02-13-2005 Ask Mike! Archive
Stainless skins

I have recently acquired a C-35 bonanza gear up project.  I am doing the repair my self under a friends license.  I was wondering how difficult it is to replace the stainless skins under the exhaust stacks or can they be patched?  also I am having to remove the wings to replace the skins that rap around the fuselage.  I was also interested in adding the third window that I saw on your website, how expensive are the parts and how difficult is the job.  I would appreciate and info and possibly any more pictures of similar jobs to aid in my project

Thanks Brian.

 
Brian;

No reason the stainless skins couldn't be patched, provided you found the correct material, with the correct contour.  I am guessing the I/B aft corners to be ground through?  These skins are (comparatively, in the thought of the whole project) inexpensive, and any extra seams in the skins will show the damage history.  I'm not one that is concerned about damage history in an airplane, provided it is fixed correctly, so if you do patch these, keep in mind, everyone that looks down there will see it also.
 
We used parts from 4 different aircraft in the baggage compartment re-work shown on the website, as well as some new parts, and did it on a field approval showing model similarity, as well as the application of certain (out of production) Beech Kits.
 
Not counting paint or interior finish work, we had approx. $4500 in parts, and 270 hours in labor, this included the large baggage compartment and door; to do only the long windows, you would probably be looking at $2000 in parts and 150 hours. I sent my webmaster some additional material for the website, including updates on the F project, another belly job and other stuff, so please stay tuned for more photos of these things.  

Gear Green,  
Mike