this repair. Only those who have done similar work can really imagine the skills and craftsmanship needed to perform something like this!
Damn good work, I was surprised to see the rib so bent.
Now imagine that having gone through the windscreen instead of the wing.
I know that there are valid uses for drones, so this is a bit provocative.....screw drones. I do not need drones delivering my Amazon packages, or my lunch, or buzzing around my backyard so someone get their voyeur on.
Regular aircraft and pilots are heavily regulated, we need to do the same for drones.
all the shit problems with social media today, but we still have some really great stuff, like damn near live reporting on the repair of this famous CL-415
Whoa, did they replace that whole center rib/web? Looks hydroformed, with several more brake/rolled (contoured) pieces. Or is it just a doubler?
I love seeing the work on install (I used to write the MFG plans for detail parts / small assemblies before it was kitted and shipped to the AOG crews).
They probably have most of these spares available in kits. But that skin looks trimmed to fit on install.
Awesome work!
Something weird though on the rear support angle in image five, looks like a crack running horizontally—fingers crossed that’s some weird image compression artifact or an overlapping detail/ shadow.
The sealant we use when shooting structures back together is black, I'm 99% sure that's what it is. It's too big to be a crack. They would have to order the rib but might have had the stringers on hand. If not you can usually just bend some sheet metal for stringer repairs. The skin is just sheet metal of the right thickness and temper, cut to fit the section removed.
The pictures aren't the best so it's hard to tell what they did. They either changed the whole rib or cut off the front half of the new part and installed it using a doubler. If possible they change the whole thing but I don't know if they have access to do that at that time. The lower stringer would have been cut and a straight piece installed to fix the dent.
It may have just dented it if it hit between ribs. I've seen some big dents when nothing gets in the way. The rib was trying to stop it from denting so the skin just tore and kept going.
Aluminum is pretty soft even higher tempers found on aircraft, so it dents pretty easily. The drone may have possible just dented the leading edge if it didn't hit the rib like that. I've seen some pretty big dents when nothing is behind the impact zone.
It's definitely easier to fix than composite. Composite repairs can be really satisfying though, they come out so smooth. Except kevlar, it can die and go to hell.
Ooo! I'm more interested in the maintenance, as I was a guy who did this kind of stuff a few years ago =)
might check it out still, thanks for sharing!
I will never not be impressed by a competent aircraft mechanic's wizardry. Like yea, pilots fly it, but mechanics make it to leave, stay off and return to the ground safely. Pilots have all kinds of problems without the brilliance of those grease geniuses.
Here is my breakdown of the repair process for aircraft.
First, everyone stands around looking at it for a little bit
Then someone finally goes and gets a measuring tape and figures out the damages location using station numbers.
Next would depend on the manufacturers SRM (structural repair manual). If they have a repair in the manual, you can just use that to do everything. If not, you'll need an engineering document telling you how to repair it. If I had to guess, the repairs to the stringers and frame were covered in the SRM, and engineering chimed in for the skin replacement.
Then, you drill out all the rivets necessary for the repair and carefully cut the leading edge.
Drill/cut out damaged sections of stringers and frame. Add doublers where required.
You grab some sheet metal the correct thickness and cut it out to the correct size. You can probably pick up a good bit of the holes from the old skin but will need to get creative for the rest. I usually use thin plexiglass.
Countersink the holes, prime the parts, slap some sealant on the joints, and shoot it on. Paint if you're feeling fancy.
Then an absolute shit pile of sign offs and paperwork.
2-4 days depending on how much time you're throwing and it and availability of parts. You could probably do it in 24 hours but you would have to really go after it.
No, the repair will be done in accordance with manufacturer's repair manual (SRM) or an engineering documents outlining an approved repair. Once the repair is finished the mechanics will sign the work off. A quality inspector will also sign off on the repair depending on size and severity of the damage/repair. It's been a while since I've messed with commercial/civilian stuff but I think I remember us putting aircraft okay to return to service or something in the logbook after repairs were complete.
Pretty much all repairs on metal parts will boil down to replace the whole part (stringer, rib, frame, etc.) or repair it by removing damage, adding that damaged sections back with new or fabricated pieces ( ignore this on very small damages), then adding a doubler/tripler on top (or bottom) to tie it all together. The doubler allows stress to travel around the damaged section.
That doesn't fix the underlying structure. Modern planes depend on both the underlying structure and skin for strength. Also there is very little welding on aircraft. All welding I have seen are for steel parts and they're usually taken off the bird before being welded. I took my heat treat class a long time ago but I'm pretty sure welding aluminum would wreck it's temper. You would need to heat treat the part after the fact.
It wouldn't be repaired, it would just be slapping a bandaid on it. We actually temp fix certain punctures with aluminum tape until it can be fixed properly. This was pretty large hole though.
That was a surprising amount of damage. I would imagine aerospace maintenance isn't exactly fast-paced, so good job by everyone turning this around quickly.
It's usually pretty quick. Maintenance controllers, keep track of recurring inspections or repairs that will need to be done. They will make sure birds are where they need to be to get the attention they need. If something like a bird strike or lightning strike occurs, we usually swarm it and assess the damage as quickly as possible. We'll then start repairing as soon as we find a repair in the SRM or receive engineering instruction. Most commercial airlines have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd shifts, so the repair will get handed off to the next crew coming in to work, so it's getting worked on constantly. The mechanic side of things are just as quick. Our guys would have an engine swapped, test ran, and sitting at the gate for the red eye.
That goes on the skin they removed, then you hang it on the shop wall. We had a bunch of damaged stuff hanging around our shop when I worked in Atlanta.
I'm not sure if you're just being sarcastic or not, but that repair is fine. They replaced the damaged sections of the frame and stringers. The right side of the skin was already at a seam, but they had to cut the left side, so they added a doubler for the cut section of the leading edge skin.
That's all they heard for a little while. That's a decent bit of cherries to pull. While cherry repairs are easy to shoot. I'm always waiting for that bad pull to ruin your day.
As a drone pilot, I hope that schmuck that was flying gets every bit of karma coming to them. Dumbasses like that are screwing it up for the rest of us.
micro222@reddit
So if nobody told you what caused this damage, what would you think caused it?
robo-dragon@reddit
Dang, more damage than I expected. Glad it’s back in the air! Hope the find the drone pilot. People need to stay away from the fires and give professionals all the space they need to do their job and save lives!
tuenmuntherapist@reddit
Right? All that from a little DJI drone. Wow.
micro222@reddit
Not too likely. It might scratch the paint but that's about it.
skippythemoonrock@reddit
Wonder if hitting the much denser stringer was a stroke of luck instead of it punching through that bulkhead (fuel?) behind it.
stramong@reddit
They could have just duck taped it. (Yes this is a joke)
mtbtec@reddit
Learning about this stuff in A and P school. Really neat to see this stuff happening in real life.
DeedsF1@reddit
"Tout nouveau, tout beau!" Good job boys! Back to service she goes!
MAGASig@reddit
The unsung heroes on the shop floor 👍
Roadgoddess@reddit
I was watching a YouTube video on a drone channel about this and a guy posted in the notes that his brother was one of the people repairing this. He said this was about a $50,000 job.
packtloss@reddit
Not to mention all the fuel/man hours/engine hours to go get it fixed and come back.
Roadgoddess@reddit
Oh, I didn’t realize they had to take it back home again, yeah that’s expensive
CptnHamburgers@reddit
But they shipped the part out to LA. They wouldn't do both would they, surely?
packtloss@reddit
That could be more correct. I can’t find where I read it, but someone on Reddit had mentioned it going back to yrq - with sone discussion of the route and stops etc
Glonkable@reddit
I don't think this is a case where the aircraft would be allowed to fly. More likely, they shipped the part, tools, and techs to the plane to fix it. I doubt they'd have gotten a ferry flight permit with the damage, that would have been grounded until fixed.
GentilQuebecois@reddit
I don't think maintenance of these plane is done in YRQ. If anything, it would be done at their base in YQB but for such job, I don't see why they would fly across the continent instead of fixing on site.
rrrrrdinosavr@reddit
Any word on what FAA is doing about him?
Roadgoddess@reddit
I think part of the challenge is the drone that hit the super scooper was below a particular weight class and so its flight path was not automatically registered. They have the device they know what it is and they’re working backwards on trying to identify it. I know that people in the drone community are also trying to figure out who it is as well.
SharkAttackOmNom@reddit
That’s a LOT less than I would have guessed.
Zintoatree@reddit
The most expensive piece would be the new frame/rib and it's just stamped metal. The skin would just be regular sheet metal they have in their shop. This is a kind of a common repair so people are used to doing this kinda of quickly.
FZ_Milkshake@reddit
And it is a really nice, straight wing, no compound curves and a perfectly rectangular section of skin. Pretty much best case scenario, all things considered.
ddip214@reddit
link?
Roadgoddess@reddit
I believe this is it, it was in the comments
https://youtu.be/aMZtmOhnQQg?si=0Sc7XK2LEUMwQxwo
Yussso@reddit
Imagine how proud they are once they see this plane back fighting the fire. Truly unsung heroes.
julias-winston@reddit
Shit, they even painted the repair. I half expected "Good enough for now, we'll paint it later."
HSydness@reddit
Can't leave that aluminum exposed at all. It oxidizes fast, and they are scooping salt at times so that makes it worse. It needs prep, primer and paint...
Au-yt@reddit
not that type of allow, probably 2024 or 6061, it takes longer than you think. besides the ally is painted both sides. and corrosion treated
Nearly_Pointless@reddit
Aluminum begins oxidation within millimeters of the blade opening the cut.
It won’t rust like steel but it does immediately begin oxidation and add some salty air, it can exacerbate the problem.
Cool-Acanthaceae8968@reddit
Uh yeah.. this is the entire point of Alclad.. pure 1100 aluminum that’s designed to corrode and protect the rest of the aluminum underneath. This is why DC-3s and DC-10s could be bare.
Zintoatree@reddit
This is also why some missing paint won't stop a flight no matter how hard some people try to make it so. Our training heli pilots are the worst about this. Now composite is different, I get nervous when I see missing paint. That's how I find half of my voids, just tap where the paint is missing.
Confident_As_Hell@reddit
What's with composite?
biggsteve81@reddit
UV breaks it down.
Zintoatree@reddit
The oxidation seals the aluminum. Bare aluminum is pretty corrosion resistant because of this. All your doing when you alodine aluminum after working it is making it corrode so it seals itself. Salt and dissimilar metals are usually a little rough on aluminum though, especially carbon fiber on aluminum. That's why everything is painted now.
4Z4Z47@reddit
Most likely 2024 T3 and I have no idea why you are getting downvoted.
Gun_nut8@reddit
Doesn’t matter. Any bare aluminum is a no go and must be treated with a corrosion inhibitor and primer
Zintoatree@reddit
You would prime the part before installing it so the back would have some surface protection on it. With it already being primed, it would be easy to paint it after installing.
Neoolman@reddit
Hell yeah nice repair! I just left San Bernardino off shift now.
PunkySkunk93@reddit
Fuck whoever’s drone that was..
ArthurBurtonMorgan@reddit
The least we could’ve done was repaint all the red on both wings.
It’s gunna take the same amount of time to dry and cure anyway.
Ultimate_Mango@reddit
Please tell me they pained a little drone icon underneath the pilot to celebrate the kill
styckx@reddit
Shop people are fucking amazing. I remember when Strasburg Railroad #475 had a "mishap" and ran into a backhoe taking out a large chunk of the front of her smokebox. Their shop had that shit repaired in less than a week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vx0E0nR4boQ
n00bca1e99@reddit
The damage was mostly cosmetic on that crash. The front part of the smoke box doesn’t have the tubing in it, it’s a big open space. They had to replace the headlight and weld the smoke box door back together. Still, it took them less time than the auto shop I took my car to did to repair some minor hail damage. https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/strasburg-details-96-hour-repair-to-engine-no-475/
ph0on@reddit
Knowing the violent way steam engines tend to disassemble, that went rather well. I was sort of anticipating a steam MOAB to vaporize the cameraman
pretty_jimmy@reddit
I remember when this happened, thats crazy that they were able to get it back up in a week. good on them!
DG556@reddit
What is shown in picture 7, are they some kind of way to install aviation rivets?
Code_Operator@reddit
Those are cleco temporary fasteners.
ImBoredToo@reddit
Somehow that ) escaped, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleco_(fastener)
Zintoatree@reddit
Those are spring clecos, they're used to keep holes aligned while marking/drilling repairs. I would usually swap to butterfly or draw clecos when actually shooting stuff on. The draw and butterfly clecos can be tightened so you can get the repair tighter before shooting or pulling rivets.
Cool-Acanthaceae8968@reddit
Depends on the thickness of the material or how much it’s holding. Butterfly or draw clecos take a lot more time to install and remove and quite often regular clecos produce more than enough force.
Zintoatree@reddit
True. Usually it's a mix for me.
DG556@reddit
Thank you both! That’s awesome
JoelMDM@reddit
Aircraft mechanics are true miracle workers.
Seriously, you people don't get anywhere near the recognition and admiration you deserve.
ACorDC@reddit
Look at those nice coatings of 10P4-2NF
TheOzarkWizard@reddit
That's some pretty significant damage
Spellbindehr@reddit
Sorry Canada, won't happen again.
VanillaTortilla@reddit
Just curious, why are the wing spars painted that light greenish yellow?
Maximus_Schwanz@reddit
It's a corrosion protection layer for the aluminum. Often that doubles (or is combined with) as a paint primer for the final paint job.
VanillaTortilla@reddit
That makes sense, thanks!
Ambitious_Guard_9712@reddit
Question out of curiosity, did anybody paint a drone killmark under the cockpit?
UberKaltPizza@reddit
I hope for the sake of drone pilots who follow the rules that they come down hard on this jerk.
DienbienPR@reddit
How much for the repairs?
Zintoatree@reddit
50-100k. The majority of that being man hours and engineering if they got involved.
DienbienPR@reddit
FBI found the idiot?
MidsummerMidnight@reddit
Genuinely perplexed how a tiny 249g drone did that much damage
WarthogOsl@reddit
Airplanes are made to fly, not crash into stuff. It's not like the sheet metal on a car.
Zintoatree@reddit
It's stronger than the metal you use on a car. Most car stuff is 6061 and is pretty soft. Aircraft use 2024 and 7075. Both are pretty strong with the latter being more so at the cost of being harder to bend.
WarthogOsl@reddit
Are those all aluminum alloys? I was referring to steel body panels, fwiw.
Zintoatree@reddit
I see. Yeah those are different aluminum alloys.
Just_Another_Pilot@reddit
F=MA
wrongwayup@reddit
KE=mV^2
rocbolt@reddit
There's classic tornado damage to that effect
MetastaticCarcinoma@reddit
kinetic energy = 1/2 *mv^2
Historical_Gur_3054@reddit
Kinetic energy is a harsh mistress.
Running into a 249g drone at \~300km/h is around 868J, or 640 ft/lbf
Zintoatree@reddit
I've worked a good bit of bird strikes, you would be surprised how much damage a fairly small and light animal can do at those speeds.
RomeoInBlackJeans1@reddit
Schmuck. Did they find the guy?
burnsrado@reddit
If they haven't they will. I'd rather have the FBI after me than the FAA lol
Confident_As_Hell@reddit
What about Supo?
Mokmo@reddit
Last we all heard, FBI wanted information and was showing the remains of a crashed DJI drone. Which should be more than enough to trace back the owner if they had any pretend of legitimacy in that airspace...
org000h@reddit
You’d think so. Grab the serial number, it’s associated to an account / email. From the account / email / phone - you have name / location.
Problem is serving DJI the request for data and they comply, and then whatever the email/phone platform is.
That only gets you the person associated with the drone, not necessarily who was flying at the time.
Now you have to place them at the same location and time the drone was there, off with another request for cellphone records etc, which towers and times it was connected to. Triangulate that shit.
Also see if they’ve been active on any social media platforms, and used any mapping apps, furthering your case etc.
You have a person, who likely owns the drone, who was likely there at the time flying it, is that enough to convict them?
It’ll happen, the wheels of justice / investigation turn slowly.
Then it’s the whole charging them, courts, convictions, appeals etc.
Much easier if the person hands themselves in, admits it all and takes a plea bargain.
Mojoint@reddit
Wow! That frame has bent far more than i would have expected, how big was the drone ffs!?
MichiganGeezer@reddit
I hope the drone pilot gets the bill for the repairs.
Hexagonal_Bagel@reddit
But how’s the drone doing?
WirelessWavetable@reddit
The FBI is taking good care of it
Taptrick@reddit
That is pretty satisfying to watch!
InsertUsernameInArse@reddit
Remember. That little drone punched a hole and damaged the internal structure. They also have lithium batteries that you wouldn't want inside the wing structure and burning either. I hope they find the idiot who flew it.
VolumeBubbly9140@reddit
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/arrests-eaton-palisades-fire-zones-los-angeles-crime/
newgalactic@reddit
Did the drone operator ever get found and arrested?
VolumeBubbly9140@reddit
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/arrests-eaton-palisades-fire-zones-los-angeles-crime/
VolumeBubbly9140@reddit
Thank you, kind fabricator, for all you did to save her.
Wise-Boysenberry5286@reddit
Nicely done!
United_Perspective63@reddit
What a beautiful sheet metal repair! Respect to the shop floor for this repair. Only those who have done similar work can really imagine the skills and craftsmanship needed to perform something like this!
Jona2511@reddit
Wow, thats a lot more damage then i thought the frame would have!
DDGSXR504@reddit
I love being an NDI tech but I do miss my days of air framing. You always felt that sense of pride and accomplishment when you fixed/mended something
tdager@reddit
Damn good work, I was surprised to see the rib so bent.
Now imagine that having gone through the windscreen instead of the wing.
I know that there are valid uses for drones, so this is a bit provocative.....screw drones. I do not need drones delivering my Amazon packages, or my lunch, or buzzing around my backyard so someone get their voyeur on.
Regular aircraft and pilots are heavily regulated, we need to do the same for drones.
agha0013@reddit
all the shit problems with social media today, but we still have some really great stuff, like damn near live reporting on the repair of this famous CL-415
carfo@reddit
if ikea gave us those dowels our furniture would never fall apart
thedirtyheathen@reddit
Shoutout to the airframe mechanics. That's a clean ass repair
dedgecko@reddit
Whoa, did they replace that whole center rib/web? Looks hydroformed, with several more brake/rolled (contoured) pieces. Or is it just a doubler?
I love seeing the work on install (I used to write the MFG plans for detail parts / small assemblies before it was kitted and shipped to the AOG crews).
They probably have most of these spares available in kits. But that skin looks trimmed to fit on install.
Awesome work!
Something weird though on the rear support angle in image five, looks like a crack running horizontally—fingers crossed that’s some weird image compression artifact or an overlapping detail/ shadow.
Zintoatree@reddit
The sealant we use when shooting structures back together is black, I'm 99% sure that's what it is. It's too big to be a crack. They would have to order the rib but might have had the stringers on hand. If not you can usually just bend some sheet metal for stringer repairs. The skin is just sheet metal of the right thickness and temper, cut to fit the section removed.
The pictures aren't the best so it's hard to tell what they did. They either changed the whole rib or cut off the front half of the new part and installed it using a doubler. If possible they change the whole thing but I don't know if they have access to do that at that time. The lower stringer would have been cut and a straight piece installed to fix the dent.
dedgecko@reddit
👍 Thanks for sharing. Again, awesome to see the work getting done.
Crusader1865@reddit
Any idea what MRO performed the repair?
tymo7@reddit
Does this count as a kill? They should put a decal on the nose
ltjpunk387@reddit
I was thinking a cartoon bandage over the spot would be funny and a unique reminder of its fame
njsullyalex@reddit
Splash in this case is a double entendre
DiosMIO_Limon@reddit
Ha!
Eeebs-HI@reddit
Luckily, it hit right at the wing rib, or else it looks like the damage could have been worse.
Zintoatree@reddit
It may have just dented it if it hit between ribs. I've seen some big dents when nothing gets in the way. The rib was trying to stop it from denting so the skin just tore and kept going.
fnqfost@reddit
Thats a real eye opener. Wasn't expecting that much damage inside.
Zintoatree@reddit
Aluminum is pretty soft even higher tempers found on aircraft, so it dents pretty easily. The drone may have possible just dented the leading edge if it didn't hit the rib like that. I've seen some pretty big dents when nothing is behind the impact zone.
flyingcaveman@reddit
Good as new. Now what if it was a carbon fiber wing? is it going to the land-fill?
Zintoatree@reddit
No, you can repair composite, it's just slightly more annoying. That damage might not have been as bad on a carbon leading edge.
mightymike24@reddit
+1 for old school alumin(i)um construction
Zintoatree@reddit
It's definitely easier to fix than composite. Composite repairs can be really satisfying though, they come out so smooth. Except kevlar, it can die and go to hell.
GuitarGuru253@reddit
Hell yeah that’s a clean AF repair
sagewynn@reddit
THIS is why I come to aviation and aviationmaintenance
To see the behind the scenes of high profile incidents
Bobbytrap9@reddit
These pictures are indeed awesome!
seanmonaghan1968@reddit
This is truly a great sub
Salty_Candy_4917@reddit
Yeah, but not nearly enough posts fishing for OF subscribers. If I’m gonna subscribe to an OF, it better include planes or helicopters.
becuziwasinverted@reddit
Don’t forget you can see dramatic recreations of them on r/aircrashinvestigations
sagewynn@reddit
Ooo! I'm more interested in the maintenance, as I was a guy who did this kind of stuff a few years ago =) might check it out still, thanks for sharing!
Zintoatree@reddit
It makes me miss sheet metal work.
becuziwasinverted@reddit
I love you guys - creating something useful out of sheet metal is such added value, priceless impact on the world!
sagewynn@reddit
We're nothing without the people that keep us employed ;)
becuziwasinverted@reddit
Pilots ? Yeah, they tend to break planes a lot
lockerno177@reddit
Aviation Metal workers are the best.
DukeofPoundtown@reddit
I will never not be impressed by a competent aircraft mechanic's wizardry. Like yea, pilots fly it, but mechanics make it to leave, stay off and return to the ground safely. Pilots have all kinds of problems without the brilliance of those grease geniuses.
DrSuperZeco@reddit
Awesome post. So what are those screw like stuff and how do they work?
SSTenyoMaru@reddit
Nice! Any idea how long this took?
Zintoatree@reddit
Here is my breakdown of the repair process for aircraft.
First, everyone stands around looking at it for a little bit
Then someone finally goes and gets a measuring tape and figures out the damages location using station numbers.
Next would depend on the manufacturers SRM (structural repair manual). If they have a repair in the manual, you can just use that to do everything. If not, you'll need an engineering document telling you how to repair it. If I had to guess, the repairs to the stringers and frame were covered in the SRM, and engineering chimed in for the skin replacement.
Then, you drill out all the rivets necessary for the repair and carefully cut the leading edge.
Drill/cut out damaged sections of stringers and frame. Add doublers where required.
You grab some sheet metal the correct thickness and cut it out to the correct size. You can probably pick up a good bit of the holes from the old skin but will need to get creative for the rest. I usually use thin plexiglass.
Countersink the holes, prime the parts, slap some sealant on the joints, and shoot it on. Paint if you're feeling fancy.
Then an absolute shit pile of sign offs and paperwork.
2-4 days depending on how much time you're throwing and it and availability of parts. You could probably do it in 24 hours but you would have to really go after it.
DiosMIO_Limon@reddit
Magnificent.
SSTenyoMaru@reddit
😂
MooseheadFarms@reddit
That’s amazing!!! But several extra structures could have been saved if this thing hadn’t been grounded this whole time.
mancuso19@reddit
It's crazy how we have been updated step by step about this situation
Reddit amaze me sometimes
C_Saunders@reddit
On behalf of all Angelenos, thank you 🥲
Hamshaggy70@reddit
Too bad they didn't catch the cunt that did this and throw him/her into the fires...
Mal-De-Terre@reddit
Yet.
BendinoAF@reddit
Nice sheet metal work. Looks like a solid repair.
pghtech@reddit
Posts like these make me love Reddit even more. Really cool pics and glad to hear it’s back in good shape!
osmosisdawn@reddit
Some brilliant sheetie work there.
ThomasLKT@reddit
Do they need to do a recertification of the airframe before sending it back in action?
Zintoatree@reddit
No, the repair will be done in accordance with manufacturer's repair manual (SRM) or an engineering documents outlining an approved repair. Once the repair is finished the mechanics will sign the work off. A quality inspector will also sign off on the repair depending on size and severity of the damage/repair. It's been a while since I've messed with commercial/civilian stuff but I think I remember us putting aircraft okay to return to service or something in the logbook after repairs were complete.
start3ch@reddit
How are the new spars joined to the old ones?
Zintoatree@reddit
Pretty much all repairs on metal parts will boil down to replace the whole part (stringer, rib, frame, etc.) or repair it by removing damage, adding that damaged sections back with new or fabricated pieces ( ignore this on very small damages), then adding a doubler/tripler on top (or bottom) to tie it all together. The doubler allows stress to travel around the damaged section.
Wishpicker@reddit
How about a picture of the bill?
cyberentomology@reddit
It’s an airplane, not a duck
Lackluster_Compote@reddit
That didn’t look cheap
xXbrosoxXx@reddit
Nice turnaround time too. Back in the air ya' go
top_of_the_scrote@reddit
honest question... what if they just took a sheet of metal, bent it over it and welded it... seems simpler than detaching everything
Overwatchingu@reddit
See pictures 3 and 4. You don’t just cover up structural damage on an aircraft like you’re duct taping parts back onto your Nissan Altima.
Zintoatree@reddit
That doesn't fix the underlying structure. Modern planes depend on both the underlying structure and skin for strength. Also there is very little welding on aircraft. All welding I have seen are for steel parts and they're usually taken off the bird before being welded. I took my heat treat class a long time ago but I'm pretty sure welding aluminum would wreck it's temper. You would need to heat treat the part after the fact.
CutHerOff@reddit
Welding on a wing would crack out immediately. Not to mention the other structural issues going on.
Zintoatree@reddit
For sure.
CutHerOff@reddit
I meant to reply to the other guy. My b
top_of_the_scrote@reddit
you're saying that bent rib can't support wind if the a sheet blocked the hole?
Zintoatree@reddit
It wouldn't be repaired, it would just be slapping a bandaid on it. We actually temp fix certain punctures with aluminum tape until it can be fixed properly. This was pretty large hole though.
Just_Another_Pilot@reddit
There was damage to a leading edge rib that had to be replaced.
Fishy_Fish_WA@reddit
Nice frigging job man
Died_Of_Dysentery1@reddit
Riveting!
Chrisdkn619@reddit
Awesome work! Great turnaround!
No_Date820@reddit
Soooooo many rivets/screws!
IDGAFOS13@reddit
That was a surprising amount of damage. I would imagine aerospace maintenance isn't exactly fast-paced, so good job by everyone turning this around quickly.
Zintoatree@reddit
It's usually pretty quick. Maintenance controllers, keep track of recurring inspections or repairs that will need to be done. They will make sure birds are where they need to be to get the attention they need. If something like a bird strike or lightning strike occurs, we usually swarm it and assess the damage as quickly as possible. We'll then start repairing as soon as we find a repair in the SRM or receive engineering instruction. Most commercial airlines have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd shifts, so the repair will get handed off to the next crew coming in to work, so it's getting worked on constantly. The mechanic side of things are just as quick. Our guys would have an engine swapped, test ran, and sitting at the gate for the red eye.
icedboogers@reddit
They didn't finish. They still need to paint on a big bandaid or maybe a chalk outline of the drone.
Zintoatree@reddit
That goes on the skin they removed, then you hang it on the shop wall. We had a bunch of damaged stuff hanging around our shop when I worked in Atlanta.
Skyline8888@reddit
Damn, the frame was bent up too. That's awful. Plane collisions with drones are no freaking joke. Awesome repairs though.
Rook8811@reddit
Yahoo
interstellar-dust@reddit
How many hours of work was that and downtime for someone’s joyride and YouTube/tiktok likes?
WHY-IS-INTERNET@reddit
As an American, we don’t deserve Canada. You guys are the best.
mercedes_@reddit
Wow, incredible photos. That is a privilege to see. Incredible workmanship from what I can see!!!!!
jimmyflyer@reddit
Wow very nice, high quality work !
bordercity242@reddit
Proud to seeing the Quebec flag on pic 8 - great job techs
Crazybonbon@reddit
Good job De Havilland on sending it asap
Miserable-Lawyer-233@reddit
Now we just have to wonder if it was repaired properly—could be another case for Air Crash Investigations in the making.
Zintoatree@reddit
I'm not sure if you're just being sarcastic or not, but that repair is fine. They replaced the damaged sections of the frame and stringers. The right side of the skin was already at a seam, but they had to cut the left side, so they added a doubler for the cut section of the leading edge skin.
CutHerOff@reddit
Fuck yea. This is the kinda post that makes dealing with this sub worth it
Hank_moody71@reddit
Western jet hangar?
rabbit__eater@reddit
Incredible work. Can't imagine welding structural aluminum like that. Should be tagged nsfw
Noobtastic14@reddit
No welds that I can see, only rivets.
Zintoatree@reddit
No welds there for sure, solids for the underlying frame and cherry max for the skin (leading edge) repair.
rabbit__eater@reddit
My assumptions got in the way, thanks for the breakdown. Repairs like these are fascinating
Shamrockah@reddit
Outstanding work! Thanks for sharing! 👏
Zintoatree@reddit
Yes, and they cut the left side.
JonboatJohn@reddit
Do all those rivets get drilled out to take the panel off?
Zintoatree@reddit
Pshhhhh pop pop, pshhhhh pop pop
That's all they heard for a little while. That's a decent bit of cherries to pull. While cherry repairs are easy to shoot. I'm always waiting for that bad pull to ruin your day.
Jsizoo@reddit
As a drone pilot, I hope that schmuck that was flying gets every bit of karma coming to them. Dumbasses like that are screwing it up for the rest of us.
morbob@reddit
Good photos, thanks
PatricioDeLaRosa@reddit
That is a fast repair! Kudos to those engineers and shop workers on the floor.
MatEngAero@reddit
Beautiful