fiberglass repair?

On Sun, 9 Aug 2015 16:47:43 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

When attempting to modify my battery tray (and suffering from dehydration) I mistakenly cut through the outer skin of the fuselage.

The damage is approx 2" x 1/32nd".

Is this structural or cosmetic?

Definitely structural. Major. Pretty bad spot for such a damage.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B79...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B79...ew?usp=sharing

How would the fiberglass guru's here repair the damage?

A proper repair is going to require about one square ft of multilayer
skin replacement and some practice.

Get the glider into a repair shop if you haven't done such a major
repair yet.


Best of luck
Andreas

On Monday, August 10, 2015 at 3:12:54 PM UTC-4, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2015 16:47:43 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

When attempting to modify my battery tray (and suffering from dehydration) I mistakenly cut through the outer skin of the fuselage.

The damage is approx 2" x 1/32nd".

Is this structural or cosmetic?

Definitely structural. Major. Pretty bad spot for such a damage.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B79...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B79...ew?usp=sharing

How would the fiberglass guru's here repair the damage?

A proper repair is going to require about one square ft of multilayer
skin replacement and some practice.

Get the glider into a repair shop if you haven't done such a major
repair yet.


Best of luck
Andreas

"Major ARRRRGGGHHHHH......"

Where did your text come from?
This thread showed very little.

"Prepare for sanding/grinding...... glass & resin, more sanding, Gelcoat, finishing & polish/wax......

"Ehhhh..... cover it in '150 MPH tape', placard the ASI to 149MPH and call it a day......"

Just kidding folks......

the OP should seriously consider finding a wrecked ASW-19 with a good forward fuselage, and graft it on to the tail boom of the original glider. everybody knows that older generation glass used such skimpy and poor quality materials......and a 2" x 1/32" slit is asking for severe structural failure......perhaps even causing the fuselage to buckle by just rolling it out of the trailer.

Brad

On Monday, August 10, 2015 at 3:12:54 PM UTC-4, Andreas Maurer wrote:
On Sun, 9 Aug 2015 16:47:43 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

When attempting to modify my battery tray (and suffering from dehydration) I mistakenly cut through the outer skin of the fuselage.

The damage is approx 2" x 1/32nd".

Is this structural or cosmetic?

Definitely structural. Major. Pretty bad spot for such a damage.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B79...ew?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B79...ew?usp=sharing

How would the fiberglass guru's here repair the damage?

A proper repair is going to require about one square ft of multilayer
skin replacement and some practice.

Get the glider into a repair shop if you haven't done such a major
repair yet.


Best of luck
Andreas

Original poster- contact me off line and I will give you some guidance without the panic mongering.
UH

On Monday, August 10, 2015 at 4:59:42 PM UTC-7, wrote:

Original poster- contact me off line and I will give
you some guidance without the panic mongering.

Seconded. This looks like it'd be a pretty straightforward repair, nothing to get too bent out of shape about. Hank will set you straight.

Thanks, Bob K.

That really does look relatively minor.
I have seen much bigger, and very poorly repaired damage where they were
discovered under decades old bondo and gelcoat. Having not caused any
problems for all of those many years of abuse and neglect...

I suspect most older glider structures are way over strength, because
they did not have the finite element analysis to say how strong to make
it - and newer ones are also over strength to get the required
stiffness/ crashworthiness.

That looks like it needs to be cleaned up over an appropriate area, and
the appropriate multi layer repair effected in accordance with the
manual. No big deal. (but quite a lot of effort)

Just saying.

On 2015-08-11 07:40, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
On Monday, August 10, 2015 at 4:59:42 PM UTC-7, wrote:

Original poster- contact me off line and I will give
you some guidance without the panic mongering.

Seconded. This looks like it'd be a pretty straightforward repair, nothing to get too bent out of shape about. Hank will set you straight.

Thanks, Bob K.


--
Bruce Greeff
T59D #1771

Is there a reason this damage cannot be repaired by putting simple multilayer patch (right size, of course) on the inside surface? With proper overlap it gives you original strength without time-consuming surface finish work. Why not take advantage that fuselage shell is not sandwich structure and inside of the shell is easily accessible?

At 08:52 12 August 2015, krasw wrote:
Is there a reason this damage cannot be repaired by putting simple
multilay=
er patch (right size, of course) on the inside surface? With proper
overlap=
it gives you original strength without time-consuming surface finish
work.=
Why not take advantage that fuselage shell is not sandwich structure and
i=
nside of the shell is easily accessible?


Yes. The manufacturer's repair manual does not specify this as an approved
method (it is, by the way, quite clear and helpful as a guide for repairs
like this).

.....and you would have the choice of either telling a future prospective purchaser that the glider had a non approved repair or else knowingly lying about it.

You still have the exposed crack on the outside to fill and finish.