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Michael Henning

Well Known Member
I spoke with Todd the other day about mounting my canopy on my -4. Todd recommended that I use 3M 5200 Fast Cure. It is a one part adhesive for marine applications and is about $25 a tube. No primers are needed, the only thing is, is that it sticks to everything, so masking is crucial. Todd has used it many times with 100% success. Any thoughts??

Mike
 
5200 Experience

I also had that conversation with Todd. Much less expensive that the Sikaflex approach. Someone here said that 5200 is less flexable. Wheather that matters or not, I could not say. I did use 5200 to put my NACA vent onto the fuselage. It is pretty thoroughly stuck. I would be interested to know if anyone else has used this for a canopy.

I have used the Sika quite successfully. My gripe is that the primer has a very short shelf life and is really expensive.

Regards,

Michael Wynn
RV 8 Finishing
San Ramon, CA
 
5200 is a boat adhesive. It might be worth checking to see what its temperature range is.

It comes in a regular slow-drying version and a fast-drying version. The slow version sure takes a long time to cure, several days and maybe a week. Both have about the same strength.

The slow-drying version is the only kind I've used, and that was on a boat. It flows away from its intended joint position rather remarkably. It's necessary to have a dam to keep it from leaking out of a joint. It will not cling.

Almost forgot to mention - it's rather difficult to remove after it cures. It's not something I'd use on a canopy for that reason. Any repairs or rework would be difficult at best. I think I'd use the Sika products, since they are both intended for the purpose and well-proven, and there's a lot of history that you can access here at VAF.

Dave
 
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I have used 5200 quite a bit for marine applications and thought about using it for the canopy until I read the spec sheet on the 3M website. It may be for liability reasons, but The sheet says it should Not be used as sole means of attachment for windows and that a seconday mechnical method should be added.
 
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