Hand layup of Fiberglass/foam projects

Wil,

Get a copy of Zeke Smith's two excellent books:

"Understanding Aircraft Composite Construction"

"Advanced Composite Techniques"

I bought them through DAR, (www.darcorp.com) and I see they are also available on Amazon.

What I like about these books:

1. provide great overview of virtually all composite techniques used for aircraft

2. described techniques & materials used in industry, then

3. describes how to obtain nearly the same results with less costly materials and simple, often home-made tooling

Zeke has been a patient advisor when I needed additional details or explanations.

Good luck - build that bird!

Kent Misegades

EAA 520919   Cary, NC

The Rand-Robinson  KR-2 is also constucted this way, plans built.  There is a network of those guys that has info from years of hands-on:  KRnet     Sign up and you can scour archives and ask questions.

I am building a vision which is an excellent plans built glass over foam project.  Visit http://visionaircraft.com/ for a good description of the build process.

Thanks Kent, I'll look in to those books. I just bought Making Fiberglass molds with Mike Arnold (AR-5 designer/builder). Lot's of good tips there as well.

Thanks!

Absolutely.  The Q2, Q1 and Dragonfly are just a few.  I think Wicks has a kit to practice the method.  Just remember extra resin only increases weight, not strength.  It is very easy to be resin rich and have a very heavy layup.

Once you have read all the books make sure you do some test lay-ups for practice before you start building parts. There is a lot of learning time needed to get your hands to do what your brain is trying to accomplish. Use inexpensive materials during the test lay-ups. Don't use up expensive materials during this learning period.