STILLETO WING TIPS

The last mould is complete as I write this it is ready to open but as I dont need it until sunday I think Ill wait a little longer, remember epoxy generally takes 7 days for a full cure.

Photo 1 shows the plug being polished(ram release wax) and the edges built up around the splitter board, prior to gel coat, this mould needed 100gr of gel coat per side.

Here I have started glass cloth work again fine weave first, this starts the moment the gel coat has gone hard enough not to fingerprint when touched.

I lay up thick carbon tow 2 x 60k in the corners and the leading edge a bit extravagent normal

glass tows or even a mixture of flocks and resin could be used, the reason for this is the thick cloth wont bend into a 90 degree corner and will make bubbles.

I have marked the centre line in the mould with 1 x plastic tape so that when building and later cutting the tips in half I will have an easy reference. The layups are made with pieces of cloth cut into manageable sizes ,the final thickness is about 4 mm , fairly light but these moulds are not going to produce more than about 20 gliders, I would double that for serious production.

Here I have layed in slices of the remains of a foam wing outers after the cores that were cut with a hot wire, I glass these in and they add strength.

The mould is turned over and the splitter board removed, carefully as you do not wish to release the plug .The bottom of the mould is now made against the first half , again the edges are built up(these made this box shape rigid) release wax polish off and gel coat-glass-etc.

totally aside I have included the photos of the STILLETO production line.

Fuselage 1 yellow purple 410 gr stab 120 gr.

fuselage 2 yellow black red 380gr stab 90 gr

fuselage 3 red yellow 310gr stab 84 gr

moral of the story .........practice makes perfect and the lighter it is the more perfect.

Once again I welcome any comments , the end is in sight.