wing sheeting
 

HI there,

what kind of glue and technique do you use to sheet a wing?
i searched for wing sheeting with little results.
My contender's wingsheeting is 3/32 thick and must be ca'd to
another 3/32 . kind of stiff to bend
am i up for a trip to the beach with freezer bags to fill up?
[:o] thanks, pat

RE: wing sheeting
 

This is how I do it.

I have a square piece of aluminum extrusion with sandpaper spray glued to it. I have another piece made from 1 x 4 that has sandpaper glued to it that I used to grip the balsa sheet and slide against the extrusion. That gives me a perfectly straight and square edge.

Also, match the sheets. Be sure both edges of every sheet mate against both edges of every other sheet. The reason being that often balsa sheets taper across their width (mill defect).

Tape the sheets together on one side and flip it over. Use Ambroid or Sigment to glue them together - not CA. CA is too hard and will never sand down right unless you're using too heavy of a wood. Always use the lightest wood you can get for a completely sheeted wing.

Once the glue is in place, press the seams flush with the masking tape side down. Get a paper towel and acetone and wipe up excess glue. It will make sanding much easier later. When the acetone evaporates (about 20 seconds later), put masking tape on the other side.

By the way, you only need strips of masking tape going across the seam about every 3" to 4" inches. Don't run a strip down the whole seam.

Give it a good 8 hours minimum to dry and then sand, sand, sand, sand and sand some more with good sanding blocks.

RE: wing sheeting
 

thanks cafeenman,
i don't know it i understood it right.
after you've glued the sheets together you lay
them out on the wing and use "masking tape" to hold them
in position? that must be some strong masking tape to stick
to the skinny ribs!
I have great planes pro wood glue ( aliphatic resin)
will this work?

the top flight contender's destruction book has a "hot tip" on wing sheeting.

they say to cut a 3/32 x 3/4 x 24 from the 3/32 x 3" x 24
stock and glue to the same to make one 3/32 x 3-3/4 x 24 by taping them together, apply thin
ca sparingly, wipe off excess, repeat on the other side
and sand flat before sheeting.

why couldn't they supply a 3/32 x 3-3/4 x 24 in the first place?
[:o]

RE: wing sheeting
 

No. You hold them together on one side with masking tape to make a hinge. Then open the seam, apply glue, wipe it off with acetone, close the seam and tape the other side. Do this on your bench, no on the plane. It's not a bad idea to put wax paper under the sheeting to keep it from getting glued to the bench.

Sand the sheeting very well before you glue it to the wing. One side can be sanded just ok and used on the inside.

I would use it to glue the sheeting to the wing, but not to join the sheeting. It will be harder than the balsa.

Don't know why. Balsa is commonly available up to 4" wide. I think Sig sells it up to 6" wide but it's expensive.

Forget the CA. It's a really bad idea.

Here's how to apply the sheeting when it's ready:

Gluing a full skin to a built up wing

RE: wing sheeting
 

thanks,
that was my actual question, how to glue it to the wing.
i don't have so much magazines so i guess I am up to
a beach visit to fill up ziplocks.
pat

RE: wing sheeting
 

The ziplocks will work well. One way that was discussed here a while back is to get a piece of cloth and sew the end so that a piece of conduit can be inserted. Weight down the opposite edge of the cloth behind the wing and drape it over the wing with the wing aligned with the edge of the bench. Let the conduit side hang down. I haven't tried that but I will next time I fully sheet a wing. I think it should give real even pressure over the whole wing.

RE: wing sheeting
 

To sand the sheeting after edge-gluing the pieces together, and before gluing them to the ribs, I use a small orbital sander. You can't even feel a hint of a seem after sanding. You do have to be careful you don't take off too much though. Like others have already said, don't use CA for this.

Dan

RE: wing sheeting
 

:D
thanks everyone, the edgegluing went fine using sigment and was
really easy to sand.
I'm on to glue the skin to the wing now and read the destructions again.
it says there to do that in two stages.
quote: "glue the wing skin sheeting in place on top of the spar and against the notch in the rib.
when the glue has cured apply a bead of glue to the top of each rib and along the sub LE.
Pull the sheeting down making sure it contacts the surface of each rib and the sub LE. hold in place until glue has cured."

Huh? why not glue that in one step? what if there is too much glue sqeezed on and prevents pulling it down to contact all the ribs?

confused. [&o]

RE: wing sheeting
 

because the sheeting is less likely to stay flat on the spar if you try to do it all at once. The instructions are correct. That's the best way to do it. It helps if you have a syringe to put glue in. If not, pour some glue in a small container and use a small stick of balsa or a bamboo skewer to put the glue on the ribs rather than trying to fit a big bottle in there.

RE: wing sheeting
 

thanks cafeenman,
nice to get a quick answer
and I"m moving on to the next task.
gluing and sanding the LE and TE.
Lot's of work but having fun.
pat