Looking at a purchasing a Coupe and have so ?'s

[Don Mack]

I looked at a Coupe today for purchase and am not sure which way to go. I am leaning towards a purchase, but as with any big purchase, I have some nagging questions.   I took a current coupe owner with me who seems very knowledgeable about the Coupe. He and I took a good look.   One of the wings (metal) showed signs of a mouse making a home at some time (fiberglass and cloth and/or fur). There was some visible corrosion on the skins, ribs and spars. Nothing appeared major, but even with all the inspection plates, it is impossible to see everything.   The other wing showed some corrosion as well, but not as much as the moused wing.   Everything else on the plane seemed within reason.   I know that any levels of corrosion, etc. is hard to describe on the net.   I am assuming that unless the plane has just been covered, that some corrosion will exist at some point on unprimed parts. I have looked at three coupes and this one had the least amount of them all. On one of the other two planes, when the inspection plates were removed, there was moisture in the wings.   One thing suggested by the guy that went with me was to think about recovering the skins with fabric. According to him, it is not a difficult job. The worst part being removal of the metal skins. Since I am working on a Van's RV-6A, I am used to removing rivets (every rivet has to perfect, doesn't it?) and I feel I know the work involved in removing the skin. However, I know nothing about the effort to fabric cover a wing and paint it. Also, I know that for the plane to look decent, the entire thing would have to be repainted. My only other fear would be that I would have to replace the leading edge, although again, I am used to riveting. I assume that it would not be undoable.   My thought would be to purchase the plane, fly it this season and recover it over the next winter.   If anyone has any thoughts, I would appreciate direct feedback via email or if you would like, email a phone number and a time I could call.   Don Mack [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.flash.net/~donmack