flap/aileron covering

[Jones, Michael]

hi all

just got supplies, polyfiber stuff for covering flaps & ailerons, can some
one tell me the quantity of this stuff that is required, is was given gallon
cans while i think 2 quarts would have been enough

mike#007



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[Ken]

I posted in the archives several years ago what I used but from what I
remember you definately want a gallon of the pink stuff. I may have just
barely got by with two quarts of the silver but suggest you check the
archives as it may well have been 3 in which case you are cheaper with a
gallon I think. Also I highly recommend that you ignore the instructions
about cutting 3" trailing edge tape and purchase a roll or find someone
with a part roll. It is difficult to get the wrinkles and bends out if
you cut your own.
Ken

Jones, Michael wrote:

hi all

just got supplies, polyfiber stuff for covering flaps & ailerons, can some
one tell me the quantity of this stuff that is required, is was given gallon
cans while i think 2 quarts would have been enough

mike#007

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[Jones, Michael]

hi ken

3" trailing edgetape, doyou mean the stuff with the zigzag edges or regular
cloth cut to to 3" wide??

-----Original Message-----
From: mike.davis@dcsol.com [mailto:mike.davis@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of Ken
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 12:50 PM
To: rebel-builders@dcsol.com
Subject: Re: flap/aileron covering


I posted in the archives several years ago what I used but from what I
remember you definately want a gallon of the pink stuff. I may have just
barely got by with two quarts of the silver but suggest you check the
archives as it may well have been 3 in which case you are cheaper with a
gallon I think. Also I highly recommend that you ignore the instructions
about cutting 3" trailing edge tape and purchase a roll or find someone
with a part roll. It is difficult to get the wrinkles and bends out if
you cut your own.
Ken

Jones, Michael wrote:

hi all

just got supplies, polyfiber stuff for covering flaps & ailerons, can some
one tell me the quantity of this stuff that is required, is was given

gallon

cans while i think 2 quarts would have been enough

mike#007

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[Ken]

Hi Mike

The 3" stuff wraps around the trailing edge. You can cut it out of the
regular cloth but I don't recommend it. I even used pinking shears on it
to get the zig-zag edge. I'd buy the tape if I did it again.

I also used narrower zig-zag (pinking?) tape for the ribs and it was a
bit of a pain ironing the little triangles down. Another fellow used
straight edged tape and he said it was easier and it looked very good,
probably better than mine.

Ken 119R

PS my wings are finally on. I highly highly recommend anyone drilling
the five holes in the 1"+ thickness spar brackets uses a drill press and
backs out the drill bit about every 1/8" of drilling to clear the chips
so the bit doesn't bind up. That 2024 aluminum really likes to clog and
gum things up. I'd also recommend large C clamps on the strut to squeeze
the strut and hold the brackets in place. Also measure how far the
brackets extend out of the strut before removing them the first time.
The manual says mark a line but if you are picky that wasn't very
accurate for me and resulted in some unnecessary filing of the holes in
the first strut.

Jones, Michael wrote:

hi ken

3" trailing edgetape, doyou mean the stuff with the zigzag edges or

regular

cloth cut to to 3" wide??

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[Jones, Michael]

ken

i have zigzag tape that came with kit, maybe 2" wide could be 3 i forget,
will have to check

mike

-----Original Message-----
From: mike.davis@dcsol.com [mailto:mike.davis@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of Ken
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 1:27 PM
To: rebel-builders@dcsol.com
Subject: Re: flap/aileron covering


Hi Mike

The 3" stuff wraps around the trailing edge. You can cut it out of the
regular cloth but I don't recommend it. I even used pinking shears on it
to get the zig-zag edge. I'd buy the tape if I did it again.

I also used narrower zig-zag (pinking?) tape for the ribs and it was a
bit of a pain ironing the little triangles down. Another fellow used
straight edged tape and he said it was easier and it looked very good,
probably better than mine.

Ken 119R

PS my wings are finally on. I highly highly recommend anyone drilling
the five holes in the 1"+ thickness spar brackets uses a drill press and
backs out the drill bit about every 1/8" of drilling to clear the chips
so the bit doesn't bind up. That 2024 aluminum really likes to clog and
gum things up. I'd also recommend large C clamps on the strut to squeeze
the strut and hold the brackets in place. Also measure how far the
brackets extend out of the strut before removing them the first time.
The manual says mark a line but if you are picky that wasn't very
accurate for me and resulted in some unnecessary filing of the holes in
the first strut.

Jones, Michael wrote:

hi ken

3" trailing edgetape, doyou mean the stuff with the zigzag edges or

regular

cloth cut to to 3" wide??

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[rognal]

Hi Mike,

I started the fabric covering a couple weeks ago. So far I have completed the
covering process through one coat of Poly Brush and application of all the
finishing tapes. The tapes are also fully coated with Poly Brush.

The first coat of Poly Brush is applied heavily with a brush to fill the
weave of the fabric and the tapes require three coats of Poly Brush. So it
takes quite a bit.

I have used 1 1/2 quarts of Poly Brush to date and I still have two spray
coats to apply over the structures. I think I will need at least another
quart of Poly Brush for that. This stuff is really thin!

If I could offer a couple of tips they would be:

Get the Poly Fiber manual 'How to Cover an Aircraft'. IMO it was worth the
money. The instructions in the builder's manual don't come close to telling
you how to do it right.

Don't buy a big iron from ACS. The big iron they will sell you has a 30
second auto shutoff that will not allow you to calibrate it. They have been
made aware of this issue but I don't know if they have removed this iron from
their stock.

Murphy provided a lot of fabric! I couldn't see wasting all of it, so I cut
my own finishing tapes from the extra using my wife's pinking shears. I think
they look fine. If you are building a show plane, buy the pinked tapes ($$$).

Poly Fiber recommends using pinked tapes. They give more surface area for
adhesion, provides a better transition from fabric to tape, and reduces
peeling. So they say. So far I haven't had a problem with the edges curling
up.

If you use the plastic drain grommets, don't apply any heat directly to them!

I didn't find the covering process difficult, but it is much more time
consuming that I expected.

Hope this helps.

Roger Hoffman #687R
Eugene, OR USA!






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[Jones, Michael]

thanks roger, good info

mike

-----Original Message-----
From: mike.davis@dcsol.com [mailto:mike.davis@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of
rognal@dcsol.com
Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 3:14 PM
To: rebel-builders@dcsol.com
Subject: Re: flap/aileron covering


Hi Mike,

I started the fabric covering a couple weeks ago. So far I have completed
the
covering process through one coat of Poly Brush and application of all the
finishing tapes. The tapes are also fully coated with Poly Brush.

The first coat of Poly Brush is applied heavily with a brush to fill the
weave of the fabric and the tapes require three coats of Poly Brush. So it
takes quite a bit.

I have used 1 1/2 quarts of Poly Brush to date and I still have two spray
coats to apply over the structures. I think I will need at least another
quart of Poly Brush for that. This stuff is really thin!

If I could offer a couple of tips they would be:

Get the Poly Fiber manual 'How to Cover an Aircraft'. IMO it was worth the
money. The instructions in the builder's manual don't come close to telling
you how to do it right.

Don't buy a big iron from ACS. The big iron they will sell you has a 30
second auto shutoff that will not allow you to calibrate it. They have been
made aware of this issue but I don't know if they have removed this iron
from
their stock.

Murphy provided a lot of fabric! I couldn't see wasting all of it, so I cut
my own finishing tapes from the extra using my wife's pinking shears. I
think
they look fine. If you are building a show plane, buy the pinked tapes
($$$).

Poly Fiber recommends using pinked tapes. They give more surface area for
adhesion, provides a better transition from fabric to tape, and reduces
peeling. So they say. So far I haven't had a problem with the edges curling
up.

If you use the plastic drain grommets, don't apply any heat directly to
them!

I didn't find the covering process difficult, but it is much more time
consuming that I expected.

Hope this helps.

Roger Hoffman #687R
Eugene, OR USA!






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