Gruman Tiger again,, Sorry

I still cant fathom what would lead to a need to reskin the entire
wings, and to attempt to do this with glue, *in the field*. AFAIK
that is NOT an approved repair method. Maybe Bluejay knows. Bluejay?

The approved repair methods are by riveting. You do apply a sealer to the
joint to inhibit corrosion, but the strength of the repair is from the
rivets.

Ref. service kit SK125A.

"Snowbird" wrote in message
m...
Many of them don't. Tigger's previous owner's previous Tiger (where's
NewPS to tell me this doesn't make sense?) was also in that range, and
had no delamination problems until they had it chemically stripped and
painted. So I think there's usually some secondary issue involving
chemical exposure (either intentional or environmental).

That'll do it. There's a nice big placard on the firewall that tells you to
consult the manual prior to performing any paint stripping. The manual
shows large areas where chemical stripping is verboten because it can cause
debonding.

One downside to Grummans. A paint job that includes stripping is expensive
because it's very labor intensive.

Gerry

"Bluejay" wrote in message thlink.net...
I still cant fathom what would lead to a need to reskin the entire
wings, and to attempt to do this with glue, *in the field*. AFAIK
that is NOT an approved repair method. Maybe Bluejay knows. Bluejay?

The approved repair methods are by riveting. You do apply a sealer to the
joint to inhibit corrosion, but the strength of the repair is from the
rivets.

Ref. service kit SK125A.

Thanks, Bluejay. That's what I thought.

Cheers,
Sydney

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message ...
Snowbird wrote:
This is rather amazing to me, and leads me to wonder about
the mechanic or your memory.

Well, the mechanic is now running a towtruck operation, and it's been 8 years
since we spoke about it. The Cheetah under discussion occupied the tiedown
next to mine for several years.

Rereading my post, it sounds rather snarky, for which I apologize.

But seriously, there's something strange about this story. First
that regluing in the field is not an authorized field repair method.
It was a factory repair, and I *think* I heard Fletchair might be
authorized to do it in a limited way for the purpose of fuel tank
repair. Unless the mechanic in question worked at the factory???

Second, checking the bondlines for delamination is a regular part
of the annual inspection on a Grumman. It is simple and easy
(though tedious). It's hard for me to fathom how delamination could
progress to the point where reskinning the wing was necessary,
if proper annuals by a Grumman-savvy mechanic were being done.

In fact, I can usually see the bondlines in the wing while in
flight, and you can bet any missing lines would get my attention
in a big hurry.

I *did* hear that a couple of the affected planes suffered sufficiently
extensive delamination that they went back to the factory for repair,
but this was numerically a small number, and a problem which was
basically resolved before the Grumman American went belly-up in '79.
So it still seems strange to me that one mechanic would encounter
3 severely delaminated Grummans, all Cheetahs where there were fewer
affected planes in the first place, and presumably relatively recently
(?? ie not back in the late '70s when the problem was identified
and mostly resolved).

So this does seem strange to me. Not that things which seem
strange to me haven't happened...

Sydney

Thank you thank you thank you to all that replied. This was a great wealth
of information and I am going to l ook into everything that was said,
starting with looking for a partner now.

This Tiger sounds like exactly what I want, based on all the honest replies.
thanks again
--
Dave A
Yes I have stopped long enough to start and my car is back in that gear.

"Dave Accetta" wrote in message
...
I saw the thread earlier about the Tiger as I was about to type this, but
it
didn't answer any of my questions, so here goes.

I keep seeing the Tiger for sale between $65k and $110k. I always thought
these planes were highly desirable. This seems a little cheap compared to
other planes the same age.

Have they fallen out of favor or is this the norm? If I could find one
for
$75000 I'd be looking for a partner right now!

I had heard that they are more desirable than the 172, but I think it
seems
that may be because of the price?
I also heard they were a little faster than the 172?

What is bad about this plane? The thought of this is getting me all
revved
up!

--

--
Dave A

(Snowbird) writes:

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message ...
Snowbird wrote:
This is rather amazing to me, and leads me to wonder about
the mechanic or your memory.

Well, the mechanic is now running a towtruck operation, and it's been 8 years
since we spoke about it. The Cheetah under discussion occupied the tiedown
next to mine for several years.

Rereading my post, it sounds rather snarky, for which I apologize.

But seriously, there's something strange about this story. First
that regluing in the field is not an authorized field repair method.
It was a factory repair, and I *think* I heard Fletchair might be
authorized to do it in a limited way for the purpose of fuel tank
repair. Unless the mechanic in question worked at the factory???

My understanding is that the field regluing is perfectly doable IF you
have the proper jig. Catch: no one has the proper jig, except for
(apparently) Fletchair (and presumably The New Tiger, of course). The
few Tigers I know which had field repairs done used flush rivets. One
in particular had a superb paint job and you couldn't tell it from a
non-riveted Tiger.

-jav, former Tiger owner

In fact, I can usually see the bondlines in the wing while in
flight, and you can bet any missing lines would get my attention
in a big hurry.

Just curious -- why are the bond-lines visible in flight?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Sun, 21 Sep 2003 12:47:52 +0000, Jay Honeck wrote:

In fact, I can usually see the bondlines in the wing while in
flight, and you can bet any missing lines would get my attention
in a big hurry.

Just curious -- why are the bond-lines visible in flight?

They're even more visible on the ground.

A lot of the bondline is along the edges of structures; for example, the
trailing edge of the wing.

Bondlines internal to structures (for example, the wing ribs) can usually
be discerned by a slight irregularity of the skin.

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:Y5hbb.533879$YN5.355122@sccrnsc01...
In fact, I can usually see the bondlines in the wing while in
flight, and you can bet any missing lines would get my attention
in a big hurry.

Just curious -- why are the bond-lines visible in flight?

When you're in flight, the lower pressure above the wing tends to
cause the skin to bulge up a bit, except where it's bonded to the
wing. My Cherokee 180 exhibits this behavior. In flight, you can
see the wing skin lifted slightly above the rivet line.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

When you're in flight, the lower pressure above the wing tends to
cause the skin to bulge up a bit, except where it's bonded to the
wing. My Cherokee 180 exhibits this behavior. In flight, you can
see the wing skin lifted slightly above the rivet line.

Hmm. I'm gonna have to check that out next flight.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"