Gel coat removal - is this okay?!?

Tim, I looked at a gelplane in action at a boat repair facility "down the shore" a couple of years ago. On the face of it, it's an attractive option. However, I think the challenge is that in my experience, the gelcoat thickness on a glider wing varies considerably. I'm sure you've noticed places where you can almost see the glass or carbon cloth through the gelcoat and others where it's completely opaque. I don't know how you'd avoid lopping off some of the outer layer of skins. I have heard that one or two shops in Europe have some experience with them, so maybe there's something to it?

P3

Erik,

I could see a plane that integrates an ultra sound unit to ensure saftey and avoid cutting into the fiber layer.

As expensive and miserable as grinding the gel coat off an advanced system would be valuable to the soaring community. After watching the gelplane work on boats we should be able to makes something that is better for gliders.

On Thursday, July 9, 2015 at 10:39:25 PM UTC-4, Papa3 wrote:
Tim, I looked at a gelplane in action at a boat repair facility "down the shore" a couple of years ago. On the face of it, it's an attractive option. However, I think the challenge is that in my experience, the gelcoat thickness on a glider wing varies considerably. I'm sure you've noticed places where you can almost see the glass or carbon cloth through the gelcoat and others where it's completely opaque. I don't know how you'd avoid lopping off some of the outer layer of skins. I have heard that one or two shops in Europe have some experience with them, so maybe there's something to it?

P3

right you are!