RedGN

Hi, i am fairly new to balsa built planes. I've been flying foamies for just over a year now.

I recently purchase a GeeBee 25 ARF off of e-bay and during the build i rip a hole clean through one of the wings.

I need to know if I can patch this or do i have to re-cover the hole wing?

If i can patch it, what material do i use and how should i go about patching it.

Any help is appreciated
Thanks in advance

HighPlains

My Feedback: (1)

Usually you just patch the covering with the same material. That might be difficult if you don't know what material was originally used. If you don't know which covering was used, you may have difficulty in matching color and with a different temperature range bonding it and shrinking it tight.

For very small patches you can use 3M Plastic tape which they call decorating and repair tape. It comes in a few colors, but also clear which is what I use. It comes in rolls at 1/2" and 1" wide.

opjose

When I THINK that I will be unable to match the color, I go the exact OPPOSITE direction.

e.g. I broke the bottom of the fuse of one plane.

I patched the area with an oversized swatch of darker ( in some cases lighter ) Ultra/Mono Kote, cut to a regular ( rectangular in this case ) shape. The patch merely attempts to match a darker color of the trim design, but it doesn't have to be exact.

At the edges I used Trim Striping to highlight the area I patched. Yes HIGHLIGHT....

The patch ends up looking like part of the original design and no one is the wiser.

If your Gee Bee is the Yellow/Black one, you can use a similiar approach and use a black patch...

A wide stripe down the chord of the wing looks "spiffy" and hides a patch very well.

RedGN

The area that needs patching is approx. 2 inches by 3 inches. I don't know what material they used and the fuselage is fiberglass.

I was planning on cutting out the damaged area to the nearest wood support. However i have never repaired these types of planes before so i don't know what material to use. Is there a difference between ultrakote and monokote? Is is self adhering or do i need to glue down? How much does it shrink and do i overlap it?

I am not too concerned about exact colour since the plane is red and white ( pretty commen colours )

THanks again.

Campy

My Feedback: (1)

Use Ultracote since you are not concerned about an exact match. Ultra cote goes on and shrinks at a noticeably lower temperature than Monokote.

Regular Ultracote and Monokote have heat activated glue on the back of the film. THE MONOKOTE TRIM PIECES (3" X 36" ) ARE SELF ADHESIVE.

Ultracote has a very easy to see and remove paper backing. When you trim the hole back, leave about 1/4" - 3/8" on each edge of the hole. You want to iron this down on the ribs and under the edge of the leading edge and trailing edge sheeting (a trim iron works very well for this) to insure the original covering doesn't slip on you.

After the edges of the hole are sealed, use some alcohol and clean the area abt least 1" back from the edges of the hole to get off any oils that may be on the covering.

Cut your patch so it is 1/2" - 3/4" larger than the hole. I suggest rounding the corners on the patch also to minimize/prevent the corners from lifting down the road.

Tack the 4 corners down, THEN seal the edges of the patch to the other covering.

Now you can shrink it down with the iron.