speyers

speyers

Well Known Member
I am getting ready to do my fiberglass tips. Not having worked with the fiberglass stuff before, I did the usual and got the West System with some cloth and a few other odds and ends. Now comes the hard part, how in the world am I going to close off the openings in my emp. tips? I am suing some nutplates so they are removable, not sure if that adds more of a challenge. I know this is done all the time by folks, and perhaps someone has a good websight with pictures that would help. Would appreciate any guidance and suggestions. Thanks.
-David
RV-8 emp.
 
Epoxy some 1/4" thick rigid foam into the end, and then glass over that to finish it.
 
Examples of what I'm talking about:

20031206_hs_tip_foam.jpg

20031206_foam_inside_hs_tip.jpg

20031206_epoxied_foam.jpg

20031206_foam_elevator_tip.jpg


Those photos show the foam cut and fit.
 
Sam James did a fantastic demo. at Oskhosh this year and had a lot of great advice for people new to fiberglass. It seems much easier now! He does have a video on basic fiberglass that might be worth getting. I'm considering it anyway. Google Sam James and fiberglass and I'm sure you'll find his web page pretty quickly. Alternatively, you could wait like me and save it all for the end of your project! :eek:
 
alpinelakespilot2000 said:
Alternatively, you could wait like me and save it all for the end of your project! :eek:
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At which point it seems a lot less important. (Here me know and believe me later.)
 
Davepar said:
At which point it seems a lot less important. (Here me know and believe me later.)
Click to expand...

I think Dave is right. That's why I'm doing mine now. I know I like the looks of RVs with filled tips better. I also know that I wouldn't bother with filling them if I was only a few months from flying.
 
Guy Prevost said:
I think Dave is right. That's why I'm doing mine now. I know I like the looks of RVs with filled tips better. I also know that I wouldn't bother with filling them if I was only a few months from flying.
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I'm not following you here, Guy, or maybe not following Dave either. Maybe it's just email confusion...

I agree that there's going to be a lot of boring stuff left to do at the end and that might be a good reason to do it as we go. However, since Van's says they have to be covered/filled, I guess I would/will do that regardless of whether it's one of those boring jobs or not. I can't imagine ever thinking finishing the fiberglass is not important. I just happen to be saving the fiberglass until the end, perhaps after having taken a fiberglass workshop or something. It seems to me that doing it all at once would be most efficient.
 
You're right Steve, my reply was irrelevant. I was talking more about filling the gap on the sides. I ran out of time before finishing my last post.

What I did on my VS tip is eliminate the rib completely. I just laid the glass up on a temporary piece of aluminum. Here's how: http://websites.expercraft.com/geprevo/index.php?q=log_entry&log_id=9941 . I intend to do the HS tips the same way.

Unfortunately there's no access for this method if the tips are already riveted in place.

Cheers,
G
 
My reply was meant to be humorous. Guess I should have used this: :p

I am (hopefully) in the last month of building and still have yet to do the emp tips. If I'm still waiting for Advanced Flight Systems to ship my EFIS and EMS that are now 5 months delayed, I'll do a nice job on the tips. Otherwise, I'm going to slap them on there in the most expedient manner. Does Vans really require the tip ends to be filled? I thought that was optional, but haven't read those instructions in about 2 years.

After working on the canopy, cowl, spinner, etc., you definitely pick up some fiberglass skills. You're going to be on the learning curve with some part. I don't think it matters much if it's the emp tips or the cowl.
 
Davepar said:
After working on the canopy, cowl, spinner, etc., you definitely pick up some fiberglass skills. You're going to be on the learning curve with some part. I don't think it matters much if it's the emp tips or the cowl.
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Actually what I'm going to do, Dave, is bring all of my fiberglass over the mountains one day and just leave them on your doorstep, come back a week later and pick them up all cut, filled, sanded, painted, etc.! :) Already my checklist of things I need to remember to do after final assembly is huge... and I haven't even started on the finish kit yet!
 
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