Composite practice kit arrived!

GlennAB1 said:
Well, that'd be technically wrong, as, even Boeing considers early aircraft constructed of wood, fabric and wire to be composites.
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Yeah so? The community adopted the usage so it is what it is and you being pedantic isn't going to change that.
 
The wife and I moved into a new house (thankfully just a few short miles from 8A0) over the last year so my epoxy play time went to zero. Now that we're close to getting settled I opened up the box of parts and decided to continue my education with the bookend piece. Had a blast with this one! Learned several things again, which I guess is good. First, I made my fillets too big which allowed me to push micro out of the corners and between the glass layups. Easy to see, lesson learned, never doing that again. Second, it's really easy to sand through layers of fiberglass using 36 grit paper. I was trying to prep the bottom for a new layup and remove the old micro. Sanded through two plies before I realized what was happening. Lesson learned, never doing that again. The biggest thing I learned is that I really enjoy it! Carving the foam was fun, mixing the epoxy was fun, getting the best possible layup with straight fibers was fun, all of it. I have no doubt I'll enjoy building the plane when the time comes. Next step is the practice wing section. I'm excited to build the hot wire saw and give that a go!

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Yep, 36 grit will go through layers fast. Sometimes that's a good thing. ;)

I like mixing micro for fillets thicker. When you apply the layups the epoxy mixes with the fillet and dilutes/softens it.

Hot-wire saw? You building a Long-EZ or a Cozy?
 
LongEZ is the goal, just taking baby steps right now.

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steingar said:
Where are the plans coming from? Rutan stopped selling them decades ago.
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Unused plans can be found for sale. You can also purchase the TERF cd which contains the build manual and then use a set of online templates to make the bulkheads. There are many that have been built this way.
 
TFulwider said:
Did you use Eureka cores? What is your plane?
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What's a "Eureka core". Is that where you find them in your shop one day and yell "Eureka!"

I built a Velocity. Foam is cut at the factory.

I read about a guy who built a CNC hot wire router. The foam blocks he cuts are nearly perfect.
 
If price was no object I would be all over the Velocity!!

Eureka is a company that is selling precut foam cores for LongEZ and Cozy airplanes. Probably going to cut mine myself just because I enjoy the challenge! (unless I chicken out and change my mind when that chapter comes up)
 
If all you need/want is two seats, then the Velocity is overkill. Albeit a bit faster if you're okay with the additional fuel for the bigger engine.

I wonder if that's the guy with the CNC machine. Everyone told him to offer pre-cut cores.

Cutting the foam for Velocity wings is a two-person job. Not sure about the LongEZ.
 
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