I would like to cover my Combat Gremlin with Rip-stop Nylon, Could someone tell me what to uses and how to do it? Is there a better way to cover a foam wing?

Welllll you could, but I would use brown paper and thinned pva for a quick stiff solution but as the paper shrinks lke crazy you will get bends on long thin wings.

0.8 oz glass cloth / epoxy resin apply with a roller and VACUUM VACUUM the wings clear of dust before application.

I use both and get clean breaks which go back together easily.

With rip stop I suspect you will get a bag of mush in a crash.

What type of epoxy is best to uses, I read that finish epoxy was the best, but outhes just take 10 min and cut it.

Are you going to fly it in combat, or just messing around / sport flying?

For combat use, ripstop is a lot better than glass cloth. Glassed wings can't take prop cuts and keep going like ripstop. And even a small dent will cause the fiberglass to delaminate. Once is starts, the whole wing will eventually fail. And it's hard to fix.

Ripstop is also a bit hard to fix for my taste, but it's great on the durability side. Prop cuts don't lead to full wing failures, since the tears can't travel and get larger.

Personally, I've been using packing tape for all my combat planes. It's strong enough, repairs easier than anything out there, and the over laps give a pretty good ripstoping effect, so you can take prop cuts and not have the whole wing fail.

On Saturday, we had a contest here. I flew out a full round. On landing, I discovered 2 seperate sets of prop cuts on the underside of the wing, ont the same side, but going in different directions. I never saw either of those mid-airs, and the plane flew fine with the cuts. I just slapped some tape over the cuts, and kept flying the plane, with no loss in performace.

Thanks for the info, I have one now with the tape, sounds like I should "Stick" with it.

Ripstop nylon is easy to apply in several different methods. One method that I have read about involves soaking in near boiling water, but the method I have used, and many of the combat pilots in GA use involves water based Polyurethane.

We coat one side of the assembled wing with generous amounts of polyurethane (bought at any Lowes or Home Depot). Then, we brush it on the dull side of the ripstop nylon until it is soaked. While both surfaces are wet, we lay it out, and starting at the center, spread the nylon to get the wrinkles out. The polyurethane stays wet and can be hand rubbed since it is water based. We stretch it somewhat to cover the ends, leading and trailing edge. Once it dries (about 2-3 hours) we trim it, and do the other side. Double reinforced packing tape is used to cover the leading and trailing edge.

In the field, cuts are usually repaired with double reinforced packing tape. Or, patches can be cut out and applied at home using the waterbased polyurethane.

i was in a midair with my grimy with fiberglassed wings and it literlay exploded it was like it had a bomb in it and the other guy was able to land and guess what he used packing tape!

This is pretty much the same way I do it too. I also run a strip of carbon fiber top and bottom of the wing, and I reinforce the wing center with a strip of rip stop and diluted epoxy insteaf of water based polyurethane. to fix a damaged wing, I cut out the damaged section, epoxy in a new piece of styro foam and cover it with a patch of rip stop and diluted epoxy. I have wings that are four years old.

That's right son -- they were made the day that you were born.

It's very easy,

Go to www.screamingeaglerc.net and you will see an article by SKULL (Stan Erwin) on how to apply it. Polyur. is the best way in my opinion.

SD

Britbrat, Patch's planes are four years old and still flyable 'cuz he's too CHICKEN to come mix it up with the Detroit Demolition crew at the RCCD meets! c'mon Patch, we miss you and look forward to cutting your streamers and maybe giving you incentiv to build some newer planes!!!

All joking aside, RSN is indeed a very durable covering method and we also have planes that are several seasons old and still going strong. It's hard to beat for durability, though it has a few drawbacks too.

I know, he keeps having nightmares about it. Keeps muttering about being struck by Lightning.

BritBat,
If you're talking about "Lightning" Jones, Jason doesn't have to worry, Lightning's aim isn't that good. It usually takes him two or three tries just to hit the ground.

Ya -- he's the one.