rcpete347

My Feedback: (251)

HI all, so regular fiberglass is lighter, better to work with, and easier to repair than honeycomb fiberglass. Honeycomb is stronger, but does it show it's grain, after being out in the sun.
Your thoughts please.
http://www.hexcel.com/Resources/Data...Properties.pdf
Rcpete

dubd

I'm not a fan of the honeycomb. I had a couple 3w 40%ers that were honeycomb and it was a nightmare to work with (for me anyways) if repairs need to be done. I'll take fiberglass any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

jetpilot

My Feedback: (48)

Airex or Divineycell?

Harley Condra

My Feedback: (4)

I have seen a glass and honeycomb fuselage that had suffered from a leaky fuel tank, and the result is much different than a conventional fiberglass/foam structure.
In this case, in an effort to keep the structural weight down, the glass inner skin was full of pinholes, which admitted fuel into the honeycomb cells. What a horrible mess. It is almost impossible to get the fuel out of the cells.
I think that this is a much overlooked shortcoming of honeycomb fuselages.

The other problem is the 'Print Through" that Pete referred to.

I would rather have a "Divinicell" or "Airex" laminate any day.

FenderBean

All three jets I have the honeycomb texture shows through in some places, sun or heat doesn't seem to make it worse or cause it. I think is a good thick base coat could fix this but not sure how much weight it would add. It is super easy to have skin area develop cracks as well so be careful during shipping/handling.

dubd

+1. The honeycomb shows through on my FEJ tomcat. Very annoying.

LGM Graphix

My Feedback: (22)

It comes down to the product being used correctly in the layup. Honey comb used correctly will not be lighter than conventional carbon or fiberglass layup, but is ridiculously strong. My CAI raptor is an all honey comb fuselage, none of the honeycomb shows through even on a 13 year old airplane. I've had pattern airplanes that were made of a very light honeycomb as well with none of hte honeycomb showing through the paint but they were quite fragile. The Raptor feels like it is made of 1/4 plywood it's so strong, but it doesn't weigh anymore than a conventional layup does.

rbxbear44

My Feedback: (86)

Pete,
I thought the same thing on the repairs for honeycomb UNTIL I did a pretty big repair on a friends Hawk that got loose in his Trailer on the ride home from MS AB event. I did it at Jets Over KY, repaired the whole back section of the FEJ Hawk at the Speed Brake hatch. It was incredibly easy to get a strong bond with the CF and FG cloth and then filling and sanding the outside was a snap too.

I was proven wrong on this one. Now, a wing might be a different story since inside access would be tough for sure. But this saved the Fuse and we flew it several times 24 hours after the repair. The paint wasn't touched up but it was super strong again.

Rex