Broken Profile Fuselage

I had an unfortunate accident with my Twister. I broke the
fuselage behind the plywood doublers on top, an inch from
the trailing edge of wing. Any ideas on the best way to
repair??????? Any sane ideas would be appreciated!
Thanks,,Alan

Alan

You'll have to put a little less emphasis on appearance, but you can probably repair it.

First, glue the pieces back together as straight and tight as possible. Then cut some 1/32" or 1/16" plywood pieces to glue in place on either side, top and bottom and spanning the break area. The "non-stretch" of the plywood is its important property.

Finally, you might consider fiberglassing the area with .56 oz glass cloth. I'd use epoxy glue for this purpose, and extend the cloth onto the wing joint area.

After I broke the nose clean off one of my Twisters, I added new 1/8" plywood "triplers" and got rid of the engine offset. The ship flew much better with the extra nose weight, and I learned the pattern on that airplane. It lacked beauty but flew well.

Good luck.

[photo not recovered: 3e69bb3870f12ad5.jpg]

"Give us the luxuries of life and we will dispense with the necessities." -Oliver Wendell Holmes

Hi Alan, I agree with Larry. I have found that when adding the plywood splices put them on with epoxy, however first bevel the edges of the plywood which is away from the original doublers. Bevel about 1/2" from the edge. The splice piece at the back may be beveled at both ends. I have fixed this way on several profiles including a bipe. When ready to finish cover the glass cloth with silk span and this will help it diaspear. The final strength will be much greater than prior to the wreck!

Epoxy it back together then cut a slot top and bottom and inlay 2 pieces of spruce 4" long. If you feel you need to fiberglass it, put the cloth on a bias to get more threads across the crack.

What I do with profiles that are cracked but not broken completely is, buy some disposable hypodermic needles at the drug store. I think they're about 3 for a buck. I get the smallest ones they have. Suck a little skinny glue into it & shove it right into the broken area & inject the whole area with glue. Push it together tightly & let it kick. If it was a nice clean crack you might be able to do without the plywood or glass. I wouldn't do plywood & glass in any case. One or the other should be sufficient. When need be I use a little glass & put it on with skinny glue. It's quick & easy & not as ugly as plywood. Brush a little of whatever kind of paint you used over the glass & go for it.