Is anyone using ripstop for aileron covering/hinging, or bi-di tape? Any opinions on which is better/stronger?

Airplanenuts,
I've used both ripstop and bi-directional tape for hinging. The RSN is much more time consuming and really no better than bi-di. If you need to paint the wings, as in Scale 2610 planes, you may need to put ripstop over the bi-directional tape hinges so that they will take paint equally to the covering on the rest of the wing.

In Open B the ripstop is worth the effort, but for SSC I think you'll find that "taping" the wings with colored packing tape is easier, cheaper, and certainly a lot faster to complete.

Thanks, Lou. Sounds like tape it is!

I just finished taping my first plane and I think it actually takes more hands on time than it does to ripstop it after you have the hang of ripstoping. It is nice to not have any drying time required though. I've got an identicle plane I plan or ripstoping and comparing the weight gain from covering. I think the tape job might just be heavier! I'll know in a week or so!
Ripstop is very tough stuff! I'm anxious to see how the tape job holds up.

The plane is a redesigned SSC Corsair. Got it down to 2.75#. Can't wait to test fly it tomorrow!

Mike
I had my first mid air with the tape. One advantage is : throw a little tape on the spot on the wing damage and its good as new.
I also found that if the tape lifts off part of the wing use your heat gun to warm it up and rubbed it down with a damp cloth. It reactivates the glue.
Ron

From my own testing, I find packing tape to be the lightest way to cover a wing. Not the bi-di, but regular 2" colored packing tape. I use 2" bi-di over the spars and the LE and TE and colored packing tape everywhere else. I also do hinges from the colored packing tape. It's light, it's strong enough, and it's the easiest thing to field repair there is. When I hinge, I do an over-under type thing with strips of tape stuck together, then do the top and bottom chordwise strips. It totally eliminates the vertical play on the hinge.

I do this on all my Open class planes (including ssc)

I covered the entire wing and fuse with Bi tape and then colored over that. Probably was a bit of overkill but I like everything a bit protected! The colored tape is very light and adds almost no weight I think but it doesn't have much strength either.

Thanks for all the info, guys!

I built 2 planes and covered one with nylon and the other with bi-directional tape and colored tape.

Fuselage with tape gained 2.3 ounces from the covering job which consisted on 1 layer of bi tape and 1 layer of colored tape

Fuse with nylon gained 1 ounce

Wing with tape gained 9 ounces. One layer of bi tape and one layer of colored tape

Nylon covered wing gained 6.5 ounces

Weight savings of about 3.8 ounces
I may have used more tape than needed, but I like the entire plane to be covered with some armor.

It took me more hands on time apply tape than to cover with nylon but there are no drying steps in the tape job so that is nice. I think the ripstop is stronger as well.

With Terry's stick on ripstop there will probably be more weight savings. Not to sure on that though as I haven't seen the material yet but I would think the adhesive would weigh less than the WBP I had to add.

That's what I found so use it as you like!

If you are doing bi-di over the entire wing, and colored tape over that, you're using way too much bi-di.

I use 2" wide bi-di, one strip wrapped over the LE, one strip wrapped over the TE, one over the top spar and one over the bottom. Then cover the rest with colored packing tape. Hinge with colored tape as well. It's much lighter than ripstop with WBP. It's not quite as strong, but frankly, I'm finding the lifespan of my wings to be about the same either way, and I seem to fly out of mid-airs just about as often either way.

Discovered the Icarex Polycarbonite coated ripstop, saw it on the TufFlight website and ordered some. Man, that stuff is slick! Spray a coat of 3m77 over the wing, wait 5 minutes for it to dry, then lay on the Icarex and iron it down. Quickest building, best looking ripstop wings I've ever done. Only drawback is the cost. 8.95/yr, but some sweet stuff to work with....