JJ Sinclair
December 11th 03, 10:40 PM
I installed Mylar on my ship last spring and I followed all the guide-lines.
Sanded the underside of the Mylar and the corresponding side of the wing with
220 grit. I wiped everything down and rolled the Mylar down with considerable
pressure.
Half way through my first contest this spring, I found some loose Mylar that
was only being held in place by the transition tape. What is this? I know this
stuff was properly installed, so what is going on?
I just finished re-doing the ailerons and found some very interesting things.
In several places my ailerons are a little fatter than the corresponding wing
section. This situation forces the Mylar to be shoved up, as it comes in
contact with the aileron. In a hot trailer, these *shoved up* areas cause the
Mylar to come loose. The bad areas were quite noticable because they had dark
streaks on the inside of the Mylar where it had been rubbing on the aileron.
What to do? What to do? I tried something and it looks to be a good idea. I
doubled up on the *double-back-sticky* in the areas that showed *fat ailerons*.
That is, I have 2, 3 and even 4 layers of adhesive (double-back-sticky) as
required, to make the thickness of the wing match the thickness of the aileron.
I was able to re-use the old Mylar by carefully removing it by applying heat
from a heat gun (hair drier may work) I got one side loose and then moved the
heat gun along as I gently lifted the Mylar.
JJ Sinclair
Sanded the underside of the Mylar and the corresponding side of the wing with
220 grit. I wiped everything down and rolled the Mylar down with considerable
pressure.
Half way through my first contest this spring, I found some loose Mylar that
was only being held in place by the transition tape. What is this? I know this
stuff was properly installed, so what is going on?
I just finished re-doing the ailerons and found some very interesting things.
In several places my ailerons are a little fatter than the corresponding wing
section. This situation forces the Mylar to be shoved up, as it comes in
contact with the aileron. In a hot trailer, these *shoved up* areas cause the
Mylar to come loose. The bad areas were quite noticable because they had dark
streaks on the inside of the Mylar where it had been rubbing on the aileron.
What to do? What to do? I tried something and it looks to be a good idea. I
doubled up on the *double-back-sticky* in the areas that showed *fat ailerons*.
That is, I have 2, 3 and even 4 layers of adhesive (double-back-sticky) as
required, to make the thickness of the wing match the thickness of the aileron.
I was able to re-use the old Mylar by carefully removing it by applying heat
from a heat gun (hair drier may work) I got one side loose and then moved the
heat gun along as I gently lifted the Mylar.
JJ Sinclair