op:
I look forward to seeing this come together! Would Fg be a viable option for the fins? Methinks that this sucker isn't going to be a high performance airframe and fiberglass sheet is easy to lay up if you have a couple of heavy plates.
Thanks.
You mean as in actual solid Fiberglass? No, I'm just going to glass my balsa like I do. That way I know it will be lightweight. I'm used to doing it this way for the last 8 builds.
I need to get a work area set up first, as I like to follow John Cokers advice, and have an immaculate work-space to do layups or fins on.
Yeah, it won't be a performance bird, but solid FG would be a real pain to put together and heavy, and although I have some G10 sheets, I don't have a bandsaw, so those stayed in storage.
I press my fins and wings on a 120lb. sheet of Granite that is perfectly flat on one side, with a giant book and 40lbs of weights on top. I glass one side at a time.
If I had a shop and a bandsaw, the world would be a brighter place.
Glassed Balsa will suit me fine, and per my tests, will be stronger than, and lighter than Basswood, so nobody can bitch about my "Overbuilding".
Everything will be glassed. It makes the entire process of assembly so much easier.
Whether I make paper cones for the boosters, or use balsa or foam, those too will be glassed.
The nose come I'm making needs a paper transition to hold the top to the base/shoulder, and then that will be glassed.
Everything is easier to work with once it has been treated to at least .5 or .75oz. cloth.
No filling this or filling that, or using ounces upon ounces of primer....
Even my 13mm BT-20 AMRAAM is glassed.
I like it when I see the people that bitch about my glassing my low-power birds using ounces and ounces of fillers/bondo putty and multiple coats of primer, not to mention sanding spirals and sanding down all the fuzzies or imperfections. What Hell on Earth that is, not to mention the mess!
I have nerve,muscle and sinew damage in my right hand, compounded by arthritis. My sanding more than I absolutely have to days are over!
Heck, I'm in pain right now just from cutting that damned nose cone up.