YUKONFLYR

Hello everyone, can this be repaired?

Shipping damage courtsey of the postal office[:@]

My fiberglass experience is limited to fiberglassing the nose on Viper, and it came out well. Would like to know the steps to repair if possible. Hole did not damage the spar however it is close. mostly just in the hollow section of the wing.

Thanks

dclancey

OK,

Where did you get the V-Max, are they in production again?, or it is an old plane.

Doug Clancey

YUKONFLYR

Picked Two of them up second hand

dclancey

They are my favorite plane, too bad they are no longer available[:@]

YUKONFLYR

Hopefully shipping damage is not the end of this one.

Ed Smith

It is very repairable. I am assuming the bottom skin is not punctured.

this is what I would do. Clean and square up the hole. Fit a piece of foam into the hole that will sit and be glued to the bottom skin. The top of this block should be about 1/16 below the outer surface of the top skin. Fit a piece of 1/8 balsa to the hole. Glue this to the aforementioned block and the hole edges. Sand the balsa flush with the skin. Apply finishing resin and filler with lots of sanding until the surface is smooth and even. Paint.

Ed S

YUKONFLYR

Thanks Ed for the info for the repair

Alot happier now than yesterday when it was unpacked Thought it was toast for sure!!

I am assuming that the filler you mentioned with the finishing resin would be microballons? or is there another filler that I need?

Thanks very much

Richard

Fxrs_tim

Yukon,

One method I've used on composite wings is nearly the same as Ed's, but I think it saves some sanding/filling. First, square up the damaged area so that you have a nice square/rectangle. Next, glue some "tabs" to the inner surface of the wing surface so that they stick out into the area to be repaired. Use these "tabs" as supports for your patch. Cut a patch of the exact size of your squared up hole, then glue it into the hole laying it on the support tabs. Fill any small gaps around the edges (an automotive glazing compound works great and sands easily). Finally, put a couple layers of glass over the patch, extending onto the good surface of the wing. Sand smooth and paint if desired.

Tim

daven

My Feedback: (1)

Tim,

Thanks for taking the time to write that, it is how I repair these types of wings also. I almost bought those two v-maxes, great planes. I have a NIB one in the basement waiting for a rainy day.

YUKONFLYR

Thanks for the help and ideas on how to fix it up.

With the shortest day of the year only a couple of days ago
it will be a long winter here in the Yukon, pleanty of time
for cutting, fitting, sanding and even painting.
Maybe I will get ambitious and paint the whole plane

Thanks again

Fxrs_tim

Necessity is the mother of invention! The life of a 428 plane can be pretty short if ya don't come up with inventive repairs.