cdeerinck
Well Known Member
I just returned from the EAA RV Fiberglass Workshop in Las Vegas.
In short, it was an outstanding class, and well work the cost many times over. It was taught by Scott VanderVeen of Pro-Composites, and I have to say he came as close to being a perfect instructor as is humanly possible.
We did three projects: 1) A repair to simulate a damaged gear skirt, 2) A gear leg fairing from scratch, and 3) The fuselage to windscreen fairing. Unbelievably, we completed all three projects in the 2-day class, with time to spare!
We also got first-hand experience making and using "poor man's pre-preg", which is a great skill to have.
Typically about every hour, I would realize and comment that the previous hour alone was worth the price of the class. And that kept repeating for almost all of the class. The second of these "aha" moments occurred when he demonstrated the difference of how BID fiberglass cloth conforms differently on a double compound curve when cut on the bias, instead of across the roll. Like night and day!
The prospect of trying and failing at the fuselage/windscreen fairing had me plenty worried, and now I am confident in doing it. Since I was unable to take my windscreen project home on the flight back, I volunteered it to be "tested to destruction" as a real-life t-peel test. The results were very impressive, and I feel his alternative to the Vans suggested method of "scuff then 8 layers of glass on aluminum" is far easier and effective.
Since the EAA doesn't do a stellar job of advertising some of these workshops, I felt it best to put this review here. If you are anything short of a fiberglass expert, I strongly recommend this workshop to everyone.
In short, it was an outstanding class, and well work the cost many times over. It was taught by Scott VanderVeen of Pro-Composites, and I have to say he came as close to being a perfect instructor as is humanly possible.
We did three projects: 1) A repair to simulate a damaged gear skirt, 2) A gear leg fairing from scratch, and 3) The fuselage to windscreen fairing. Unbelievably, we completed all three projects in the 2-day class, with time to spare!
We also got first-hand experience making and using "poor man's pre-preg", which is a great skill to have.
Typically about every hour, I would realize and comment that the previous hour alone was worth the price of the class. And that kept repeating for almost all of the class. The second of these "aha" moments occurred when he demonstrated the difference of how BID fiberglass cloth conforms differently on a double compound curve when cut on the bias, instead of across the roll. Like night and day!
The prospect of trying and failing at the fuselage/windscreen fairing had me plenty worried, and now I am confident in doing it. Since I was unable to take my windscreen project home on the flight back, I volunteered it to be "tested to destruction" as a real-life t-peel test. The results were very impressive, and I feel his alternative to the Vans suggested method of "scuff then 8 layers of glass on aluminum" is far easier and effective.
Since the EAA doesn't do a stellar job of advertising some of these workshops, I felt it best to put this review here. If you are anything short of a fiberglass expert, I strongly recommend this workshop to everyone.
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