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Date:  9-9-2018
Number of Hours:  1.25
Manual Reference:  
Brief Description:  Right wing bottom leading and trailing edge

WOW!

Well, today Carroll and I flipped the wing over to begin work on the bottom trailing and leading edge. We cut, fitted and epoxied the trailing edge in place. We also finished drilling out the rivets on the attache brackets. As suspected, once the rivets were drilled out, the brackets just peeled right off. No adhesion at all with the Hysol. Neither surface was prepped. Just slapped together and riveted. We sure are glad the forward spar was damaged when we got this kit. We would never had known of this weakness. As it stands now, we have rebuilt both wings from scratch. I for one am grateful we did.

I can't express how important surface preparation is. A smooth surface will not bond properly if there is not a properly prepared surface to bond to. With a smooth surface you are only relying on the two surface areas of the pieces being bonded by an adhesive. When you prepare two surfaces by abrasion, you are actually multiplying the surface area to be bonded exponentially with all the microscopic scratches being introduced to each surface. More surface area, better bonding power is achieved. If you look at the posted pictures you can see there was almost no bonding by the Hysol. It peeled away with my fingers.

If you look at picture 3, you can see where the Hysol had to be heated to remove the plywood gusset from the bracket. I had installed that gusset before knowing the brackets were not epoxied correctly. It took a heat gun and lots of time to get it to release the gusset from the bracket. That is how a proper bond is supposed to react. So think about your prep carefully. Do it right and your life will be long and prosperous.
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Bottom trailing edge cap strip epoxied in place.

Bottom trailing edge cap strip epoxied in place.

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Strut attach bracket peeled off with my finger! No adhesion at all due to poor surface prep.

Strut attach bracket peeled off with my finger! No adhesion at all due to poor surface prep.

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This is how a biond is supossed to be. It took twenty minutes to get the gusset off with a heat gun.

This is how a biond is supossed to be. It took twenty minutes to get the gusset off with a heat gun.

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