Looking at a project, which had a gear up landing in a grass field. I know Aerofab in Thruxton are big sheet metal guys but they are flat out with no slots. Gamma used to do alot of it in Fairoaks but they are closing and my friend is the last one to get his plane out after they took on a big sheet metal job on his Toga.
Who else in the UK is big into GA repair work after accidents? Same question I guess for Eastern Europe. Are there guys in Czech etc who specialise in sheet metal repairs post-accident?
William
I don’t know any sheet metal shops around Prague, but I know a couple of freelancing sheet metal magicians who do the work at customer’s premises. However, they are in demand and may have a 2-3 months’ backlog. On the other hand, their prices are pleasantly low – the local guy charged me something like €60 for repairing a nasty case of hangar rash (dented elevator, a couple of rivets totally ripped out) that took us a couple of hours (he did the metalwork, I removed and reinstalled the elevator).
Gomolzig have major sheet metal capability.
@A_and_C might know.
From what I have seen, post accident skin repairs tend to be done on site. Sometimes, if the hangar owner does not normally allow work in the hangar, a permission can be obtained.
Also some airframe manufacturers sell complete curved skin sections.
An interesting scenario occurs where the airframe manufacturer prohibits (in the MM) any skin repairs, as with e.g. Socata banning any repairs to the vertical stabiliser. I believe that if you are N-reg you can do such repairs because on US registry such a restrictive practice would be illegal. I had this about 10 years ago (hangar damage) but the hangar owner paid for a whole new VS anyway.
Peter wrote:
An interesting scenario occurs where the airframe manufacturer prohibits (in the MM) any skin repairs, as with e.g. Socata banning any repairs to the vertical stabiliser. I believe that if you are N-reg you can do such repairs because on US registry such a restrictive practice would be illegal.
The problem in this case comes if/when FAA issues a ‘based-on foreign’ type certificate and MM (under treaty) without proper legal review. People I know had a damaged European manufactured aircraft with this issue, bought for the value of parts from an insurance company that had totalled it due to minor damage that was ‘illegal’ to repair per the MM… and they repaired it anyway, in two weeks. The manufacturer found out about it, turned them into FAA (which removed the Airworthness Certificate in a knee jerk reaction) and blacklisted the aircraft from further parts supply due to it being “illegal for operation”. My friends aren’t the type to lie down for that kind of thing, and after a year of effort with the FAA a workaround was found – they made my friends a Repair Station for structures on that type aircraft, with approved FAA procedures, putting them on the same legal level as the manufacturer, and reissued the Airworthiness Certificate. I don’t believe FAA ever made the manufacturer revise the FAA approved MM for the aircraft, its hard to get a bureaucracy to admit fault and reverse course, so if you have extra money and want to buy a plane, check the MM for issues like this before committing to the purchase. One indication that there are problems is if the insurance quote is inordinately expensive!
After all that, the FAA engineer suggested that my friends tell the manufacturer that they would be happy to repair damaged structures under contract, given that the manufacturer is incapable of doing so. 
Peter wrote:
From what I have seen, post accident skin repairs tend to be done on site. Sometimes, if the hangar owner does not normally allow work in the hangar, a permission can be obtained.
Yes, I have a guy who can do this but I have to buy him lunch, order rivets, order sealant etc etc. Generally it’s a pain in the backside as you loose all the hours in that working day just to make sure he’s charging you for fair labour. I was wondering if there was anywhere like Beegles Air Service, where you could leave it to them and get a fair job at a fair price.
Send me a few details and a photo or two and I can put it to my sheet metal expert.
try Christian Thum great for all sorts of metal repairs
Broken Wings Flugzeugreparaturen
Luftfahrtingenieur in Mitterskirchen, Deutschland
Adresse: 84335 Mitterskirchen, Deutschland
Telefon: +49 171 1934943
