Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns....

Kim Thu Oct 18, 2012 9:54 am

Amazing stuff from our "Sheet Metal Maestro" Todd. These are photos from the innards of a very nice looking Beechcraft Musketeer that's going through a Pre-Buy Inspection in our shop.

It may be a surprise to some folks, but airplane buyers can get "Toy Fever" just like everyone else, and these show the need for a long, dispassionate pause, and a cold-hearted checklist/inspection before any cash starts to flow! Along with making sure there are no banks liens, physical damage, and abnormal wear and tear, you BETTER be sure your potential dream machine doesn't have metal cancer !

Aluminum doesn't get along with a lot of other metals, and so, often takes off with a gallop with dissimilar metal corrosion. Todd refers to these as Textbook Examples of "Inter-granular and Exfoliation" corrosion that can attack aluminum components...in this case...a forward fuselage stringer and firewall attach plate.

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... 1_36

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... 1_36

Todd was able to easily bend and break this forward stringer.

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... 2_34

Not a very good photo but still showing corrosion starting on a forward longeron...one of the main parts that holds the nose on an airplane!

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... 3_26

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... 3_26

This is a plate that gives an attachment point for the engine mount/firewall. The corrosion here is still on the surface, but has still caused deep pitting and will require an inside peek to see how far it's gone on the other side.

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... 4_19

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... 4_19

**Cribbs74** Thu Oct 18, 2012 10:11 am

Yikes that is ugly!

ahrma_581 Thu Oct 18, 2012 10:57 am

JB Weld will fix that right up.

WingingIt74 Thu Oct 18, 2012 11:13 am

Oh man.... that looks expensive... especially for a Musketeer.

However... this would be more costly...
Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... 295377340-13095204

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... 295377340-13095204

Kim Thu Oct 18, 2012 11:16 am

WingingIt74 wrote:Oh man.... that looks expensive... especially for a Musketeer.

However... this would be more costly...

Actually, this is a rarely seen, aerobatic variant, called a "Sea Musketeer" !!!

fit90 Thu Oct 18, 2012 12:06 pm

Tell him to get a good look at the spar. I do not know if it is all Muskateers or just Florid planes, but I have seen severe corrosion on the spars of several planes. One plane had it so bad the plane was totaled. They do have comfortable cabins, though. And there is a lot to be said for a door on each side of the cabin.

SuperDave Thu Oct 18, 2012 12:48 pm

Call it what you will but that is nothing more than oxidation/rust. And how well I know it from my years with old cars.

"Rust NEVER sleeps." Affraid or WOW!

Truer words were never better expressed.

John Goddard Thu Oct 18, 2012 3:10 pm

ahrma_581 wrote:JB Weld will fix that right up.

I'd get the T Cut out and start buffing.
Wink

SuperDave Thu Oct 18, 2012 3:16 pm

It only long term "fix" for rust/oxidation it is cut it out entirely and replace the area with new metal.

If you cover it with Bondo, J-b etc it will soon reappear and disappoint you or maybe even kill you.

Kim Thu Oct 18, 2012 4:12 pm

fit90 wrote:Tell him to get a good look at the spar. I do not know if it is all Musketeers or just Florid planes, but I have seen severe corrosion on the spars of several planes. One plane had it so bad the plane was totaled. They do have comfortable cabins, though. And there is a lot to be said for a door on each side of the cabin.

Yep, Todd has been all the way through this little plane, and figures that this specific case was caused by a leaky windshield seal, that had been allowed to go for a long time before the present owner bought the plane. This owner has always pampered it, and kept it hangared as a "pretty day" airplane, so the corrosion is probably from a previous time when it did a bunch of "Ramp Duty".

Florida planes, and all "Gulf Veterans" in general, are always suspect for severe corrosion. Todd did a complete re-skinning job on the lower rear fuse of a Cessna 414 a couple years ago. The owner was a cool dude with a wad of cash, who knew everything, and was tricked by a new paint job. The plane came with a current annual, and it's amazing level of "butt-rot" wasn't detected until Todd and his trusty flashlight spotted it almost a year later.

Cool Dude was pretty bent about the whole thing, but had to just cough up the cash for all the sheet metal work. Figure that next time, he'll have an aggressive pre-buy done before signing any papers!

fit90 Thu Oct 18, 2012 6:52 pm

A pre-buy is cheap insurance. I used to do a lot of those. We would take the manufacturer's annual inspection checklist and go over it with the buyer to see if there was anything that he wanted us to do or skip. Most people wanted all the inspection items done and the servicing items skipped. It really worked out well. It is startling how many people buy an airplane and fly off in it without a good inspection. It is even scarier how many people think that a string of five or more $500.00 annuals on a plane like a C-414 means that the plane is obviously perfect.

Kim Thu Oct 18, 2012 8:31 pm

Yeah...I've gotten a considerable education around this over the years. "Paper Annuals" aren't that surprising with smaller puddle-jumpers, but I always expected a little more "discipline" with the bigger dogs. Quite often, it just ain't so!

SuperDave Fri Oct 19, 2012 9:32 am

In the words of the immortal Will Rogers: "No one ever lost any money underestimating human nature."

Caveat emptor always new or used.

Kim Wed Nov 07, 2012 3:39 pm

The Corrosion Carnage continues as Sheet Metal Todd de-rivets his way toward the Musketeer's rudder !!!!

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... X111

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... X111

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... X2_10

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... X3_10

andrew Wed Nov 07, 2012 4:18 pm

The frightening thing about the last pic is the size of the engine mount bolts, keeping in mind that they are also carrying the nosegear. I'm always in awe at what is used on the smaller aircraft -- many times, only 4 quarter inch or 5/16" bolts hold the go part to the fly part.

Holy crap, Batman! I use bigger bolts on my 1/2A mounts.

Kim Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:46 am

andrew wrote:The frightening thing about the last pic is the size of the engine mount bolts, keeping in mind that they are also carrying the nosegear. I'm always in awe at what is used on the smaller aircraft -- many times, only 4 quarter inch or 5/16" bolts hold the go part to the fly part.

Holy crap, Batman! I use bigger bolts on my 1/2A mounts.

Yep...wing bolts will also make a guy do a double-take! But the wing it's self almost always gives up before it's tiny little baby bolts!

We've had two Musketeers with "Front-End Trauma"...one that was just literally driven into the pavement on landing, and another that did the famous "1-2-3" landing bounce! Lots of us have lived this with our models: 1-Hard Hit and Bounce...2--Harder Hit and Bounce...3---("The Closer")...Wait for It !!...REALLY Hard Hit and no Bounce, and often accompanied by an involuntary retraction of the "fixed" nose gear !!!

The "1-2-3" Musketeer had all kinds of scrunched stuff under it's hood including it's firewall, but was STILL jacked up by it's prop and dragged to he hangar, with it's tiny engine mount bolts hanging in there!

WingingIt74 Thu Nov 08, 2012 6:56 am

oh man... that's looking expensive.

Kim Thu Nov 08, 2012 7:18 am

WingingIt74 wrote:oh man... that's looking expensive.

Yeah...the poor little Beechcraft has an advanced case of Nose Cancer. A combination of years of outside storage with a leaky windshield seal, combined with cabin-side firewall insulation that helped hold the moisture like a sponge...

fit90 Thu Nov 08, 2012 7:53 am

As a mechanic I say it looks like job security.

Kim Sat Nov 10, 2012 11:17 am

Yeah...Todd is nothing if if not the Absolute Master of the Perpetual Project. Feast your eye upon his "Dusty Corner Bonanza" !!! His aluminum model airplane !!!

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... 10_20

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... 10_20

Kim Sat Nov 10, 2012 1:41 pm

And...Todd's projects often provide a bit of entertainment !!

Things that make you go, "Oh Crap!" As the Musketeer Turns.... Untitl12

fit90 Sun Nov 11, 2012 7:42 pm

Love the older Bonanzas. Lots of good mods to make them go fast. Just gotta watch the spar webs, V-tail mods and A. D. compliance. Great flyers.

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