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I am trying something a little different on my vertical fin for covering. I am waiting for some new Oratex glue to get delivered. I was wondering if anyone could take a measurement for me on a finished 4 place. Take a straight edge at the base of the tail, at the steel U clip that holds the two stringers together. Lay it from the U clip to the longeron. I am guessing the cloth is still a little bit concave at that point. Not a straight line from the stringers to the longeron? How much is it concave? 1/4" ?
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It is still concave, but only maybe 2mm.
Last edited by swpilot3; 06-16-2020, 10:40 AM. -
I hope you expound on what you're doing that's a little different! I'm doing the ailerons and flaps now so still a couple months from doing the fuselage in Oratex. Any other pics you can point me to on your experience would be most helpful.
NicComment
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I am trying something that another builder thought up. I happen to like it and was at a perfect moment in my build to try it. I am a couple of dollars (literally) into it with only a couple more to go. I need to clear a couple of fastener holes with Bob.
If I use it I will post pictures.Comment
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I was trying to figure out how to cover the base of the vertical stab without screwing up a large and expensive piece of Oratex. I have seen some aircraft that have a 4130 strip transverse to terminate fabric. I ended up gorilla taping a 4 inch wide piece of .040 AL in place. I took an Oratex scrap and tried to apply it from the upper longeron to the first rib on the fin. I knew it was a bit dodgy as usually you have a much larger surface area to shrink. But I had to give it a go. It very nearly worked. I had a very fine 3" long wave just above the longeron that I could not shrink away.
If I end up doing it I wanted the 4130 strip to match the natural curvature of the fabric at that point so there wasn't a big, visual discontinuity there. That was the question for my purpose. What I ended doing, I will post pictures when it is done.
Thanks for the measurement Bobby. It is close enough. Even if just a SWAG.Comment
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