King Racer Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 Has anyone not been able to use all the spar cap plies (as per the the layup schedules in the plans), without overfilling the spar caps, when building the E-Racer wings and/or center spar? Is it critical to use all plies. Does overfilling the center spar (spar caps) by 1/16" to 1/8" have any aerodynamic repercussions or is it just an issue of having to use micro fill where the strakes and wings mate? The E-Racer is designed for +9g and -6g maneuvers, well beyond my flying requirements. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverquit Posted October 28, 2007 Share Posted October 28, 2007 I had a slight problem with the last 2 layers on the spar. Keep on the heat gun and squeegee is all you can do at that point. Be sure of course not to over do because of too much goo on the bottom though. Mine actually kind of sank a bit overnight but still had a little rise. No bother, you'll be okay later when you find a lot of those bumps and joggles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Racer Posted October 30, 2007 Author Share Posted October 30, 2007 Thanks Neverquit, I appreciate the feedback. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Morrison Posted November 3, 2007 Share Posted November 3, 2007 I had a similar situation on my E Racer. There were spots of my spar caps just above the skin height, I left them and filled accordingly, did not take that much to correct. Jack E Racer 113 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Racer Posted November 13, 2007 Author Share Posted November 13, 2007 Thanks Jack, I appreciate the feedback. Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airwrench Posted November 30, 2007 Share Posted November 30, 2007 with the 3" spar cap tape, how many yards do you think you ended up using on the main spar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Racer Posted December 1, 2007 Author Share Posted December 1, 2007 78 yards as per plans. I am using approx. 0.025" thick (when dry) UNI tape and Aeropoxy. I heard others have achieved better layup results with other epoxy (MGS) ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airwrench Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Yeah, I was somehow reluctant in ordering the 80 yards I did, thinking I might be a tad shy:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kraig Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Do yourself a favor and precut the lengths you need as per plans to make sure you have enough before you start the layups. I bought out a builder who quit and it came with precut canard cores and a big roll of spar cap tape, along with a bunch of other stuff. I made the canard, then went on to the main spar. I was not sure if I had enough, so I took a 12' piece of kraft paper, 1 1/2 ft. wide, and layed out all my lenghts, leaving about an extra 3 inches on each. I cut them to length and folded a piece of 1 inch tape over the ends to keep them in place. (Once I did the layups, they were easy to grab and set in place and then just cut off the taped ends, don't try to take the tape off!!!). I even numbered the individual lengths on the taped ends. When I got one side finished, I rolled the whole bunch up with the kraft paper, labeled it top, or bottom, and did the same for the other side. Sure enough, I ended up the last two lengths short. This amounted to about 7 feet. I was about 3 weeks away from doing the spar caps, so ordering it was not a big deal. As it turned out, the extra 3 inches on the ends of 38 lengths was almost exactly the amount I was short, so I would have barely made it had I just rolled them on as I went. But I can tell you that it is better knowing I have enough to finish while doing it, instead of getting worried while watching the roll getting smaller as I go. Worked for me. Kraig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airwrench Posted December 2, 2007 Share Posted December 2, 2007 OK.....looks like you endured the drama I wanted to prevent. Thanks for the advise, and I think I will order a little extra just to be on the safe side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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