runningfool79

How would you cover the nose of a sailplane with monocote? i've tryed several way and none of them have worked, if you could help me it would be great.
Matt

BMatthews

First off you can't do it in one piece. You'll need to do it in little parachute panel like gores. Cut the covering a bit oversized to allow you to get a good hold and PULL. Now crank up the heat to the shrink setting. But you're not going to shrink it. Instead you'll be tacking it down along the center line from the flat area to half way onto the curved nose. Pull a little towards the nose as you do this. Now from the tacked area work the iron along one edge of the tack and pull on the sides as you do. The heat will let you stretch the material and pull it quite a ways around the curve. Keep working the material in little arcs of the iron while pulling and keep moving around the edges pulling and ironing as you go. When you get as far as you can smoothly around the block then score the material along the smooth line and begin another piece. You'll soon get a feel for what works and what doesn't.

The principle is that the distance along the center line of the compound nose block is the greatest distance so the covering needs to be stretched the most along the center line so the rest will lay into place. This is where the heat and tension comes into play.

runningfool79

Thanks a lot, it sound like it should work great.
Matt

fprintf

This is not as easy as it sounds. I wasted two rather large piece of Ultracote this evening trying to get the nose cone covered. First I tried the iron, but ended up with more wrinkles right at the front of the nose than I liked. So I cut that off and decided to try the Faye Stilley method with a heat gun. 2 minutes later and the nose is one big ball of covering stuck to each other.

I better calm down, go to bed and try again tomorrow when I am not so tired! Basically it was a $2 or $3 mistake, not a big deal as far as mistakes go. But this covering business sure takes a lot of patience the first time around!

ejett

My Feedback: (4)

It takes a lot of patience the 50th time around too, but by then you are accustomed to it and better 'trained'! - Ed Jett

Vulturetec

Depends on the shape too, and some colors seem to form in better than others. I did this fuselage in three pieces. Started with one on the bottom, trimming along the contour of the nose, then two side leaving a single seam at the top of the nose.




Seams are highlighted