Originally Posted by
chase.canade
HiLaminating with iron on film is what I was referring to. As many do. You Google search laminating an RC plane and you see tons on how to apply it.. like this..
must me an internet thing. Covering film or most appropriately the commercial name is monocote (you know like calling diapers pampers and tissue kleenex)
Laminating this type iron on film and perhaps another i saw but can't remember the name of at the moment.
See my post above.
I was thinking of glassing the RVJet. I thought it might stiffen it up. Eliminate the wing flutter and flex it has as you can see in this video below in several places. Even on take off. As those wings look to have the iron on plastic film on them.
when was the last time you took a flight on a commercial jet? Ever sit by the window and just stare at the wingtip? The flexibility is there for a reason. I wouldn't mess with it. But if you insist..... If there is film on the wing already, you will need to strip it off to have a good bond of the fiberglass to the underlying foam.
As both can be laminated, as far as the wings. It seems a pretty common thing to do. Most only talk about how to apply it.
I haven't seen anything going into thickness's and choosing the right one.
covering film is pretty thin. You can get _some_ skin stiffness from it but on a foam-core aircraft, i doubt you will get much other than _covering_ it's official intended use. And given the curves that I can clearly see on the RVJet, the film will probably lift off the "valleys" and pull straight across the "peaks" as soon as you apply any kind of load. On the other aircraft, you may get _some_ stiffness given that a portion of the wing is fairly straight.
Same for glassing it seems. Though i have seen mention the thickness they use. And some using polyurethane others i take it epoxy and others still other things as the resin.
Use the lightest fiberglass fiber mat available, pay attention to the fiber weave, as it plays the biggest role in stiffness. there is mono-directional fiber, bi-directional fiber and tri-directional fiber. The more "directions" the heavier is going to be. I would recommend the lightest bi-directional mat available making sure that the fibers are at 45 degrees with the axis of the wing. That should control the torsion, the stiffness of the wing itself will carry the load axial to the wing. Which may not completely control the axial flexing of the wing.
on top of that, Vacuum bagging will produce the lightest possible skin by extracting the excess resin that may have been laid into the weave.
As far as resin selection, epoxy would be the best bet, as anything else could attack the foam and destroy it. You could test the reactivity on scrap pieces of foam before you decide on a specific resin.
As far as durability........ you will stiffen it up a bit, surface scratches will be thing of the past, but impacts will potentially have a more destructive outcome than before.
Honestly, I think you are creating too much work for yourself, but to each their own. We are here to independently enjoy the hobby as we see best.
Rafael