How's the Composites holding up?

"Vaughn Simon" wrote in message
...

"Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe" The Sea Hawk at wow way d0t com wrote in message
news:AvWdnQSRlpgvFUPZnZ2dnUVZ_sWdnZ2d@wideopenwest .com...


You can get $20,000 for a glass glider built in the '70's.

Does that answer your question?


Honestly, no.

If you go to a gliderport, you won't see many gliders tied out in full
sunlight as is common with airplanes. Usually they are disassembled and
stashed away in covered trailers specifically to protect their expensive
finish from the degrading effects of the sun. That said, if you find an
old G109 motorglider tied out at an airport, (it looks like an airplane
with long wings) you are possibly looking at a composite aircraft that has
actually survived decades in full sunlight, and done so quite well.

Vaughn

So much for the quick and easy smart ass version of the answer...

On the other hand, if you go down to your local boat yard, you should not
have any trouble finding fiberglass stuctures that have been outside in the
sun and weather since the 1960's and are holding up just fine. Some of them
will look like doo-doo because, well, gel coat just doesn't hold up over
years of exposure without regular buffing and waxing. Having owned 30 year
old fiberglass boats, I have:

A) Learned to hate fiberglass (it itches).
B) Learned that the basic laminate holds up just fine.
C) Learned that wood cores, secondary joints and gel coat is where you find
problems. They can be repaired, but refer back to lesson A).

Going back to the original post in this thread:

The main concern from the "experts" in many of these articles
was that they didn't know how the composite materials would hold up over
time. It seems that many folks thought that after years of sun exposure
and/or heat/freeze cycles, the materials might become brittle or degrade
in strength.

I would argue that composite structures, like just about any other, seem to
be holding up OK, but they have their advantages and their disadvantages.
Gel coat sucks, but even paint needs to be re-done every once and a while,
eh? Keep it out of the sun, and the finish lasts a lot longer in either
case. Fatigue is an issue with both composit and aluminium strucures,
Corrosion is a problem with aluminuim, secondary bonds can be a problem
with composites.

If you keep up with the maintaince you are a lot better off than if you let
it go and try to "restore" a P.O.S. (Airplanes or boats, no matter what the
primary structual material is.)

Personally, I like wood.

--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
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