Have you been geeking out on Lamborghini's fancy new carbon-fiber monocoque? We have. But what happens when some careless celebrity wraps theirs around a Beverly Hills parking meter? Enter the Flying Doctor.
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Yes, that's really what they're calling him. Or, in the near future, several hims (and possibly hers). Because repairing a carbon-fiber monocoque is no everyday task that your local dealer can take care of, Lamborghini is creating a small cadre of specialists who will be strategically based around the world to handle Aventador damage. Right now, there's only one and he's based at Lamborghini headquarters in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, but there will soon be one based in the U.S. (likely at or near development partner Boeing in Seattle) to cover North America and one at a yet-to-be-decided location in southeast Asia.
Between them, the Flying Doctors are likely to reach top-tier frequent flyer status quickly given the number of Lamborghinis already populatingWreckedExotics.com. The concept is a simple one: an Aventador owner somewhere in the Doctor's purview stuffs his car and it's hauled into the local Lamborghini dealer. The Flying Doctor jumps a plane with his toolkit and makes a repair on location before flying home.
But what does he actually do? Unfortunately, Lamborghini wouldn't allow us to photograph the process, so you'll have to go by these few supplied photos.
Like any repair, you have to know what you're repairing first. The full extent of the damage to the carbon-fiber must be cataloged because every last bit of busted fiber needs to be removed to make an effective repair. Before he starts cutting, though, the Doctor needs to make a template. A clear piece of plastic is affixed over the damaged area (in these pictures, it's a rocker normally found under the driver's door) and the Doctor draws several ovals around the damage, each slightly larger than the last, to use as a template later.
The damaged area is then cut out of the monocoque, along with a margin of undamaged carbon fiber so the patch will have the best possible surface to adhere to. The rough edge is then sanded down and the surface around the hole is scuffed to improve adhesion. The Doctor then creates a backing piece slightly larger than the hole out of pre-preg carbon fiber that he will fit inside the cavity in the monocoque and glue into place to provide a backing for the patch. Two holes are drilled in the backing piece and a wire is fed through them and back out allowing the Doctor to position it in the monocoque before gluing it in place.
Now, he can turn his attention to the actual patch. This is where the template comes into play. Using it, he cuts five or more (depending on the size of the hole) successively larger ovals out of pre-preg carbon fiber. The patches are then laid over the hole, each layer slightly larger than the last. During this step, it's imperative that the layers are correctly offset from one another at 45- and 90-degree angles to give the patch the proper strength.
Once the layers are down, it's time for a vacuum seal. Since the entire car can't be put in a vacuum bag, the Doctor uses what is essentially half a bag that is glued over the patch. All of the air removed, he then lays a heating pad over the patch which activates the resin in the pre-pregnated carbon fiber patch and cures it. Once the patch is finished, a portable ultrasound scanner in his toolkit checks the integrity of the patch and looks for weak spots caused by air bubbles or other contaminants.
Fully cured, Lamborghini says the patch is as strong as the original monocoque and far less expensive than replacing the entire monocoque or scrapping the car. What's more, the process works equally well on tradition pre-preg carbon fiber used in part of the monocoque and the proprietary Resin Transfer Molding-created carbon fiber Lamborghini helped pioneer also used in the monocoque. It's not limited to small repairs, either. The monocoque you see in the background of the pictures was badly damaged in crash testing and looks to be a write-off, but Lamborghini says the whole thing can be repaired with enough time. Lamborghini didn't mention what would happen, though, if you manage to destroy one of the aluminum mounting plates that's been embedded into the monocoque and holds the front and rear frames to the monocoque.
After three years of training, Lamborghini's first Flying Doctor is ready and waiting for his first call which, knowing Lamborghini owners, will likely come by the end of the year. Others are in training, but for now he's on standby waiting to fly anywhere in the world his services are needed. In the meantime, he's perfecting his craft at Lambo HQ.
Were you one of those kids who taught themselves to identify cars at night by their headlights and taillights? I was. I was also one of those kids with a huge box of Hot Wheels and impressive collection of home-made Lego hot rods. I asked my parents for a Power Wheels Porsche 911 for Christmas for years, though the best I got was a pedal-powered tractor. I drove the wheels off it. I used to tell my friends I’d own a “slug bug” one day. When I was 15, my dad told me he would get me a car on the condition that I had to maintain it. He came back with a rough-around-the-edges 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he’d picked up for something like $600. I drove the wheels off that thing, too, even though it was only slightly faster than the tractor. When I got tired of chasing electrical gremlins (none of which were related to my bitchin’ self-installed stereo, thank you very much), I thought I’d move on to something more sensible. I bought a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT and got my first speeding ticket in that car during the test drive. Not my first-ever ticket, mind you. That came behind the wheel of a Geo Metro hatchback I delivered pizza in during high school. I never planned to have this job. I was actually an aerospace engineering major in college, but calculus and I had a bad breakup. Considering how much better my English grades were than my calculus grades, I decided to stick to my strengths and write instead. When I made the switch, people kept asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I told them I’d like to write for a car magazine someday, not expecting it to actually happen. I figured I’d be in newspapers, maybe a magazine if I was lucky. Then this happened, which was slightly awkward because I grew up reading Car & Driver, but convenient since I don’t live in Michigan. Now I just try to make it through the day without adding any more names to the list of people who want to kill me and take my job.
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