The Right Stuff
Once you have worked out how much damage has been caused you will have to decide what to do next; scrap it and buy a new one, have a go at repairing it yourself, get your friend round to help you repair it, get a professional to sort it out for you. This may cause you hours of head scratching and many sharp intakes of breath especially if you get "your mate who's done a bit of fibreglassing" to have a look. In my experience, if your hands are on round the right way and your opposable thumbs work correctly there should be nothing (save a bit of knowledge) to stop you having a go.
My one consideration would be that if you are going to place your life in your hands by trusting a repair, e.g. if your rudder falls off in the middle of the shipping lane or your aileron flutters off at 3000 ft then you may want a bit more professional help. For your bog standard low level repair jobs you should be fine and you can always ask me for advice, if you want more knowledge prior to having a go or if you want to repair your flat roof you can go on a workshop or training course. The one I would recommend would be at CYB Glass Fibre Technology on Canvey Island, Essex; http://www.cybglassfibre.co.uk/glass-fibre-workshops-training.asp (they may even give you a discount if you mention where you heard of them.)
If you do decide to do-it-yourself the next step in the process will be identification of the materials that the original bond was made from, this can be a right pain, especially the resin although the matting is usually easier to determine. Most marine applications using chopped mat will probably be general purpose polyester resin. Fabric based auto and industrial parts are generally made with either polyester or epoxy resin, so epoxy would be the safe repair choice. Carbon and aramid (Kevlar) fibre parts can be repaired with either epoxy or isophthalic resin. Again I would consult the original manufacturers manual before attempting any repair to an aircraft or glider as they can recommend the exact system to use.
You should be able to see ply thickness, get an idea of the cloth type and the level of surface finish from the damaged area and you can always take a broken piece in to the supplier with you. You could even take a photo and email it to CYB or myself to get an idea of what you are dealing with. Once you’ve decided what you are going to repair the damage with you will want a keen price for the materials. It’s not just going to be the cloth, resin, hardener and flow coat, you will need a good supply of acetone (cleaning agent) cloths, brushes, pots, syringes, reinstatement rollers, bonding paste, fillers, et cetera.
You’re also going to need some basic tools; a grinder or sander, drills and bits, an arbour set will probably come in handy, hack saws, scalpels, scissors et cetera. You will need various grades of sand paper and “wet ‘n’ dry, polish and wax. Please also think about those dreaded words “HEALTH and SAFTY”, I know your doing it yourself but some of this stuff can be lethal; fibreglass dust is a real health hazard if you breath too much of it in, bit of debris ping off all over the place so you will need safety glasses or goggles, all the wet stuff is extremely sticky and permanent, old clothes are a must, overalls are better.
Right, your all set to ‘av a go, not quite, you’ve got to consider where and when you’re going to attempt your work. Outside is ok, it affords excellent ventilation but the dust will be blown all over the place and there could be quite a lot so you need to think about whom that will effect. What if it rains? That will completely muck the whole thing up, get it inside then, a workshop, garage, shed or even a tent will keep the weather off and give the repair a chance to cure (more about that later.) Ok so now your definitely ready to go but just remember, give yourself enough time, keep the kids out of the way and when you get to the “laying up” part don’t let anything distract you.
Top Tip – Plan, prepare, organize, plan a bit more and make sure you clear on what you want to do and how your going to achieve it, no one said it was going to be easy.
In the next riveting (isn’t that something to do with metal repairs) instalment I give you some hints and tips on how to prepare the damaged areas to accept your repairs, I’ll give you some information on the best way to ensure you get maximum strength and flexibility from the material your using and a little bit of what not to do.
