snoop wrote:
C'mon guys, break loose with the $120 and go buy some new mylar, pink
tape, and safety tape. Why hang your neck out for tape? Clean out all
that dust and crud while you have the old tape off. You'll feel better
every time you fly. It's cheap insurance! Snoop

Been there, done that, didn't work out so well. I had to replace the
mylar on the outer half of the ailerons when the winglets were
retrofitted to my glider. It took several attempts to get them to stay
on properly longer than a month or two at a time. Money isn't the issue
- it's safety and convenience. The factory mylar shows no signs of
losing it's adhesion: I can tug on it, I can see through the mylar to
the carbon fiber it's glued to, and the glued area is uniform, clear,
and black.

When I was having this problem, I talked to Martin Heide (the ASH 26 E
designer), and he said "I have that problem on my glider, too! I must go
down to the factory floor and find out what they are doing". Sadly, he
didn't get back to me, and in the meantime, I got the aileron pieces to
adhere adequately. Looking at the glue through mylar, the joint does not
look as uniform as the original factory portion.

And you will be interested to know the wing mylar never had safety tape
on it, but the elevator and rudder mylar did. Without the safety tape,
it's easy to inspect the glued area. I do replace the safety tape on the
top of the elevator every 2-3 years, but the tape on the bottom of the
elevator and on the rudder lasts much longer. I don't remember needing
to replace it.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

"Transponders in Sailplanes" on the Soaring Safety Foundation website
www.soaringsafety.org/prevention/articles.html

"A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org