chris8105

My Feedback: (22)

I have a GP little toni that went down today into the field next to the club. There is a little damage on the fiberglass fuse, could have been alot worse. My question is how can I go about repairing it, there are a few cracks here and there that make for weak points, and plus where the landing gear mounts, it is still attached but is very weak. Whats going to be the best way to fix this?
Thanks,
Chris

Justin01

Hi there,

I have an article about repairing the fuselage of a glider. The description is in german and french but the pictures make everthing clear.

Hope it will be helpfull for repairing your toni. I've been building on mine for a few hours today. Love the looks of it.

Greets from Holland,

Justin.

MMMM, just saw i can't upload an pdf file. Reply on my email adress and i will send you the article: [email protected]

FlyingPilgrim

My Feedback: (26)

I don't know if GP used epoxy resin or polyester resin on their glass. I try to use the same type resin as original when making repairs. Polyester will bind to polyester better than epoxy on polyester. Get some glass fabric at LHS (I use a couple applications of 2 oz for stuff I've done). Clean and scuff the area inside the fuse to be repaired, clean dust after scuffing. Cut your glass patch pieces to go maybe 1" past the cracked area, lay in place. Mix up your resin (if using epoxy, get the finishing resin, as it is thinner, and soaks through the fabric better). Apply the resin onto the glass cloth with an acid brush (epoxy brush) untill it is saturated, but not puddled. Allow to cure. Scuff that layer, then apply another layer of glass/resin. If the crack is really bad, and is a stress point, you could apply more layers. Glass gains strength by layers of glass, not simply by adding more resin to one layer of glass. I'm not a pro, but this has worked for me in repairing cowls and wheel pants.

p39

My Feedback: (5)

The pilgrim knows of what he speaks.....

Then you need to sand the outside, use filler and sand and repaint.

da Rock

Pilgrim's technique is great, but can use one additional suggestion. Oh wait, make that two suggestions....

You don't have to wait for each application to cure. Matter of fact, with a lot of resins, it's maybe better to not wait. The resins will make a much better bond between coats when the next coat is applied while the previous one is still "molecularly loose". The resins cure by locking together all their molecule chains and if you wait for that to happen, the different coats won't have a chance to combine into one. They'll simply be individual layers that're stuck together by minor surface irregularities.

Also, if you're doing more than one layer, it's really a good idea to not use surfacing resin (finishing resin) on the "under" layers. Surfacing resins have waxes and such that migrate to the surface as they cure. They are there to give the surface a better look, and actually degrade the potential strength of your multi-layering. Surfacing resin will still work obviously. Lots of people do it all the time. But it won't give anywhere the strength that the proper resins will give in a multi layer application.

p39

My Feedback: (5)

You just have to be careful of any heat build-up. Had that happen once when I went too heavy with the resin and wrinkle a fuse. For the epoxy fixes I use west systems products. Good stuff...

FlyingPilgrim

My Feedback: (26)

Darok is right. A finishing resin does leave a nice shiney wax covered layer. You can avoid this to strengthen the bond between layers by using a laminating resin on all but your last coat. The laminating resin doesn't cure as hard, leaving a tacky surface for the next layer to adhere to. I have had good results with simply using a finishing resin and scuffing it between coats to break the waxy coated surface (I think I used 100 grit paper to scuff).