15 Delta Charlie: Beyond the Dirt

[Oldbaldguy]

Everyone dreams of finding a true diamond in the rough hidden away in a barn or shed somewhere, something that needs only a good washing and a tweek or two before being returned to years of trouble free service.  Well, 15 Delta Charlie is not that airplane.  Years of declining care are evident everywhere.  According to the logs, Delta Charlie was crashed at least twice, requiring substantial rework both times.  As you can see, not all knowledge, skills and pride of workmanship are the same.  If the spars check out okay per the AD, the wings should be good except for a general clean-up and rehab and a couple of relatively minor repairs.  Additionally, the horizontal stabs appear fine.  The fuselage and tail are a different story, however.  There appear to be repairs on both sides of the vertical stab.  One side looks okay, but the other is a crackled mess.

[Oldbaldguy]

The fuselage doesn't show very well either.  I don't know the details, but it looks like the tail was broken off at some point and then repaired.  I could feel that the gelcoat was a little rough while poking around the airplane while it was still in the trailer, but I had no idea it was this bad.

[Johan van Ravenzwaaij]

Was it stored in a metal trailer? If yes, there is possibly no damage to the glassfiber because of UV radiation. Check a specialist to inspect this. If the glass is okay, than you need to do a paint overhaul. That's quite some work, but it's done before.

[Toet]

We're on the blink of getting our hands on a 15a aswell. Problem is: water damage. The wings look to be fine, except from some usual age cracks. The hull is something different: A large part of the paintwork is history, including the wingroot section. If there is anybody out there with experience on this issue, please let me know. A technical report is available, showing that structural damage is not the case. My question still is: Can water interfere with the glass or wooden structure of the hull, and if so, compromise the general safety of the ship? Our plan is sanding down the complete hull and repaint it. It would be a waist to lose this PH registred ship, so we're keen on rehabilitation! Please reply if you can add some intell!
THNX in advance!