carbon fiber panel overlays

tonyjohnson · #1 10-08-2006, 08:20 AM

Having seen the panel of Chris Thelan's RV8...

http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...5991#post75991

I am very impressed with the carbon fiber panel overlay.

I have googled and found one supplier of a similar material:

http://www.dragonplate.com/

Does anyone know other sources of this material? Any comments on using it?

tinman · #2 10-09-2006, 05:26 AM

Here is what I did:
http://www.europdr.com/carbonFiber.htm
It is a vinyl made by Avery. It is very difficult to install without bubbles, but looks very real once done.
Don

RV7Guy · #3 10-09-2006, 11:50 AM

Here is a photo of my carbon overlay. It is 2 layers of 45% biased carbon and 4 layers of 8 oz glass behind. It is strictly for looks and is not a replacement for the aluminum panel. The carbon is held to the panel with 4-40 stainless socket heads with anodized shoulder washers from the RC helicopter section of the hobby shop.

All cutting was done with Dremel and cutoff disk.

RV7Guy · #4 10-09-2006, 11:53 AM

I can get the carbon blanks for $300. They are done by a professional who does some work for NASCAR teams. They are not cheap but they are perfect!!!! Also the carbon has went up in price because of the increased sales to the military.

MartinPred · #5 11-25-2006, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tonyjohnson

Having seen the panel of Chris Thelan's RV8...

I have googled and found one supplier of a similar material:

http://www.dragonplate.com/

This company advertises that they cut a sheet to your specifications if you provide a CAD or autoCAD drawing. Has anyone done a drawing for the RV-4? My aluminum panel is pretty beat up so I'm think of installing an overlay.

-Martin