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carbon fiber panel

thunder669

Active Member
So I have been having fun learning how to do carbon fiber, making new intersection fairings and looking to do more with it. I plan to redo my panel in the near future. I figure since I'm going to have to start from scratch either way why not make it out of carbon fiber and have it look good and hopefully a bit less weight. since the RV4 is flat with a stiffener lip on the bottom should be quite simple. My question to all of the carbon fiber Gurus on here is how many layers thick should I make it? I have been watching tons of videos, and plan to vacuum bag it to make as strong and light as possible. do you think 4 layers will be strong enough or should I go 6? I will be installing GRT glass and removing vacuum system so transponder and GPS will be heaviest stuff mounted to it, instead of all those heavy gyros.

Thanks in advance for help
 
I'd suggest at least 33oz thick. In my shop we'd probably throw down some clear gelcoat, one ply of pretty 6oz cloth, then three plies of whatever 12oz is lying around.

--Bob K.
 
Agree with Bob

If you can find a large enough sheet of (reasonably thick) glass or similar to serve as a mold, and use Bob's suggestion of clear gelcoat with something like a twill weave carbon as your first layer it will come out looking very sharp. Might want to consider making the last layer with fibreglass cloth rather than carbon to act as a barrier if it is mounted to aluminium flanges etc.

Clive Whittfield
Auckland
New Zealand
 
spruce or other?

I was planning to order several yards of either 01-28260 or 01-01232 from aircraft spruce. lay it over a wooden mold then vacuum bag kinda like I've seen Mike Patey do in several of his videos. then was going to do a nice clear on the front side to give a good look. Is there a better place or better fabric I should order? also is a heavy clearcoat good enough to insulate against the corrosion issues. the 4 panel is only attached to the longerons in the bottom corners and then the strip that is riveted to it for screwing down the avionics cover. Again I am a newbie with this stuff but so far having good luck and loving the results, my upper gear leg intersection fairings feel like they weigh half of the old ones and fit much better. need to get a digital scale so I can tell exactly.
 
made a CF panel for a Jodel a few years ago. Used 6 ply in a mold. Very strong and nice result, albeit quite heavy in the end. So, considering the width of panel on the -4, a 4 ply layup should be plenty rigid.
 
Are you just planning on making a flat panel out of carbon fiber? I think you can buy sheets of laid-up carbon fiber, and then just cut it out with a saw or circle cutter. But if it was me, I'd consider making something cool, with moulded-in openings for instruments.
 
the RV 4 panel has a 90 degree bend at the bottom of the panel I assume is for stiffness and strength. I love the idea of molding in the instrument mounts but since the upgrades will be in stages I don't want to have a bunch of empty holes in the time being.
 
Have you looked into prepreg, I think that is what it is called. I would think you could just roll out a sheet, cure it, and then cut to size.
 
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