Foam wing repair ?

| I was wondering what you guys use to repair an uncovered foam wing ? I got a | wild hair to finish building an old control line combat plane . The wing has | gotten alittle damaged over the years on the thin trailing edge . | I work in montezuma Iowa where the Sig mfg. plant is located so, I was just | going to stop by and get something to repair it with . | I do have a container of microbeads , could I somehow use it to repair it ?

So what's wrong with it?

We use several things to repair foam wings --

-- packing tape

-- strapping tape

-- epoxy

-- carbon fiber rods (to stiffen it up)

-- spackle

-- 3M 77 and similar glues etc.

If you're just dealing with a dent, then spackle or your microbeads might be fine. Or perhaps just a piece of tape over it would be all you need?

The whole edge is broken off , looks like a mouse or something was chewing on it. . As I said, this wing is not covered with anything, just the bare foam wing . I wanted to fix it and then get the wing covered. Thanks, raz

On Thu, 28 Sep 2006 18:37:41 -0500, " Hilltop Cycle ATV" wrote in :

Cut off the trailing edge far enough back to provide a good gluing surface (say, at least 1/4").

Epoxy foam to the trailing edge.

Sand it down to the original profile.

Finding a tiny quantity of foam may be hard. You probably don't need much at all. Go to Home Depot or Lowe's and see what is the smallest piece of insulation you can buy that will be tough enough to repair the wing.

Or glue 1/4" thick balsa to the trailing edge and sand that down. If it's a really light plane, that might change the CG, which would not be good. But if the density of the balsa more or less matches the density of the foam, you'll be good to go.

Marty

Epoxy in a new section of foam and sand it flush.

THEN cover it.

Sand gently. Foam sands well, but agression takes chunks out of it.

Use spackle for any minor dings.

Easier way is to use polyurathane glue(Gorilla Glue,etc)

It will expand into the foam, but won't be hard like the epoxy.

May not even need a chunk of foam, as this stuff will expand to about 3/4". Just use scotch tape and some plastic cut from a HDPE Jug to keep a flat, thin area. The Tape on that plastic acts like a release film, while the polyethylene provides a mold for the glue to expand into, and will match the existing airfoil perfectly.

spray some water on the foam, then put the glue on, and rubberband/duct tape/clips/ whatever the plastic to the wing. Let it sit overnite, then remove the plastic

you will see tan foam blended close into the styro.

Thats good, as that glue doesn't sand well :)

You can use this to repair divots and dents in the foam too. Just use a little spackle to give a good surface finish