Extend / extrude "tangentially"

 From:  Michael Gibson
9567.3 In reply to 9567.1 
Hi Tom, also one other tip - one of the first things I would do if I was able to load the actual geometry you show there would be to do an "untrim" on the surface and see how far the underlying surface already extends.

You do an "untrim" by selecting all the edges of a surface (not joined to others, use Edit > Separate to break it out) and then do Delete.

- Michael