Fixing a hole in a fiberglass fuselage- Pt. 1

The built in motor mount (bad idea) in my fuselage 1) Has left thrust 2) The beams are not parallel. Thanks Skyglas. The complaint counter at Skyglas has been closed for 30 years, so no point *****ing, just fix it and move on.

After much thought on how to go about salvaging the situation, I came up with Plan C: Use a different fuselage.

The problem is, this one has a hole cut in it for a nose-dragger set-up. Since I am not building this one as a nose-dragger, the hole needs fixin'. Here's how to go about it:

1. Cut some glass cloth slightly larger than the area to be patched. Here I am using a piece of 7 oz. and a piece of 4 oz.
2. Cut a piece of Econokote slightly larger that the area to be patched.
3. Iron the Econokote on to the nose of the the old fuse. The low heat and stretchy compliance of the Econokote make it ideal for this. I bet that you could cover a tennis ball with this stuff.
4. Spray the Econokote with your favorite mold release. Presto- instant mold.
5. Lay up the glass over the Econokote. Allow to cure.

Once the layup is cured, it will be peeled off of the Econokote, trimmed, and glassed in the fuselage from the inside. Then add a little filler and some sandpaper, and it is like it never happened. Stay tuned.