The Wait is Over

[Paul Z]

I thought it was because it just made it look sexy!

[DesertFox4]

Fabric shrunk to 350 degrees. Polybrush coat went on. Dan stopped by to help out again. The Laker Leading Edges were Polybrushed first to get the fabric to lay down real good before shrinking. After overnight drying they were ironed first to remove small wrinkles before the rest of the wing was ironed in 3 temperature steps, 250, 300 and then to a final temp of 350. The leading edges came out really nice.
On a side note, I installed 3/8" aluminum tubing bonded into the trailing edges of all bays to strengthen them against the 350 degree shrink. No warping or distortion was seen in any of the bays trailing edge pieces. Sorry, no photos were taken of this step.

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[HighWing]

...Polybrush coat went on. Dan stopped by to help out again. The Laker Leading Edges were Polybrushed first to get the fabric to lay down real good before shrinking.

Just curious. Why did you Polybrush the fabric over the leading edge before shrinking. The Polybrush manual recommends painting a couple of coats of reduced Polybrush on any wood leading edge before covering. I had always understood that this was to provide a base coat that would bond with the first brush coat of Polybrush after shrinking. Was the decision to paint after covering and before shrinking a Laker Leading Edge procedure?

[DesertFox4]

Lowell,


I did put two coats of reduced polybrush down first on the leading edges (not shown before) and the fuel tanks before applying the brush coat of polybrush to the fabric over the leading edges. I also carefully shrank the fabric over the leading edges just a little to remove wrinkles before applying the brush coat over the fabric. This shrink was not to 350 degrees as it would pull the fabric way too tight and bridge areas of the leading edges that would make it very difficult to get the fabric to lay down properly. Those areas were left to dry at least 24 hours before final shrinking the rest of the fabric so as not to pull the fabric away from the leading edges and tank area.

I'm not showing every little step in the process so follow the manual with regards to best practices involving PolyFiber products.

Here is a photo some time back (April 26th) that shows the leading edges and tank area on the left wing pre-coated with two coats of reduced polybrush. Both wings were done the same way. In the photo I'm gluing down the first fabric side with PolyTak along the leading edge.

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[HighWing]

Makes perfect sense, Steve, Thanks.

[Norm]

Hi Steve
I see you are making great progress on the new bird but I have not seen an update lately. ?????? What's happening. I am back home now but have not had much of a chance to work on my Model IV. There are a lot of family things going on including a bounce back child complete with family. (They are building a new house and it is not ready yet.)
One thing that is exciting for me, I was able to find an older 912 80hp in my price range so I can say good bye to the two stroke. I am pretty excited about getting it going but not looking forward to the extra work involved in a new firewall forward setup for the Fox. If I ever get this thing going I will post an album.
Norm

[DesertFox4]

Norm - I missed building last weekend. A Kitfox friend from Cameron Park came in for his brothers funeral and I spent quite a bit of time with him. I'll get back at it tomorrow and Sunday. Memorial Day morning I'll be at the National Cemetery in North Phoenix for services.

Happy to hear you scored an 80 hp. Rotax. You'll love the performance and reliability. Good luck with the conversion. The results will be worth the extra effort.

[Norm]

Good luck with the work this weekend. You must have a couple of coats of PolySpray by now. Hey thanks again for showing me the performance of your Model IV. It was the best part of my time in the Phoenix area. That and the Gretsch picking.
Norm

[DesertFox4]

No Polyspray yet Norm. Will be tackling the rib lacing next. Then hopefully the paint booth for some color.

Glad to have had the chance to meet and jam a little. I try to play every night a little. Tonight the Martin acoustic goes for a spin.

[DesertFox4]

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Fuselage moved to paint booth this morning.
Bill spraying first pass of poly brush. Tail feathers also ready for spray. Exciting to see pink going on. Tomorrow polyspray (silver).

New Rotax 912 ULS in the box with ring mount installed.
Moving forward.

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