Old Composite Plane Appearance

[Charles Talleyrand]

I think we all know what old aluminum planes look like. But what do
old composite planes look like? Are they less susceptible to hanger
rash and faded paint?

-Curious
-Charles Talleyrand

[Vaughn Simon]

"Charles Talleyrand" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I think we all know what old aluminum planes look like. But what do
> old composite planes look like?

Just visit any gliderport. Glass gliders have been popular for decades now.

> Are they less susceptible to hanger rash and faded paint?

No!

One thing that has been learned is that gellcoat is generally something to be
avoided. To refinish gellcoat, one must first carefully wetsand the entire
original coating out of existince withuout sanding away any structure. This a
process that can cost several tens of thousands. Some gliders are actually
shipped to eastern block nations for the job due to cheaper labor costs. Newer
gliders are mostly painted, rather than gellcoated.

Since you mention faded paint, there are usually limitations on paint colors
due to temperature rise of the structure in the hot sun.

Also, composite structures are not always as stable as one would like. Some
gliders have needed their wings to be expensively reprofiled due to spar
shrinkage which warped the wing skins.

The above list of woes should not be taken as evidence that composite
aircraft structures are a bad idea. There are good reasons why virtually all
new high performance gliders are now of composite construction!

Vaughn

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

"Charles Talleyrand" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I think we all know what old aluminum planes look like. But what do
> old composite planes look like? Are they less susceptible to hanger
> rash and faded paint?
>
> -Curious
> -Charles Talleyrand
>

A lot depends on how they are maintained and stored.

Go to the local boat yard and look at the old composite boats - they date
back to the '60s and most are ouside year round.
Of course, many of the older boats have been re-painted.

Gel coat fades /yellows as much or more than paint - but you won't find many
composit aircraft that aren't white. It also crazes, cracks and chips.
On the other hand, if a composite aircraft is finished with a two part
polyurathane, the paint will usually hold up like it does on aluminum.

--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail
When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate.

[Snowbird]

"Charles Talleyrand" wrote ...
>I think we all know what old aluminum planes look like. But what do
> old composite planes look like? Are they less susceptible to hanger
> rash and faded paint?
>
Can't point to any generic difference. It comes down to maintenance I'd say.
I fly a 1981 Grob motorglider and its white surface shines almost as new,
especially when polished.

The paint has faded appreciably more, and on the canopy plexiglass the age
shows. But that affects all airplanes.

Some hangar rash, like small scratches, can easily be repaired with gelcoat
and sanded + polished to become invisible.
More difficult are small hairline cracks in the gelcoat that may occur, for
example at cutouts with too small corner radius. Not any safety issue, but
tend to return if just repaired with gelcoat. I guess on newer designs the
designers have learned to avoid such pitfalls. Also nowadays gelcoat is more
seldom used, as paint is preferred.