T-6 Spinner, Now You See It...

[sdennison]

Now you don't. A good friend of mine had the mis-fortune of dropping the spinner during routine maintenance. Ouch! Ten years to find the right one... Luckily, she knew a guy who used to build Indy cars and medieval armour. So with a lot of luck and some sore fingers, life is once again good. So good, he was asked to make a second spinner, heavier gauge and spun version, suitable for chrome plating. More work but coming along nicely and will be another beauty before
The ugly fat troll in the orange shirt is only the photographer. The craftsman

Last edited by sdennison on Sun Apr 22, 2012 10:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

[mazdaP5]

As they say at the auto shop, that'll buff right out!

[valdez25]

Nice. Who's '6 is that?

[JDK]

The ugly fat troll in the orange shirt is only the photographer. The craftsman is much better looking.

"Honey, does that spinner make me look...?"

[T33driver]

I saw the spinner firsthand before and after sdennison's/Scott's repair and have to say the workmanship from the old Indy Car fabricator and Country Western crooner are of the highest level, approaching voodoo magic. Any warbird owners, operators, maintenance or restoration shops out there that need old school or new school metal bending magic and/or fabrication, Scott's work is at the highest level.

[John Dupre]

I am curious about chrome plating a spinner. In the New England region beginning about 25 years ago the Friendly Aviation Administration basically outlawed chrome plating of spinners. Their reasoning is that the plating tends to hide cracks and was not an approved process by the manufacturer's. You could do it of course but if found out you would get an unairworthy tag. Same thing with riveted repair patches on spinners. Never approved by the manufacturer, so not allowed. Try explaining that at an annual inspection with a plane that had been flying with such for years. Do other regions treat spinners differently?

[Red Tail]

...as a matter of fact I do know of a spinner that needs an ugly dent removed from it... In fact I know of some Mustang fairings that need some tuning up as well. Gimme a shout Scott and I'll hook you up if'n you're game and think you can do it.

John

[sdennison]

The ugly fat troll in the orange shirt is only the photographer. The craftsman is much better looking.

"Honey, does that spinner make me look...?"

No Sweetheart, you look wonderful....

[sdennison]

I am curious about chrome plating a spinner. In the New England region beginning about 25 years ago the Friendly Aviation Administration basically outlawed chrome plating of spinners. Their reasoning is that the plating tends to hide cracks and was not an approved process by the manufacturer's. You could do it of course but if found out you would get an unairworthy tag. Same thing with riveted repair patches on spinners. Never approved by the manufacturer, so not allowed. Try explaining that at an annual inspection with a plane that had been flying with such for years. Do other regions treat spinners differently?

That would be quite a task to track down every aircraft with a chromed spinner. Makes you wonder about painted ones as well. There is a lot of primer/filler sometimes. Would that also fit their "approval;" standards?

[Robbie Roberts]

Didn't John Cleese wear that when he was a French Soldier manning the Ramparts at the one castle in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" The part where he was raving about waving his private parts at people's Aunties?

PPBBBBBBBBBTTTTTTT!!!!, you Silly English KAH-niggitts!(And your silly Arthur-king, with the brain of a duck you know.)

Scott

[T-28mike]

I am curious about chrome plating a spinner. In the New England region beginning about 25 years ago the Friendly Aviation Administration basically outlawed chrome plating of spinners. Their reasoning is that the plating tends to hide cracks and was not an approved process by the manufacturer's. You could do it of course but if found out you would get an unairworthy tag. Same thing with riveted repair patches on spinners. Never approved by the manufacturer, so not allowed. Try explaining that at an annual inspection with a plane that had been flying with such for years. Do other regions treat spinners differently?

I know the Fed's have a problem with Chrome plating aluminum anything, but do not think steel is an issue.

[Red Tail]

I am curious about chrome plating a spinner. In the New England region beginning about 25 years ago the Friendly Aviation Administration basically outlawed chrome plating of spinners. Their reasoning is that the plating tends to hide cracks and was not an approved process by the manufacturer's. You could do it of course but if found out you would get an unairworthy tag. Same thing with riveted repair patches on spinners. Never approved by the manufacturer, so not allowed. Try explaining that at an annual inspection with a plane that had been flying with such for years. Do other regions treat spinners differently?

I know the Fed's have a problem with Chrome plating aluminum anything, but do not think steel is an issue.

Everybody in the aircraft world should have an issue with it since it produces hydrogen embrittlement in many metals, including aluminum, plated by it. It also makes the cracks in the base material very difficult to detect. Just not a good idea.

John

[T-28mike]

"Everybody in the aircraft world should have an issue with it since it produces hydrogen embrittlement in many metals, including aluminum, plated by it. It also makes the cracks in the base material very difficult to detect. Just not a good idea."


There are many parts of aircraft chrome plated on a regular basis by manufacturers. The modern aircraft contains both decorative chrome such as a fuselage step, and "hard" or industrial chrome such as landing gear oleo struts. They have been doing so for years.

I was also going to post the applicible specs relating to chrome plating and post plating baking procedures, but decided I'm not going to waste any more of my time doing that here.


Edit to add: Using that same reasoning, we should not use or have any Cad plated hardware on our aircraft either, yet we do, it is required in the material spec for the hardware.

Last edited by T-28mike on Thu Sep 22, 2011 3:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Enemy Ace]

I seem to remember being told that the problem was the chrome coming off in large patches making balance an issue, I think mostly with turboprops that could then suck it down the intake.
I believe you have to plate with Copper first and then the chrome. I had that done on my Bonanza and the spinner still looks brand new 15 years later.
Probably be cheaper to just have the local motorcycle shop polish it out for you. At least they're good for something besides building noise machines.

[T-28mike]

I seem to remember being told that the problem was the chrome coming off in large patches making balance an issue, I think mostly with turboprops that could then suck it down the intake.
I believe you have to plate with Copper first and then the chrome. I had that done on my Bonanza and the spinner still looks brand new 15 years later.
Probably be cheaper to just have the local motorcycle shop polish it out for you. At least they're good for something besides building noise machines.

Copper flash is done for aluminum because the nickel does not stick to aluminum. It is not recommended to ever chrome plate aluminum. There is no spec for chroming of aluminum process that I am aware of. It is this that I know the Feds takes issue with for certain.