thanks glass dude

i WAS actually seeking ways to fiber glass fins, but you have made me stop seeking with the knowlegde you have given

Yeah, Dr. Glass is amazing isn't he. BTW: I couldn't answer All of the Above in your poll. Now I'm depressed about it.

why cant you answer it? me i like ozzy, you know, randy rhodes, and his brilliant ness

but seriously dr. glass, what oz. should i use on my fins?

I'll take a shot at this since Carl and I occasionally do some building together. But I know that Carl (aka Dr. Glass) will read this, so Carl, ole buddy, if you want to change, correct or add to what I have to say, jump on in here.

Carl and I have been using 2oz. cloth for up through a lot of Level 2 rockets. SIG and several other hobby related companies make cloth in this weight. As Carl says in one of his posts, be certain to lay the cloth weave cross-grained for maximum strength, expecially on those Level 2 birds.

HOWEVER.... different size birds may require heavier weight cloth. Like the time......

At an HPR launch back in March, Carl volunteered (he's a glutton for punishment) to help one of our friends repair some damage to a Level 3 bird. On Saturday, we loaded the bird, a 13 foot long 7 inch diameter M powered bird, on a pad that was just a bit too small for it. It was a major windy day, and....... yep, the wind blew the rocket and launch pad over. This managed to separate the launch lugs from the rocket.

And, as luck would have it, we had brought lots of epoxy, but *no* fiberglass cloth. So, going back to my old high school drag racing car fixing up days, I told Jim (owner of the rocket) to go to a local WalMart and get some car body repair fiberglass cloth. Jim got the cloth, which is probably 4 oz or even 6 oz cloth, and Carl fiberglassed the launch lugs back on in Jim's hotel room that night.

Carl glued the lugs to the body tube, then cut strips of fiberglass cloth and wrapped them around the lugs and around the body tube. If I remember correctly, I think he also repaired a crack in the body tube and maybe did some nose cone repair. Dr. Glass is truly a wizard with the stuff.

On Sunday, after having located and set up a much heavier duty launch pad, we prepped the rocket (again), loaded it on the pad, and had a very successful launch. LUV those L3 M powered birds.

Soooooo.... most birds up through Level 2 the 2oz cloth will probably suffice. When you get to Level 3 birds, I think I would go to 4 oz cloth.

How about it, Dr. Glass, what say you?

I love the Ozman, don't get me wrong. But I love all the others too. So it is a tough decision.... BTW: I'm still thinking about this poll and it is keeping me up at night.

OMG.....They've already given me a nickname...Gawrsh, um gitt'in all red in da face.

Ken was pretty much right on...I do use 2 oz on L2 birds, sometimes with multiple layers, although I have seen write ups that you can use heavier for more strength, but it works well for me. When you start getting into BIG birds, up to 16oz can be the norm for maximum strength, along with other materials like Kevlar and Carbon Fiber cloth, but this would be for high stress models like some who wants to build an 11" rocket that can handle Mach.

One thing I do reccomend, especially with the thicker LOC paper tubes, is that you peal off the top layer of paper that has the glassine coating. it will seem like you are removing half the tube, but you really aren't. Then, when you glass it, the Epoxy resin REALLY soaks in and adds some serious strength to the tube.

BTW Ken, where the heck is Jim? He could add some serious value to some of these topics...need to talk to him next time he is on if you haven't.