I'm looking into buying an HP-13, which is an all-metal, 70s era, home-built glider. This glider hasn't flown in many years and has a few problems that need to be addressed. My main concern is corrosion. The plans called for aluminum wingtip plates, but the original builder installed steel plates instead. Of course, the dissimilar metals caused corrosion which is visible on the wing skin. I have no way of telling if there is corrosion on the tip of the spar until I remove the skin and take the steel plate off.

My question is, if there is substantial corrosion to the tip of the spars, can it be cut off and new aluminum welded on and shaped?

Thanks!

Jeff