Speed Struts

[Marvk7]

I would like to get some ideas for finishing the end of the speed struts near the fuselage. I don't like the aluminum pieces that come with the PVC struts. What have you found that will bond to PVC and if you can supply some pictures please include. Thanks

[Slyfox]

my question would be, and I wish I would have thought of this when I put mine on. Do you fold the wings. if not don't taper them. also with me, I don't fold the wings, but I also just snapped mine on(no glue). what I'm trying to say is if I would have thought it out I would have left mine alone, no taper cut and when I had to close the wings, just twist the speed strut and than put it back in place when I opened it back up.

that's with the rear strut. the front one you still have to cut.

[jiott]

Marv, I cut the taper and fit the two pieces together at the "V" as best I could. I then glued them to the struts with Hysol and let it cure. Then filled in the big gap in the rear taper with foam, leaving some room for final filling. Then used Hysol to fill in the rest of the taper, the edges and joints, but again leaving room for final filling because Hysol does not sand very easy. Final filling and fairing was done with SuperFill to bring things up to final shape and feathering. If your PVC fairings are sanded first to give it a little tooth, I found the Hysol and the SuperFill adheres very well. Turned out quite well without using the aluminum pieces. I believe this or similar process is what the factory uses on the SLSA's. Maybe I can find some photos to post.

[War Eagle]

I didn't like the aluminum setup either and decided to finish my struts with fabric and shrink to fit.

I have one picture of work in progress and can't seem to find others I thought I had.

[SkyPirate]

I wonder if monocote used on RC planes in the color of choice would work

[HighWing]

On my first IV, I did as WarEagle did. On finishing the top - inside the V - I cut a piece of fabric that looked like a fat "8" with the isthmus between the circles a little wider than the gap I wanted to seal and glued it in place. After shrinking it looked good.