Documenting the Repair to the Wing

The original damage was caused by accidentally pushing the prop through the tedlar wing covering while trying to push the airplane into the trailer between the two wings, which had already been hung in the trailer. My dad wiggled the nose of the airplane when I wasn't quite expecting it, and as a result, I pushed the prop enough to push the cylinders past TDC...at which point, engine compression pushed the prop the rest of the way into the wing skin.

The plan to repair the wing is as follows:

• Clean the wing with MEK.
• Draw a smooth outline around the damaged area. This outline will be cut out in the next step to alleviate stress risers where the tedlar could tear more in the future.
• Now, cut out the damaged area of the wing, making sure the remaining hole is smooth, and without sharp corners to concentrate stress.
  

  
  

• The damaged area is now about 6 1/2 in. x 5 in.:
  

  

• Apply PVF tape over the hole, overlapping each row slightly. I applied the tape starting with the trailing edge so that wind flow over the wing would serve to push the tape down rather than peeling the tape up. Make sure there is at least one additional row of tape beyond the damaged area.
  

  

• After all of the PVF tape has been applied, use a heat gun to shrink the PVF tape tight. This 1) stretches the tape so that the airfoil is as smooth as possible, and 2) helps the adhesive on the tape, well...adhere :)