Mt's FLYING WINGS
| Wes Whitehurst Monarch
Mt's FLYING WINGS
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LOG:
December 18, 2000. Jim came in Saturday to help fit some of the bulkheads in the fuselage. He was away in Wisconsin and will be away in California for the rest of the month, . He also made a mold for one of the bulkheads.
We are at the point of needing some metal fittings, so that will be stalled while we complete the other fuselage half and the dtubes. The painting of the primer in the molds was so successful that we decided to do all of the parts that way. In order to do the best job possible I have purchased a compressor and an air buffer to buff the molds. We have a little more to learn about this process but it is obviously very successful. The shop is spending most of the time preparing the molds and making the Dtube tail rib molds.to help fit some of the bulkheads in the fuselage. he was away in Wisconsin and will be away in California for the rest of the month, . He also made a mold for one of the bulkheads. We are at the point of needing some metal fittings, so that will be stalled while we complete the other fuselage half and the dtubes. The painting of the primer in the molds was so successful that we decided to do all of the parts that way. In order to do the best job possible I have purchased a compressor and an air buffer to buff the molds. We have a little more to learn about this process but it is obviously very successful. The shop is spending most of the time preparing the molds and making the Dtube tail rib molds.
We chopped this web page down so it will load more quickly, and the chopped part is now in a hyperlink at the bottom of this page.... so every once and a while we will break it up into smaller sections.
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Jim fitting the bulkheads in the fusleage, december 16, 2000 |
December 16, 2000. Rather a slow week but we did manage to pull out the fuselage half..... nearly lost it as it floated away.... had to put lead weights on it to hold it on the floor. We also did an aileron pushrod cover complete with primer and it came out less than half the weight of the same part in glass! I want to upgrade my molds by buffing them and spraying on the pva and primer..... so out to find a compressor! Our new trailing edge technique is working very well, produced a couple of 8 ft lengths!... this was one area I thought I would need devine intervention (not too good at prayer) to get done and I discovered a very simple method and very easy to make!..... another challenge done with!
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Left fuselage just out from the mold.Hey it's white!!! We are using the newly acquired skill of painting the mold with epoxy primer! Wes how about we paint the glider too!... you can then add pin pinstrips or whatever..... cost of be negotiated... but would be better than doing it now rather than later with all the hardware on. |
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Our new CNC Odd lots tail rib cutter......Works just great with a good operator!....... lots of molds to make.... but the resulting rib is spectacular. |
December 13, 2000. We have been recoveing from the fuselage layup! Our work now is to finish the dtube tail rib molds, get a dtube done and finish the other half of the fuselage. We should break open the left fusleage on friday!
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This is our makeshift oven... note the fuselage hidden there! We are keeping 80 degrees for about a week |
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Here we are pasting on the outlines for the tail ribs... then on to the band saw (getting the correct angles.... then to our newly installed CNC machine (mat at the high speed drill press/router, odd lots special ) to carve the corrugations. |
December 10, 2000.We laid up the left side fuselage. It was a long tedious operation making sure our resin content was just correct! It took 14 man hours, which normally takes 7. Everything went well and the carbon laid in better than I expected. Now to cure it for a week then pop it out of the mold.
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Mike laying in the first layer of carbon. |
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Now try wearing one of those for seven hours! We worked that resin! |
Dec 09, 2000. Mike and I spent the day preparing the fuselage mold for the projected layup on Sunday. Our samples indicate that the best layup is with the fiberglass/carbon/carbon with the UV primer put on first in the mold.
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The vacuum bagged all carbon fuselage part from yesterday. The stiffness is not there and it will need filling so I've decided the carbon/carbon/fiberglass is the best and will proceed with the first fuselage half. |
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Painting on the UV primer, before we lay the cloth. |
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I am most proud of the trailing edge! Here Mike Couts is holding the first test sample It comes out perfect but the process is rather secret since it took a lot of ingenuity on my part. We have yet to compare the weight to the wood counterpart but it looks like we will cut the weight in half. It is very stiff!!!! |
December 08, 2000. I'm doing a lot of testing of whether to vacuum bag or do a very careful layup without vacuum bagging.
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Vacuum bagging two layers of carbon to test for stiffness. Also in the picture is a sample of two carbon 5.7 oz and one 6 oz glass (no vacuum bagging) which I was very pleased with ( shown yesterday as it was curing in the mold)! |
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And now that we have the mold method figured out we can proceed with molds for the tail ribs......lots of hours to make them!!! |
December 06, 2000. The phones where down today so I could not get on and update the site.
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fuselage sample for two carbon and one glass |
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foam rib #15 plug ready for epoxy coating |
December 5, 2000. Seemed like a slow day.
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Two more dtube tail rib molds #25 left and right. |
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The nose ribs are drilled! |
December 3, 2000. Mike and I went flying..... really needed the break! The vacuum bagging of the spar was a success but no weight yet. Am intending to set up a monetary account of the project...just a little time needed to set it up.
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The final version of the ribs! The edges of the carbon are folded down back into the mold to add rigidity to the rib. works great! Jim even endorsed it with his enthusiastic.... "hmmmmm I think that will do"!
weight .75 of an ounce!.... and I think we can do better by not folding as much cloth back. |
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close up of spar, after vacuum bagging, showing that the carbon cloth has formed perfectly to the rectangular carbon rods. |
December 2, 2000. One more spar vacuum bagged... that was a long day!!!
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Phil Sheridan and Jim Marske Fitting the bacuum bag. |
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Note the small amount of resin coming out of this one! The vacuum bagging certainly helped hold the cloth over the carbon rods..... well outlined in the photo! |
Past photos of the Wes Monarch. August 23, 2001 to Sept 23, 2001
Past photos of the Wes Monarch. July12, 2001 to August 23,, 2001
Past photos of the Wes Monarch. June 11, 2001 to July 11, 2001
Past photos of the Wes Monarch. May 18, 2001 to June 11, 2001
Past photos of the Wes Monarch. Apr 2, 2001 to May 14, 2001
Past photos of the Wes Monarch. Jan 13, 2001 to Mar 27, 2001
Past photos of the Wes Monarch. December15 to Jan 13, 2001
Past photos of the Wes Monarch. Early December 2 to December 18, 2000