Fellow Flyers,

I am new to gasoline powered aircraft, I am pretty sure that they take considerable more stress to the airframe because of the large engines.
Could you folks suggest what type of glue I should use to build my 1/4 scale BUSA pup.

Thank you for your time and suggestions.................Wingstrut

30 min epoxy

I'm building a 1/3 scale Sig Spacewalker and due to my ever worsening reaction to CA I'm using mostly Titebond with a smidge of odorless CA when I can't easily clamp the part in question. I'd use the odorless CA for the whole construction (except of course for those high stress areas requiring epoxy) if it wasn't for the high cost of it.




Mike

Hey wingstrut,
Actually, a large 4-stroke will shake a plane pretty hard as well. Any large single cylinder engine with a large prop will shake a lot, especially at low RPM.
Having said that, I don't really take any extra gluing precautions in wings etc. I do place angle stock where I want it around the firewall and such. The engine box must take the brunt of the stress. All 30 minute epoxy up there.

The bottom line, any glue joint should actually be stronger than the surrounding wood. Use the appropriate glue for the job. For instance, firewalls and landing gear blocks are almost always aircraft plywood. I do not like the performance of CA glue on hardwood, and therefore I always use 30 minute epoxy in those areas, not only because it's a high stress area, but more because 30 minute epoxy works best on those materials. CA works GREAT when gluing balsa to balsa, and the glue joint is definitely much stronger than the surrounding wood.

So the answer to your question, in general, is to use the glues you're familiar and comfortable with. Parts should fit well and should be clamped whenever possible. yadda yadda yadda. I'm sure you already know all of that. If in doubt, glue up a test piece and then try to break it. All of us have probably 20 different glues and we use several on any given model. We select the glue based FIRST upon it's ability to glue the materials and SECOND upon time it takes to cure etc.

Thanks Choppermike and iiiat, That was a lot of great info, you are right the wings can be glued by any model adhesive, It's the fuselage that takes the abuse, I will use epoxy up front.
I also thin 30 minute epoxy with alcohol after the hardener has been incorporated and use that thin mixture for fuel proofing balsa.
Work's Great!...Thanks again fellows