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Hostage-46
Oct 13, 2003, 02:40 PM
Around the net there are various sites that discribe how to cover a Zagi without packing and strapping tape.

One scheme know as the smiley spar, replaces the strapping tape with a thin carbon spar. The it's covered in ultracote or something similar. The idea being to reduce weight.

I had a possible variation on that theme;

What if I took the stock core, and bagged carbon fiber cloth gores on the upper and lower surfaces of the core using MGS epoxy.
A) would this offer enough structural stiffness?
B) will the carbon stick to the white foam without fiber glass?
C) what if I added a a layer of light cloth on top of the carbon?

Finally, I plan on adding some hard balsa or spruce (whatever I can find lying around the shop) to the trailing edge of the airfoil to add some additional stiffness.

This is purely and experimental endeavor to see how light I can this thing. I want to optimize performance but stick with stock battery/powerplant setup.

Dan

zagisrule!
Oct 14, 2003, 10:45 PM
I have always wanted to try that....It sounds like a great idea to me except for one thing. That is that the wing would then be really stiff, so you would break up in a crash instead of bouncing. So, If there is no crashing, sounds good, just don't fly it combat.

Hostage-46
Oct 15, 2003, 12:33 AM
I'm going to give it a go. I wont have any carbon on the epp leading edge, so that should be ok.

I don't do combat, this more like run out at lunch time and practice acro, or after the winch and the glider are put away ....

I'll post the results...
Dan

zagisrule!
Oct 19, 2003, 08:24 PM
Oh, just remembered this.

I am anxious to see the results......I am thinking about another wing and I might try it too if yours turns out OK.