First, decide how and where you are going to fasten the fairing to the
rudder/fuselage/stabilizer. (We will use Rivnuts.) Drill and cleco the
halves in place with best approximation of the mating edge to be glassed.
Remove the fairing and cover the rudder/fuselage with wax paper so you
don't glue the fairing to the plane. Reinstall the fairing halves. I made
two strips of .020 aluminum about 1 1/2 inches wide and drilled/clecoed
the halves together. The strips go across the seam like two bandaids to
hold the approximation.
Now, put two layers of glass from the top (rudder end) to near the first
aluminum strip and then between the strips and
finally from the bottom aluminum strip to the fairing front. Do not glue
the aluminum strips to the fairing or the fairing to the rudder/fuselage.
Allow 24 hours at least to cure.
Now carefully remove the fairing and do two layers of glass inside
avoiding the aluminum strips. Support as nearly as possible in the final
shape. Allow at least 24 hours to cure.
Reinstall on the plane with wax paper as before. Remove the aluminum
strips and sand smooth in the vicinity of the strips so that those areas
can now be glassed on the exterior. Cure again for 4 hours.
Remove fairing and sand and glass the interior areas where the strips
were. Cure 24 hours.
Now you can file and sand both interior and exterior as smooth as you care
to. The interior is only important at the places it will contact the
airplane when installed. Be sure not to sand so vigorously as to
compromise strength. Cleco holes and any pits or surface imperfections
are filled with SuperFil and sanded smooth after curing.
Final steps are to install the fasteners, trim the edges, trim fit the
rear of the fairing around the stabilizer, and final fill and sand any
imperfections.
The fairing is easily removable at any stage. We barely cleared our ELT
antenna but the Force was with us.
I was told about a trick to get good saturation of cloth with minimal
mess. It really helps! Get a piece of plastic sheet of perhaps 6 mils
that is more than twice as big as the glass cloth. Lay it flat on your
bench. If required, part of it can hang over. Place your piece of cloth
on the plastic. It must be completely flat on the bench. Now mix the
resin and hardener. Brush a thin coat of catalyzed resin on the cloth
with a roller or brush thinly but throughly saturating it. Now fold the
plastic over so it covers the cloth and then some. Put on your rubber
gloves. Now with a roller or your hands squeeze excess resin out of the
cloth. Now take the "sandwich" to the work area, open the plastic and
pick up a properly saturated cloth piece and lay it on. There will be
little resin to run where it is not wanted and plenty in the cloth. The
gloves and plastic are discarded after use and no clean up at all if you
used a disposable brush to spread the resin.
Ralph Baker
-----------------------------------------------------------------
List archives located at:
https://www.dcsol.com/login
username "rebel" password "builder"
Unsubscribe:
rebel-builders-unsubscribe@dcsol.com
List administrator:
mike.davis@dcsol.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
