Oooh. Straight and smooth and NO SANDING!
As promised, tonight I’m sharing a picture of the latest prototype wing I’m working on. This shot shows the final result of applying the kraft paper reinforcement to the trailing edge of a Push-E Cat V5 center section.
As you can see, the result is pretty darned nice looking. The best part is that I didn’t have to glue trailing edge stock to the EPP and then sand the ever loving bejeezus out of it. Instead, all I had to do was mark some guide lines on the EPP, cut my kraft paper out with a straight edge, apply 3M 90 to both the EPP and one side of the paper, and then apply the paper like tape to the foam. The only thing to do after that is hit the paper with a coat of clear polyurethane sealer (aka Varathane or Minwax) to keep the paper sealed against moisture intrusion.
It’s about that easy.
The best thing about this, other than the easy of doing it, is that you can basically cut out control surfaces. The resulting reinforcement really stiffens the trailing edge, so if you’re going polyhedral, you’re basically done. For ailerons and flaps, though, all it takes is a little careful knife work and some selective carbon fiber stiffening and your control surfaces are done.
My plan for this particular wing is to go ahead and finish it with ailerons. I’ll be posting update pictures as I go along.
