The flying monkeys got me...

Helis and fixed wing

AMA 957918
IRCHA 4345
AMA Intro Pilot Instructor

Pirate Kid Skeleton by RadDezigns.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Fiberglass Test


Fiberglass cloth is traditionally laid down with a fiberglass resin/hardner, essentially epoxy, but apparently not exactly epoxy. Discussions and what I have read suggests for heavy duty applications using epoxy rather than fiberglass resin is recommended. It also learned that using alcohol to thin the epoxy can make it easier to spread. I wanted to try this out before using it to join the wing and strengthen the fuse over and just behind the landing gear and the wing along the middle joint on the EFlite Pulse XT, suggested by many posters on RC Groups and RC Universe. These are real weak spots on this aircraft. The fuse cracks and breaks at this point and the small wing joiner allows the wings to fold under aerobatic g-forces.

I learned that the cloth will unweave and fall apart very easily, and that obtaining a sharp edge on the cloth is nearly impossible. I ran some CA along the edges then cut along the CA and it held together very well. It was challenging keeping the CA'd cloth from sticking to everything... I may try another glue to keep the edges of the cloth sharp maybe some thin epoxy.




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