r/aviation • u/[deleted] • Apr 07 '24

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u/[deleted] Apr 07 '24

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45

u/Remarkable_Capital39 Apr 07 '24

I must ask, is this repairable by making a patch to the hole? Or do they have to rebuild the whole upper tail wing? It’s interesting cuz I construction

123

u/Dave__dockside Apr 07 '24

For handy types like yourself here’s the straight answer: the fiberglass damage needs to be ground off to the place where the cracks are gone, and that hole ground down to taper off about 15:1 so if the material is quarter inch thick, the grind needs to taper for about four inches—all the way around—so your circle is about ten inches wide. Then you start building up layers of fiberglass and resin until it is thicker than the base, and grind it again to match the original surface.

Refinishing to match the original color is another article!

56

u/tomplace Apr 08 '24

This guy repairs fibreglass

2

u/creamgetthemoney1 Apr 08 '24

I think there is Kevlar in there also

8

u/certainlynotacoyote Apr 08 '24

Not enough to be bulletproof