Air-Ron

I can't wait for my wife to see this, she already tells people that I'm building a "jedi fighter" with "whiskers" out front and "flippy things" on the wings :>

I had the same result on trying the posted address.

Has anyone had any luck contacting him?

aaron

By day, I deal poker in a Native owned casino in Tulsa, OK. (I'm looking for a job where I can use my EE degree and break even on the money)

By night (in the summer) I teach people how to fly on the trapeze. Hopefully Trapeze University will become profitable enough to pay for my engine when I get there

Aaron Morse

After searching the archives, I found an email from a MGS representative. To Paraphrase:

1) 16 Celsius (61 fahrenheit) is very low for cure

2) try for at least 20 celsius (68 fahrenheit)

3) Don't worry about cold cured parts - they will continue cure as temperature heats up

4) try to post cure everything

heat tent it is - at least until the 100 degree summers set in!

Aaron

You need to be careful with letting curing epoxy get cold, though. SOME will cure OK as Lynn says, even when cold, but just take a lot longer to do so. But others will merely go into "B" stage, feel hard, but not be strong - they'll be brittle and weak.

 

If it goes into the "B" stage, can raising the temperature (post curing) pull it out? Does anyone have experience with cold curing MGS 335? If I have to scrap this part, I should do it before I glass the other side. :eek:

I will be sure to cure everything else in nice warm weather (or the heat tent)

Looking at Air-Ron's icon, I get the feeling he's building his canard the hard way!

One of my jobs is as the owner and chief instructor of a flying trapeze school. The pic is from my days teaching and performing full time. If anyone happens to be coming by Tulsa, OK in the summer, I'd be happy to give them a lesson!!!

Aaron

Fair enough! I'll hold off on the fancy stuff for now. I will be picking up some heat tent supplies on the way home, though. While I was writing last night's post, I had my shop heater on next to the table, with a fan pointed over the layup. I turned off the heater before going to bed, but the layup seemed dryer in the morning. The residue in the cups still seemed a little sticky, which makes me nervous. Even with nearly all slow hardener and a somewhat chilly shop, (the shop heater gets things up to 80 or so while I'm working, and then it cools off overnight) MGS 335 shouldn't be sticky after 30 hours, should it?

aaron

Hey All -

After a hiatus, I'm back on track. I completed the seatback before getting lazy, but I'm not sure about the quality of the part. I tried the Plastic Pressure ply, but I think I may have left too much epoxy on the front. It was hard to tell, so I was more aggressive on the backside. Way too aggressive. I'm torn between remaking the part and sanding off 75% of the backside and doing the proper repair. (probably the latter)

Anyway, my question here is concerning F22, which I layed up last night. I started with the forward face instead of the aft face so I could weight it down with a large piece of MDF.

I tried to trim the part with the Fein tool, and as it cut, gummy stuff got all over the blade. okay, NOT fully cured. I did the scratch test with the cup. The scratch came out white, but the epoxy was sticky as well. I tested the epoxy ratio, and it came out to .379. It is cool here in tulsa right now, even with the insulated shop, so I figure I'll be building a heat tent before more cure.

I'm also pretty sure I didn't squegee enough through the plastic, but I'm not exactly sure how to identify this on a layup that was peelplied and plasticplied. I'll post pictures tomorrow.

I'm starting to wonder now whether i should investigate the LoVac technique. I imagine that this would make it easier to avoid overly wet layups (without the vast expanses of white I found on the seatback), but it could be that I just need more practice. There aren't a lot of composite builders in my area, so it's hard to get good feedback.

okay, enough rambling... Pictures to come tomorrow.

Aaron

As a total noob, and a ways off from taking up this new-expensive-life-overtaking hobby, I have been pondering some of the same issues:

Specifically, if it takes me a significant amount of time to get to a financial situation where I can start all of this, what will my odds be of finding plans for a Long-EZ? (I'd like to do as much of the work myself as possible) If they're rare now, what's the outlook a year or two down the road?

Also, if your aircraft is listed as a super-indy-rg-hoodeeleehoo-EZ, are you going to be able to insure it?

Air-Ron