bracesport DLG

[bracesport]

I have to come clean!

While removing the weights used in the laminating process, one of my wings was caught by the weights and lifted at one end while held at the other - the CF flats held everything intact, but the wing bending stressed the foam and now has a curved surface - I have been trying to decide what to do and now I have made up my mind!

Seems there is a nice technique for skinning foam with newsprint and 50/50 wood glue and water - I am going to remove the paper and cover the foam again with this technique - it should actually save me a bit of weight overall and will give me better adhesion than the DTFB (Adams) paper - it seems a waste not to try and resurrect the wing/s - from the testing it is rated as damn strong!

 

[bracesport]

This morning with the help of my son we stripped the paper off the wings and attempted to glue newsprint onto the foam!

Actually, it went very well, (although still drying) - we added some red colouring to make the glue visible and laid down the newsprint with the foam roller and gift card.

We allowed about 10-20mm of overlap to fold over the edges - the paper tears easily for folding the edges to conform to the curves.

Depending on how it feels when dry we might add a second layer of paper through the centre.

There is a 3mm CF flat laminated between the foam layers, so hopefully the wing will be quite stiff (and light)! 😆

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[bracesport]

@Wildthing - did you give the DLG a discus launch yet?

I have made some small inserts to glue into the wing to facilitate mounting with screws - the hot melt is just not sticking well enough to the PLA!

 

[Wildthing]

This morning with the help of my son we stripped the paper off the wings and attempted to glue newsprint onto the foam!

Actually, it went very well, (although still drying) - we added some red colouring to make the glue visible and laid down the newsprint with the foam roller and gift card.

We allowed about 10-20mm of overlap to fold over the edges - the paper tears easily for folding the edges to conform to the curves.

Depending on how it feels when dry we might add a second layer of paper through the centre.

There is a 3mm CF flat laminated between the foam layers, so hopefully the wing will be quite stiff (and light)! 😆

Images reduced to 1000px

Whether with newspaper or brown paper make sure to do both sides at the same time otherwise when it dries there is a good chance it will warp the foam.

 

[Wildthing]

@Wildthing - did you give the DLG a discus launch yet?

I have made some small inserts to glue into the wing to facilitate mounting with screws - the hot melt is just not sticking well enough to the PLA!

Not yet, still sitting on the table, if the weather is nice I am busy and if I am not busy the weather sucks .

 

[bracesport]

@Wildthing - yes, both sides done ✅ and I am keeping a watching eye - I am most concerned about the aileron feather edges - they are moderately dry now, so I have taped them together and will leave them hanging to dry fully overnight! 😆

 

[OliverW]

Good to see her getting closer to the finish line!

 

[bracesport]

Today I split out the ailerons then decided to add a second newsprint layer - this time folded around the beveled edge of the aileron cuts - I just used white PVA and water at approx 50/50. 😀

After folding and smoothing the paper I hung the four pieces to get a bit of air drying - after that I layer then flat and weighted on the concrete floor - we still have the floor warmed at the tail end of winter! 😆

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[Wildthing]

Today I split out the ailerons then decided to add a second newsprint layer - this time folded around the beveled edge of the aileron cuts - I just used white PVA and water at approx 50/50. 😀

After folding and smoothing the paper I hung the four pieces to get a bit of air drying - after that I layer then flat and weighted on the concrete floor - we still have the floor warmed at the tail end of winter! 😆

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Looks good, once dry they should be really strong.

 

[bracesport]

@Wildthing - 11mm thick and two coats of newsprint - I suspect the will still be flexible - at a total of 1500mm I am still in half a mind to chop them down a bit - so far so good though! 😆

 

[Wildthing]

@Wildthing - 11mm thick and two coats of newsprint - I suspect the will still be flexible - at a total of 1500mm I am still in half a mind to chop them down a bit - so far so good though! 😆

Being super light that little bit of flex shouldn't hurt you.

 

[bracesport]

The dried parts are nice and straight and possibly a tad stiffer than before! 😀

I need to join the halves and connect the ailerons - I think I will use Gorilla glue then a bit more news print in the centre for some structure! 😆

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[MadMech86]

You guys are doing a great job! I look forward to seeing this completed. Will you be posting the files of final version?

 

[bracesport]

@MadMech86 - definitely - the only real change at the moment is the tail length - the original design was a tad short - having said that I cut the wing down this morning to 1350mm (from 1500) to make it a bit easier to transport - tonight's job will be to glue the wing halves and then add the screw mounts to the FB - I am hoping this will give the wing a better mount to the fuse!

 

[MadMech86]

@bracesport - Awesome! I recently got a 3d printer and this looks like a fun project.

 

[bracesport]

@MadMech86 - have you looked at flyboa's DLG work, he is the master of the FB DLG - I tend to overthink things and have typically ended up with too much weight - having said that (third one in) I am getting there with the weight reduction - 0.6mm wall sections on the 3D prints, balsa feathers, and a paper skinned FB wing!

my V1 is set up for sloping as the V tail was a miss (rolled over on launch), my V2 has been stripped as both the nose and tail was too short and the tail was too heavy (basswood), so I am pinning my hopes on the V3!

 

[MadMech86]

@bracesport - I went a read up on flyboa’s work, you’re not kidding he really is a master at FB DLG. I do have a UMX receiver and servos laying around I might need to try some of his techniques. But that still leaves me with the urge to do something with my 3D printer.

 

[bracesport]

@MadMech86 - nothing preventing a two-pronged approach!

 

[bracesport]

I glued the new wing (now 1.3m) with Gorilla glue so that will take 3hrs to cure, then I will add some more glued newsprint to the centre third of the glued wing - there were some voids in the lamination glueing so I injected heaps in to fix that - I also repaired the 1.5m wing for future use - it is a tad heavier with the non-DTFB and tape, so it is more likely a sloping wing.

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[bracesport]

Time for some extra reinforcing - I opted to wrap the centre top and bottom with a 6cm strip, followed by half of each wing top and bottom, and then one more 6cm centre wrap - I think that will do it - AUW with ailerons is 130g - wing has a 3mm CG flat and three layers of newsprint.

Given I had damaged the wing originally, I am pretty happy with the outcome so far!

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