T

ty1295

Well Known Member
If you had the skill, tools, knowledge to make a any or all of the fiberglass parts from aluminum would you prefer metal? Maybe on some but not others? Why/why not.
 
Pros/Cons

I am a aircraft metal worker by trade, and I do have the means to fabricate all the FG parts from metal, but..there are drawbacks. There was an RV-6 I believe in which this was done, and its a piece of art for sure. Its hard to beat the look a of a beautiful compound curved formed (usually polished) metal cowl and wheelpants. The downside is that the fabrication is slow and very tedious, and the finished product is so much more subject to damage, cracks, wear and tear. These FG parts on the RV's will withstand some serious abuse, and can be repaired/re-finished in short order. I will be fabricating a new metal cowling for my 1941 Aeronca Defender, but only out of necessity, as I want it original.
 
Having a metal polished cowl on my Cessna 140 I agree they look nice but are more susceptible to damage. My thought has been to replace a metal cowl with a CF or Kevlar cowl. Has anyone done this on an RV rather than FG?
 
It has been done.
Did this 7A and an 8.
Bottom cowl easy.
Top cowl PITA

n6vzfm.jpg
 
I have the tools, and skill/stubbornness to do it if I wanted. Was curious though if people had any input on advantages/disadvantages of metal vs composite.

Obviously in the beautiful picture posted, the polished look required one to complete.

Reading about VOR antenna's I could see metal wing caps would NOT be a good idea for reception reasons.
 
rzbill said:
Mel is right. This piece is simple in comparison to cowl/tips but it still takes some skill. It took me two work sessions to make mine so it may have been faster that fiberglass. A number of us have done it.
Click to expand...

Don't know where "Mel" comes into it. :confused:

But I made my windscreen fairing in two sections. The first one took an afternoon, the second one took an hour.

Making a glass one would have had many more steps and much more final smoothing.

The RVator instructions were easy to follow and just needed some careful cardboard template cutting and angle measurement.

The resulting part has more of a sharp corner than the pictures in the previous post, which probably was formed with a shrinker or by hammering.
 
rzbill said:
Mel is right. This piece is simple in comparison to cowl/tips but it still takes some skill. It took me two work sessions to make mine so it may have been faster that fiberglass. A number of us have done it.
Click to expand...

I think you meant Gil, the other three letter guy.:D

Anyway, Bill, I have your pictures - what thickness and material did you use? Also, did you seal the fairing to the skin and canopy for leak protection?

Thanks,
 
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