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Glassing the top to the fuselage

T

togaflyer

Well Known Member
So, the top is on. To glass the seams between the cabin top and the fuselage, including the upper tail skin and the door entry area, what ounce cloth and how wide of cloth do you lay. Also, do you need more that one layer of cloth.

Its so nice to be past the canoe stage and actually having this look like an airplane finally. :)
 
I used a variety of widths, depending on the amount of area available. I used 4", 2", and 1" glass tape. I tried to get at least a couple of inches past the seam, but as you are aware that's not possible around the doors. I used 2 ply. I used more layers around the door, but that was to resolve a flat spot on the door jam. Then I used micro to contour until cosmetically acceptable.
 
I can't help you answer your question, but I will ask one of my own:

Are you locked in to glassing those seams? Looking at our RV's, they aren't seamless aircraft given the lap joints in the skins. The the sorta-flush joints around the cabin top are no worse than the lap joints, so I don't find 'em objectionable at all.

Just curious...
 
the issue with the cabin to fuselage connection is that blind rivets are used for attachment. So the holes on those rivets need filler anyway.
 
togaflyer said:
the issue with the cabin to fuselage connection is that blind rivets are used for attachment. So the holes on those rivets need filler anyway.
Click to expand...

I was considering sanding off any burrs and applying one layer of thin glass over those. Or maybe just using a syringe to squirt filler into the mandrel hole.
 
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After glassing and sanding used this for final fill and sand. Easy to sand and feather.

2h2kzf7.jpg
 
I used one strip of 10 oz cloth across the seam at the rear and the sides. I then used stranded/reinforced body filler to do the body work across the back and sides. I final finished with fairing filler by West systems. After 4 years and 600 hours, still looks great. I would guess it's a 10 hour job in total.

It looks nice and finished, but totally unnecessary...
 
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