Hi Ian,
>>Things I wish I'd known/done before before starting my Europa"<<
Don't rely just on scuff sanding metal parts, particularly the tailplane bushes
TP6. I am telling everyone I inspect for to drill dimples into the outer
diameter of the tubes and maybe a few saw cuts as well, to give a positive
machanical key. Be careful not to distort the ID though or the torque tube won't
go in. Also be very generous with the depth of the flox corner. It isn't a lot
of use bonding the tube to the foam core, it isn't very strong compared to
Stainless steel. The TP6 has to be firmly bonded to the glass rib.
Any alloy parts which are bonded in should be anodised, preferably hard anodised
and dichromate sealed, which restores the fatigue strength. This will bond them
to epoxy much better than scuff sanding. Best way to clean before bonding is dye
penetrant solvent cleaner, carbon tet or tri chlor ethylene.
Remember that finger prints on anything to be bonded are bad news, so never
remove peel ply until the moment you're ready to bond.
Graham
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