Troy,
I was hoping Nev Eyre would come to your rescue here so while we wait to
hear from him, thought I would sympathise with you.
I had an identical bulge about 1" dia on the bottom of one of my wings too.
Mine was caused when I laid up a couple of plies of bid simultaneously on
the reinforced section trapping a little air pocket which I didn't see at
the time of lay-up. What made it worse was that I heated my workshop after
the lay-up to speed up the cure only to learn from this mistake. I have
discovered that whenever there is a small air pocket and the temp gets
elevated before cure, the air in the pocket expands and makes the bubble a
hell of a lot bigger. Having said this, I cannot understand how yours would
have happened after curing.
So I hope it makes you feel somewhat happier to know that you are not alone.
I drilled two small holes (about 1/16" or could have been 1/32") opposite
each other on the outsides of the bubble. I then injected pure epoxy with a
syringe into one hole until it came out the other. Using a bit of peel ply
and plastic sheeting as a release agent, I then covered the bubble and
weighted it down while it cured. It is still visible but I don't have the
high spot any more.
I am not putting this method forward as an approved solution, it is simply
what I did. If you would prefer to do an approved fibreglass repair, I
would suggest you contact a glider repairer to find out how to do a proper
scarf and the lay-ups. There is a repair procedure for this which is
different from anything we have done in construction.
Personally, with a bubble that small, I don't think there would be anything
to gain by going to the trouble of doing the proper repair procedure but I
could be wrong, I was once !
Good luck.
Kingsley
----- Original Message -----
From: "Troy Maynor" <wingnut54@charter.net>
Sent: Monday, February 06, 2006 11:26 AM
Subject: Europa-List: Classic Wing Repair Needed
>
>
> Hi All,
> I'm seeking advice about classic wings. Yesterday I was giving the wings a
> once-over again before putting the remaining coats of smooth prime. I was
> checking if anything else needed sanding. On the starboard wing, about 2
> feet from the root and about 1 foot from the leading edge on the bottom of
> the wing I noticed a small raised spot about 1 or 1 1/2" that was not
> there
> before. I know, because I had already sanded it smooth and had two coats
> of
> primer and had sanded a little of it back off, and was fairly satisfied
> that
> all was complete. It appears for some reason that it has delaminated on
> this
> one spot. I took my spline with some 120 gt and got it back level again
> without getting into the glass. It still has some Super-fil on it. If you
> mash on it, it gives slightly to the push in an area about 1 inch or so.
> My
> question is; should I grind a big ole place out down to the foam, which
> seems scary to me, and lay up a few plies of bid? Or should I inject
> (using
> a big ole syringe I have) some pure epoxy through a small hole into the
> soft
> spot? Or should I inject a little epoxy/micro slurry into the area and see
> how it feels after it cures? There isn't anything in this area such as
> controls tubes or wiring conduits or the like. I can't figure out how it
> happened. The wings have been built for 10 years or so. I have kept them
> in
> recent years in a vertical sling made of carpet connected to 2 x 4s, much
> like the transporter. This is the only irregularity I have seen. Any
> thoughts or advice you all can offer?
>
> Troy Maynor
> N120EU Monowheel Classic
> Left to finish:
> Paint,interior,engine install, some wiring.
>
>
>
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