More Empennage Fairing Fiberglass Work (9/21/14)

1.5 Hours –

Fiberglass work has, in my opinion, a few downsides.  It’s messy, it makes you itch, it is more of an art than a science, and you have to spend more time letting things cure/dry than doing actual work.  After 1.5 hours of work today, I’m back in the “letting it dry” phase.

Once I laid the new glass on the empennage fairing, I let the epoxy cure overnight and then I removed the fairing from the fuselage.  I thought it might be hard to remove, but it actually popped right off thanks to the layer of clear packaging tape I placed between the fairing and the aluminum.  After removing the fairing, I just let it sit on my workbench for a few days until I finally had some time to work on it again.

Today, I trimmed the new glass on the left side of the fairing so that the dimensions would match the right side.  At least trimming glass is easy with a Dremel and cutoff wheel!  Once trimmed, I used some very coarse sand paper to level off any high sports and smooth any rough edges.  Overall, the new glass turned out relatively well.  The thickness matched the rest of the fairing, and it seems to be solidly attached.  The only problem area is near the front where a sort-of elongated dimple formed.  To fix this, I mixed up some epoxy and added micro balloons until I had a consistency similar to peanut butter.  I then slathered this mixture all over the newly glassed areas of the empennage fairing.  The micro balloon mixture is very easy to sand, so putting it on nicely isn’t a concern…you just pile it on and then, after it cures, sand it down to the final shape you want.   At least this is how I’m hoping it will work!

The new glass is on the right side in this picture (left side of plane). The rough shape turned out pretty good, but some filling is needed.

A side view of the new glass on the empennage fairing. It isn’t very obvious in the picture, but an indentation is present near the front that requires filling.

The epoxy/micro balloon mixture is put on fairly heavy, but it should be easy to sand into the final shape once it cures.