Best way to repaIR MONOKOTE
09-10-2005, 09:45 AM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
My Feedback: (10)
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Ayer, MA
Posts: 55
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Best way to repaIR MONOKOTE
Well my luck ran out this AM, to say the leats I lost time, speed and alitude all at once it was not preety! Anyway i stuffed my SIG KADET EP in and damaged the wing tip and a small section of the rear spar. I cut away the covering to make repairs, now what is the beat way to repair the covering? Do I recover the whole wing? Or is a patch in order, I have not really worked with the plastic type coverings before so to say the least Iam in the dark.
So if anyone can offer any suggestions, I will bow to your experices!
Thansk
Chuck
So if anyone can offer any suggestions, I will bow to your experices!
Thansk
Chuck
09-15-2005, 01:25 PM
#2
Senior Member
My Feedback: (7)
RE: Best way to repaIR MONOKOTE
Chuck,
Since nobody's replied yet, I'll jump in ...
First, try to find out if it's really MonoKote(R) by Top Flite, or another covering. They all work pretty much the same way, but MonoKote is a higher-temperature material. If you put MonoKote over a low-temp film, you'll melt the stuff underneath and it'll be a sticky mess.
A household iron works fine. Cut the material to the size and shape you need to cover the repair, peel off the backing material, then iron the covering in place. If it sticks to the iron instead of the airplane, it's upside-down.
For low-temp coverings, use the "rayon" setting. High-temp coverings like MonoKote can stand heat up to the "cotton" setting. Start on the cool end of the spectrum so you don't melt it.
Start by tacking the ends of the patch in place with just the tip of the iron. Then tack the sides -- one "dot" of adhesion in about the middle of each side. Then pull the corners out and tack them in place. By now it should be lying pretty flat over the repaired spot, without too many big wrinkles.
Now seal the edges down, so there's a continuous line of adhesion all around the perimeter. Finally, run the iron lightly over the entire surface area to shrink it tight. If you get large bubbles between the patch and the covering underneath it, use a pin to let the air out of one end each bubble, and work the iron over the bubbled area from the other end. This will force out any remaining air and bond the patch evenly to the covering underneath.
"There are two things in this world that do a pilot no good at all: Altitude above you and runway behind you."
Duane Gall
RCPRO
Since nobody's replied yet, I'll jump in ...
First, try to find out if it's really MonoKote(R) by Top Flite, or another covering. They all work pretty much the same way, but MonoKote is a higher-temperature material. If you put MonoKote over a low-temp film, you'll melt the stuff underneath and it'll be a sticky mess.
A household iron works fine. Cut the material to the size and shape you need to cover the repair, peel off the backing material, then iron the covering in place. If it sticks to the iron instead of the airplane, it's upside-down.
For low-temp coverings, use the "rayon" setting. High-temp coverings like MonoKote can stand heat up to the "cotton" setting. Start on the cool end of the spectrum so you don't melt it.
Start by tacking the ends of the patch in place with just the tip of the iron. Then tack the sides -- one "dot" of adhesion in about the middle of each side. Then pull the corners out and tack them in place. By now it should be lying pretty flat over the repaired spot, without too many big wrinkles.
Now seal the edges down, so there's a continuous line of adhesion all around the perimeter. Finally, run the iron lightly over the entire surface area to shrink it tight. If you get large bubbles between the patch and the covering underneath it, use a pin to let the air out of one end each bubble, and work the iron over the bubbled area from the other end. This will force out any remaining air and bond the patch evenly to the covering underneath.
"There are two things in this world that do a pilot no good at all: Altitude above you and runway behind you."
Duane Gall
RCPRO
10-04-2005, 05:40 PM
#4
Member
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Salem,
OR
Posts: 72
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
RE: Best way to repaIR MONOKOTE
Years of experience (I pile it here and I pile it there) has taught me to:
At the field check the airframe for broken parts; spar, loose horzonal, vertical fin, landing gear, loose control horns, and try the controlls to see if the servo gears are stripped and If you really ready to risk another crash - and the torn/ripped/holey covering is the only thing stopping you to............... patch with duct tape! It will hold the covering in place while flying and is so ugly you will patch the tear at home. Suggest you peel off all of the covering and recover so you can find the cracked spar..... split fuse former....... loose/split/broken parts under the 'it looks okay' parts. FIRST remove the covering at the point of damange is alot is broken decide how much structure you want to expose..... Covering is cheap compaired to the whole aircraft so spend the tiime and money (covering and CA) rather than baging the next flight.
At the field check the airframe for broken parts; spar, loose horzonal, vertical fin, landing gear, loose control horns, and try the controlls to see if the servo gears are stripped and If you really ready to risk another crash - and the torn/ripped/holey covering is the only thing stopping you to............... patch with duct tape! It will hold the covering in place while flying and is so ugly you will patch the tear at home. Suggest you peel off all of the covering and recover so you can find the cracked spar..... split fuse former....... loose/split/broken parts under the 'it looks okay' parts. FIRST remove the covering at the point of damange is alot is broken decide how much structure you want to expose..... Covering is cheap compaired to the whole aircraft so spend the tiime and money (covering and CA) rather than baging the next flight.
