Chapter 10 - Step 4

This step involves applying the 3" spar cap tape to the bottom spar cap trough.

Masked Trough July 9, 2001. After cleaning up the shear web layup I masked off the rest of the canard with masking tape and newspaper. The only thing showing is the spar cap trough.

Tape Dispenser July 9, 2001. I built a simple jig to hold the roll of spar cap tape so I can easily lay out what I need.

Peel Plied Spar Cap September 22, 2001. I finally picked an open Saturday and did the big spar cap layup. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It still took 6 hours but I thought it might be worse. I wore latex gloves this time instead of my usual Butyl gloves. Well the next day I was having problems. All my fingers were covered with little bumps and itched like crazy. I don't know If the epoxy got through or under or what, or I reacted to wearing latex that long. I wanted better use of my finger tips to be able to remove the threads in the spar cap tape. When I do the other side I will go back to my usual ways.

Anyway, the layup went well. The first layer took up the learning curve. The rest went on fairly easily. It was really cool to see the trough fill up with solid fiberglass as I added each layer. I squeegeed more than I think I ever did. I must have done something right because I actually needed 10 layers to fill the trough completely. Most people use nine I believe. I removed the masking tape as soon as the last layer was done so I could get it off. I then added the peel ply.

Completed Spar Cap September 29, 2001. After removing the peel peel it was time to sand things a bit. I only had a few small high spots along the spar cap. Of course I didn't bother with the middle section since it is in the fuselage. This stuff is tough to sand. And it makes a big mess too. I made the mistake of not wearing gloves and I am paying for it now. Can you say "itchy"?