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EAA RV Fiberglass Workshop review

cdeerinck

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.
 
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I totally agree. My wife and I took the class in Oshkosh this past summer. I have been a slacker and have not done the canopy yet. But I plan to use Scott's method. I hope to do the canopy in the next few weeks.

We also got a free back stage tour of the Oshkosh museum. Pretty cool
 
Agreed. I took the class in December 2018; very beneficial. For an in-depth review, see my blogspot entry for that month; link in my signature below.
 
In short

rv9builder said:
How is Scott's VanderVeen's method different from Van's method?
Click to expand...

This is an incredibly brief summary, so don't get me on the details. His full description is 38 steps with pictures.

Vans:
- Scuff the aluminum and plexi with 80 grit
- Cut and lay 8 layers of glass, increasing width with each layer, measure and sand to a profile curve with each layer

Scotts:
- Scuff the aluminum with 200 grit, and plexi with 80 grit.
- Apply a fillet of filler paste
- Apply a skim coat of structural adhesive, and a two-layer poor man's prepreg
- Apply a filler layer of Aeropoxy light
- Apply another two-layer poor man's prepreg

The second sounds like more work but is actually very easy and far less work.

So two primary differences. 4 layers instead of 8, with a filler core (which is arguably stronger), and the adhesive gives a much better bond that glass on aluminum alone.
 
cdeerinck said:
This is an incredibly brief summary, so don't get me on the details. His full description is 38 steps with pictures.

Vans:
- Scuff the aluminum and plexi with 80 grit
- Cut and lay 8 layers of glass, increasing width with each layer, measure and sand to a profile curve with each layer

Scotts:
- Scuff the aluminum with 200 grit, and plexi with 80 grit.
- Apply a fillet of filler paste
- Apply a skim coat of structural adhesive, and a two-layer poor man's prepreg
- Apply a filler layer of Aeropoxy light
- Apply another two-layer poor man's prepreg

The second sounds like more work but is actually very easy and far less work.

So two primary differences. 4 layers instead of 8, with a filler core (which is arguably stronger), and the adhesive gives a much better bond that glass on aluminum alone.
Click to expand...

What is "poor man's prepreg"?
 
Put glass on a piece of plastic and apply epoxy. Put another piece of plastic over and spread epoxy through the glass using a squeegee. Glass is now impregnated with epoxy and can be cut with the plastic on both sides. To apply just remove plastic.

But honestly take one of the classes. I did the fiberglass (non rv) class with Scott. It was also really good.
 
BrianDC said:
Put glass on a piece of plastic and apply epoxy. Put another piece of plastic over and spread epoxy through the glass using a squeegee. Glass is now impregnated with epoxy and can be cut with the plastic on both sides. To apply just remove plastic.

But honestly take one of the classes. I did the fiberglass (non rv) class with Scott. It was also really good.
Click to expand...

Understood - I suspected that what what you were referring to. I'd take the class but now I'm so far down the road it doesn't make sense. The videos on the RV-14 support page were very helpful on the canopy work (and included the "poor mans prepreg") but retrospectively I would have benefited from the class.
 
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Minor clarification......

cdeerinck said:
Vans:

- Cut and lay 8 layers of glass, increasing width with each layer, measure and sand to a profile curve with each layer
Click to expand...
As written, this implies allowing each lamination layer to cure, sand to shape, and then add the next layer.
The recommended process has all layers installed at one time. Sanding / finishing to shape is done after the entire layup has cured.
 
I am at the windshield fairing part of my build. I have watched the RV14 fiberglass video on Vans site but wish there was a video showing this other way of doing it. I can kind of picture it, but seeing it would really help figuring out which way I would like to do mine. Does anyone know of a video?
 
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