R/C Darryl

Fuel is getting on the wing setting tape on my duraplane trainer 40 and coming loose any suggestions on stopping this? I'm Rebuilding and making improvments to the plane any other suggestion would also be welcome.

dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

yeah, that's always a problem! seems what you get is typical 'weahter stripping' for doors and windows, and the glue gets dissolved by the fuel / exhaust residue. Also, trying to find something that'll stick to Monokote is also a tricky thing!

here's a trick I've tried once, with some sucess...

You'll need some typical silicone (clear, aquarium stuff is good) wax paper, and a rag.

cleaqn teh surfaces well, first with a detergent, then with Methyl Hydrate (Remove all oily residue!!)

Wrap you wing with the wax paper, being sure it's in the area where it contacts the fuse / wing saddle.

Carefully squeeze a bead of silicone along each 'rail' of the wing saddle (where the wing will seat against the saddle)

Perfectly place your wing on to your plane. Dont' move it around or slide it this way and that. Place it right in one shot. If done right, the silicone will 'ooze' out a bit. Secure the wing in place. (this is way easier with bolt-on wings than with rubber bands..)

Wipe off teh extra that's oozed out, so you have a nice clean fillet. Like what your sink looks like..

let dry / cure. usually 24hrs.

Remove wing, and you should have a nice rubbery 'form fitted' seal. The silicone should not stick to the wax paper, or it should peel off failry easily.

Trim the silicone bead with an X-Acto knife if needed..

Of course, do a trial first, so you are comfortable with the process.

Alternatively, you can use the silicone to re-stick the foam tape. Silicone seems to like monokote type films..

Hope this helps!

PROP-WASH

My Feedback: (1)

HEY-DR WOGZ

I came across this post and tried your idea with the silcone and it works great!
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

Great! Glad to help!!

Now, if you're really boared while the slilicone is curing, you can actually mold / sculpt the stuff!! You can make teh 'Michelin man'

Neat stuff!!

Oh, and don't forget that crack around teh soap dish it the powder room, and fist that leaking.... Broken china.. does that too!!!

And a small bead to hold canopies in place. No need to cut teh covering..

Shortman

My Feedback: (21)

I had the same problems too... I did what Dr. Wogs recommended and used 5/32 ID Fuel tubing, carefully cut it in half and laid it on the railing with Zap-A-Gap II (silicon).

R/C Darryl

The silicone sounds like a good idea. I haven't tried it yet I'm waiting on a new wing sheild. The rubber bands were slipping off the sheild and cutting into the foam wing. I've repaired the damage and I was thinking about adding some balsa wood to each end of the wing sheild to prevent the rubber bands from cutting into the wing. I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas. I added a servo in the fuselage and linked it to the new nose gear to seperate the rudder and nose wheel linkage that was causing a lot of trim problems.

Darryl

dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

You're better off with a hard wood, rather than balsa. (Balsa is pretty soft, and teh tension from teh rubber bands will dent that too).

Carefully carve out a section to insert a small block of wood. a 1" x 1/8" x 1/2" peice of plywood on either side is typical. You can use 1/16" as well, but will run a greater risk of it eventually breaking. I've also used popcicle sticks too. Just remener to glue them in. If you're careful enough, you can trim teh covering just so, peel it back, make the pocket to recieve the 'hard wood', glue it / them in place, and fold back the covering. You can either seal the 'slits' with more covering material, or just use some clear packing tape!

Don't see where your 'trim problems came from in regards to your noze wheel. Sometimes the landing gear is not true to the airframe, and that's where you might have some tracking problems. Adding another servo just adds more weight, and more drain on the battery. Explain it a bit more, and we'll all chime in with a thought, reccomendation, solution, etc.. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

rctrax

I am having trouble with the idea of wing seating tape . I have never used any type of seal between the wing and fuse and have never had any fuel, or oil leak into the radio compartment. It is just not an issue with my construction methods and I just never bother with it, and my planes fly just as good and give as little trouble as the next guy's. Of coarse I use only four strokes and aim the exhaust away from the plane, thus I rarly even have to clean my planes up after flying. There is just no residue left on the plane. And no I'm not running them too lean as I can always see a substantial smoke trail behind the plane as I am flying. I'm just not letting it get on the plane.

R/C Darryl

I added one JR 507 servo weighing 1.47 oz minus the cutout in the fusalage and minus about 1 1/2 inches off of the aluminum channel shouldn't be to much weight on a duraplane. Hardwood would be better for preventing the rubberbands from cutting into the wing. The trim problem was minor the rudder would stick slightly one way other other once in the air I could straighen it out ,it just made for a squirrely take off. The linkage went from the servo to the rudder and then from the rudder to the nose wheel as per manual.

R/C Darryl

I finally got the wing sheild, epoxied 5/16 x 5/16 basswood with notches on each end of the sheild, and used canopy glue to glue the sheild to the wing. Test flew it sunday for several hours with no problems although front end alginment was a little tricky with the computer radio. Battery drain was no more that usual. Haven't tried the silicon yet waiting for it to messup again.