Composite Wing Repair

[gleasonll]

I pranged my Eraser 2000 Xtrem composite sailplane, and the left wing tip folded just inboard of the outer edge of the aileron. Having never worked with composites, I am looking for someone who might be able to repair the damage. Is there anyone out there (or does anyone know of someone) who does such repairs?

[dephela]

If you like composite planes and think you'll be picking up more in the future this is a great opportunity to learn the materials and techniques of repair!

The damage is out at the tip. There isn't much in loads or stress on that area. You have all the parts, they're just not in the right places. No matter how poor your first repair is when done, the plane will still fly. The more time you spend on it the better it will look.

Come on, give it a shot!

[MDM]

~$150 us will get you a new tip...maybe more now that the Euro is up. Else, get oderless thin CA

[gleasonll]

A new tip is on order, but it may be 8wks or more. I still want to get the damaged one repaired, if possible (willing to pay).

[invicta]

I have made several successful repairs of very similar but much more extensive damage on my own Eraser Xtreme. Here is the technique:

Get a bottle of thin CA (doesn't seem to matter if it is foam safe on this model) and kicker. First realign all of the pieces by hand (squishing them back into position) so that you can assure yourself that everything can go back together. You may want to use the CA and kicker at a few tack points to insure smooth laying of the surfaces without buckling. Tack areas that want to buckle up or down so that they can't. Also secure the two halves together early if they split. You should use epoxy here if they split is large. Then starting at the beginnings of each crack poke many small holes on both sides of the cracks with a needle. Think of the holes made when the doctor puts in stitches to close a cut. Just penetrate the skin epoxy surface and into the fiber. While positoning the skins so that they approximate the airfoil leach the the thin CA into the holes and cracks then kick it when it is where you want. Work in 1x1" to 1x2" sections and double CA any areas that continue to soak CA after the first pass. After you have locked the skins into place, go back with 320 wet sandpaper and sand the surface smooth. If you find you have areas with significant depressions, fill with lightweight water-based spackle (small tubs from home depot). I have covered this spackle that is a bit delicate with colored packing tape to both protect the spackle and provide a clean smooth surface.

You will be suprised how well this works. In two evenings I repaired a center section of my Xtreme where the skins were trashed 10X as bad as this over 5x as much area. Have flown it ever since. I swear it flies better with the extra weight. Speaking of weight, you may need to add a small bit of lead to the opposite wingtip to balance, but with such a small repair it likely isn't an issue.

Trust me, this is very repairable. It won't look pretty (I got several comments last weekend at the monthly contest, but I also got several perfect scores) but it will fly.

-Invicta

[charlieuk]

give reparing it a go its easier than you think i repared a pike that had the hole d box from tip to tip absolutly obliterated it had bits mising and the rest was a sogey as a sponge.the main repair was done all with thin zap.holes were repaired in the same construction as the skins (no bulsa blocks here)the delam is repaired by drilling 1mm holes in to the skin of the wing then using a small wire hock pull the skins together and cheque it is the right shape then drip a drop of zap in the hole and move on to the next bit and repeat. if theres a bad crease that is bulging up run a blade down the length and tim it so the two side sit fluc then zap.i repared a tip of an ellipse 2v for some one and i think it had about 260 repair holes in it so dontworey about it it was used for ds after and and showed no sine of falier after the repair till it was put in to the groun rather fast:rolleyes: .onece the skins are all solid u can fill any dips with a good car filler (p38) in the uk,dont use to much at once it better to use a little at atime and not have to sandit all of again.after this u can spray fill prime and top coat to mach the existin coulor so you cant see the repair at all.hope this helps ive used this methods maney times on peoples models and they have been very happy.

[charlieuk]

heres a pic of a wing that is quite reparable i started by cuting the bad bits out as they were beoned repair and its easier to replace the section and yes that is the spar this wing was broken clean in half.

[charlieuk]

just realised this is a old thred never mind hope it can help some one. heres a pic of what u can get a tip panel back to after it has been smashed in to a frozen welsh hill.