I just bought a used MiniBlade with some damage to the wing. How should I fix it? It apparently hit a sapling on final approach...

I was thinking carving some EPP to fill the void, and then covering with glass cloth. Yay? Nay?

ouch! I just ordered a new Mini Blade, yesterday. this topic may be handy. I would think EPP/glass or CF/and resin would work just fine.

Nay
cut the damage to a neat square cut some eps block to fit mark and sand to airfoil shape
pu glue in place abrade small surronding area replace sheeting over clean cut area fill voids as required cut lead edge to give an over lap on each edge of damaged area once blended to shape either glass and bag it if you have the equipement if not glass tissue about 4 layers sand back wing repaint entire panel
IMHO
SteveW

Exactly, but dont cut a square shape, cut an oval or circular shape to reduce stress concentrations and reduce cracking in the future.

EASY!
Send it and a check for $100 to TAWG

TFLG

TFLG is starting to sound like a pee-eye-em-pee

Originally Posted by djklein21

Exactly, but dont cut a square shape, cut an oval or circular shape to reduce stress concentrations and reduce cracking in the future.

thanks I dont know what I was thinking round edges no stress raisers
SteveW

Somewhere on the boards is a thread about doing a similar repair to a Miraj wing...I think it was a Miraj, but anyway, it's a good thread for the info. Might be worth a search. Covers cutting a chunk of EPS, glassing, etc for the repair. Also a bit of info about jigging the wing to keep it all lined up.

Score!

Here's the thread I was referring to:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showt...ht=wing+repair

Originally Posted by steve wenban

thanks I dont know what I was thinking round edges no stress raisers
SteveW

Still, that was a very informative .... sentence


Lance

Wow, my head is still spinning from the Miraj wing repair thread.... Unbelievable. Luckily the damage to the MiniBlade wing is much more manageable!

Update: So far so good. I CA'd two thin pieces of balsa sheeting in the hole, one on top and one on bottom, curved to fit the foil. This provided an easy base on which to lay glass. I started with a small piece of 2 oz glass and then covered it with fiberglass tissue, first CA'd in place and then saturated with epoxy/microballons. Then I began sanding.

The repair is very strong. I've sanded until the surface is more or less even and will keep going, but I can't seem to get it smooth. There are small ruts and ridges here and there. Is there a final coat of something I can put on that will sand smooth?

BONDO!

Run down to Pep Boys get a can of "Bondo Ultimate". If they don't have the Ultimate you can use the regular Bondo. Make sure you don't get the stuff with the fiberglass in it. Apply a thin layer layer of the bondo and sand it off once it dries (takes about 10 minutes to dry.) Wet sand with 220 grit paper then prime and paint.

TFLG

I thought about Bondo but figured it might be too heavy for a wing. I have a tube of Bondo Spot Putty. Any good?

The spot putty is only good for filling very small pinholes and scratches. I suppose you could use it on larger areas but it's not very durable. It dents and chips real easy and if you put tape over it it will pull the spot putty right off the plane when you peal off the tape.

TFLG