Minimum finishing to fly "naked"?

[rmartingt]

I am fed up with all the fiberglass and working on trying to hire it out.
In the meantime, if I can't find someone to do it, what is the absolute minimum that needs to be done to the stock supplied parts in order to fly the airplane without paint or finish for some indeterminate amount of time? It will be hangared.

 

[Bruce]

It will fly fine.
Don’t even need gear fairings.

Plenty of them doing it.

Boomer

 

[wirejock]

Fiberglass

I am fed up with all the fiberglass and working on trying to hire it out.
In the meantime, if I can't find someone to do it, what is the absolute minimum that needs to be done to the stock supplied parts in order to fly the airplane without paint or finish for some indeterminate amount of time? It will be hangared.

Minimum surface finish?
I would skim with two coats of neat epoxy at least to seal from contamination. Maybe some rattle can primer too.
Two coats of neat epoxy inside the cowl.

 

[spatsch]

Flew with nothing on my fiberglass for a year or so (was hangared). Even made the centerfold of the EAA magazine with my pink cowling in Oshkosh that year... . When I got around to prep and paint it I didn't notice any decremental effects.

You could also wrap it in Vinyl if you are worried. You can do all the fiberglass in an afternoon and it comes of easy for a couple of years when you are ready to paint. I did that for a while after I got tired of people making fun of me with a pink cowling.

Oliver

 

[Carl Froehlich]

If nothing else, protect the inside of the cowl.

This is what you don’t want:

Clean and epoxy prime inside of the cowl as the first step. If not using white primer then go over the primer with a rattle can of white paint.

The white primer will reflect heat, and the primer will protect the fiberglass from oil and such.

I use the standard Van’s self adhesive radiant reflector, with some FiberFrax between it and the cowl where it is close to the exhaust. I also us a couple of SS radiant heat shields on the two exhaust pipes closest to the cowl:

Carl

 

[spatsch]

If nothing else, protect the inside of the cowl.

This is what you don’t want:

Clean and epoxy prime inside of the cowl as the first step. If not using white primer then go over the primer with a rattle can of white paint.

The white primer will reflect heat, and the primer will protect the fiberglass from oil and such.

I use the standard Van’s self adhesive radiant reflector, with some FiberFrax between it and the cowl where it is close to the exhaust. I also us a couple of SS radiant heat shields on the two exhaust pipes closest to the cowl:

Carl

Good call! I did have the radiant reflector installed as well... . I considered that part of the build not part of the paint job that's why I didn't mention it above ... .

Thx

Oliver

 

[Roadjunkie1]

Naked....(!!) fiberglass.....

I am fed up with all the fiberglass and working on trying to hire it out.
In the meantime, if I can't find someone to do it, what is the absolute minimum that needs to be done to the stock supplied parts in order to fly the airplane without paint or finish for some indeterminate amount of time? It will be hangared.

I was pretty much done with building and wanted to FLY! I blew on VeriPrime primer on the fuselage/tail and something else on the wings, thinking that SOMEDAY I would get around to painting the entire airplane. Hasn't happened yet but I am making plans.....now that I really can't afford it! So the fiberglass tips etc have primer on them. I have a set of fiberglass wing root fairings that are not painted and have been on SuzieQ since she first took to the air in 1997. They still are not painted and I have noticed no untoward effects. One would think they would get funky-fragile. Nope. She is hangared, however. Someday......really......SOMEday......

 

[Bandera]

Absolute bare minimum is don’t do anything. Many people have brought planes to me just like that. My minimum on my plane was to sand the interior of the cowls and then brush them with a nice even coat of West Systems epoxy. This was done to seal the inside and prevent any oil drips from soaking into the cowl. In the end I ended up painting the inside white and adding heat shield where needed.

 

[Kyle Boatright]

Plenty of airplanes fly with zero finish on the fiberglass.

Me? I'd seal the inside of the cowl with epoxy and get it smooth (so oil and other **** doesn't get into pinholes). I'd squirt the inside of the cowl with white paint. I'd do something similar on the outside of the cowl and any other fiberglass. Fiberglass resin doesn't like UV exposure.

 

[PhatRV]

You can fly without wheel fairings. I have mine done but I've been flying without them for at least 10 hours. For the cowling, coat a very thin epoxy coating inside so that oil doesn't penetrate the fiberglass. Use the heat shield too.

You don't really need upholstery either. Like the rest of the fiberglass, you can always do that later.

 

[rmartingt]

If nothing else, protect the inside of the cowl.

This is what you don’t want:
...

Clean and epoxy prime inside of the cowl as the first step. If not using white primer then go over the primer with a rattle can of white paint.

That part I'm planning to do (and have already started to some degree). It doesn't have to be pretty and sanding looks minimal so I can work with it.

You can fly without wheel fairings. I have mine done but I've been flying without them for at least 10 hours.

Everything but the upper intersection fairings are basically done up to the "pinholes and high build" stage. I may be flying like this for a while so I wanted them available, and it was easier to do that before I hung the engine.

You don't really need upholstery either. Like the rest of the fiberglass, you can always do that later.

Oh, all that's done (drop-in seats and panels from Lemke). I "just" have to hook the engine up, finish the "functional" parts of the cowl (ramps and oil door), fit and trim some fairings (tips and empennage).

I've been pushing off the fiberglass and finishing look-pretty stuff like a kid who has eaten everything but his broccoli, and keeps pushing it around the plate in hopes that the dog will come along and eat it for him--all the fun parts like wiring and avionics are done already.

UV protection and moisture/oil/FOD sealing is my main concern. I'll be flying off grass and the "some indeterminate amount of time" I mentioned could be years.

I've set a goal of moving to the airport for wing installation and engine runs in September, and aiming to fly by the end of the year. We'll see how close I get. Not having to paint or make fiberglass look pretty will aid in that goal.

 

[rv8ch]

Not necessarily for the OP, but general comments.

As someone that hated fiberglass, I just decided that I'll learn to like it. Armed with a lot of good advice from this forum (Thanks DanH, et.al), I just got on with it.

Armed with:

• a bit of fundamental knowledge
• the understanding that if it doesn't work you either toss it or sand it down
• the right "equipment" and liquids
• heated workshop

it wasn't that bad.

I'd be exaggerating to say I "like" it, but it did provide a nice distraction from time to time when I wanted to make progress on the build, but I didn't really want to think too much. That time between 21:00 and midnight when the kids were asleep, and I'd had enough hours on the Internet.

You are going to need to be pretty good at glass for your windscreen, so might as well practice on the lower value parts. BTW, the Van's RV-14 windscreen video is excellent.

Of course, once I was done, and flying, and painted, I was happy that I would not have to do any more glass - wrong! A "firm" landing I blame on some crazy Dutch crosswinds at EHGG took a nice chip out of one of my wheel pants. I think I also let the air get a little low in my 380x150s.

The repair took a few hours, not counting drying time. It was easy, and I was really happy to have felt comfortable doing it. It's a cool skill to have, even if you are just a hack like me.

 

[Bandera]

I like when I get to do some glass work. It’s a welcome change of pace from my normal day to day grind.

 

[rmartingt]

As someone that hated fiberglass, I just decided that I'll learn to like it.

No offense but that sounds to me like telling someone they can just learn to like root canals

You are going to need to be pretty good at glass for your windscreen,

That part is actually almost done (and has been for nearly a year ). It just needs the final high build coat/pinhole seal, and then I have to glue it on (I took the Sika approach and made a separate piece instead of laying up in place). It's nowhere near show-quality but frankly I don't care.

I like when I get to do some glass work. It’s a welcome change of pace from my normal day to day grind.

I know a lot of folks find it relaxing or fun, or get some sort of zen out of it (or other finishing operations like paint)... but it's not me. I don't know why, exactly... something about it being so prep and process sensitive, I guess, or maybe my short attention span. Probably the same reason I gave up homebrewing after a few batches, and why I wouldn't make a good scientist or researcher.

 

[Tiger28760]

Fiberglass



Minimum surface finish?
I would skim with two coats of neat epoxy at least to seal from contamination. Maybe some rattle can primer too.
Two coats of neat epoxy inside the cowl.

When you say “Two coats of neat epoxy inside the cowl.” could you expand on that a bit? How did you apply it? Did you ‘thin’ the epoxy with anything? Thanks.

 

[wirejock]

When you say “Two coats of neat epoxy inside the cowl.” could you expand on that a bit? How did you apply it? Did you ‘thin’ the epoxy with anything? Thanks.

Neat epoxy is just that. No thinning. Mix up some epoxy and spread it on. Chip brush or credit card. Squish it into the surface to force it into pin holes. Let it cure 30 minutes and repeat. Let that cure completely. Rough the surface with 80 grit. Wipe clean. Shoot paint. I sprayed epoxy primer.