Badland Part 103 Pilots and Builders Forum

Continuing warmer weather ... good covering environment.

I ran a line of fixing tape to set a straight glue line boundary on the underside of the wing. Then spread the hot-melt glue in preparation for attaching the Oratex panel. The pvc/tripod stands support the wing structure ABOVE the table so I can unroll the oversized (168" x 48") Oratex panel and spread glue along the trailing edge 2.5" overlap.



I constructed a 12' x 4' worktable (on casters) for my Zenith 701 project, but disassembled a 4' section once the fuselage frame was complete. I thought seriously about re-assembling the 12' table at the start of the F-3 project, but never got around to it. The additional 4' would be useful in covering this wing.

I should get back on the covering process tomorrow.

Very nice progress being made!

3 hour session on the upper surface of the stb wing. Most of the time spent positioning and re-positioning the wing by myself. Thank goodness for the pvc/tripod supports. The good news is my off-to-college helper will be home this SuperBowl weekend so finishing up the Oatex should be somewhat easier.

Tacking the trailing edge of the upper fabric to the underside. The fixing tape line helps with a good straight edge with no glue spill-over. I do about 6" at a time pulling away the tape, positioning the overlap and applying ~240-250 degrees of heat with the hobby iron.


I suspended the wing from the leading edge spar tube and ran a fixing tape line 8" from the leading edge on the underside skin. This is the MAXIMUM overlap of the upper skin. The overlap will be considerably smaller as the 8" line actually marks the edge of the wrap-around Sky Blue leading edge accent trim added once the wing covering is complete.


The pvc stands allow me to swing the 12' wing back onto the 8' worktable so that I can apply glue to the leading edge and wing ribs.


Break time while the glue dries.

I like the "helping hand" stand setup. Very clever. Wish I had thought of it!

Stb wing is a learning exercise for the port wing ...

I will NOT cover the port wing tip until later in the process. I use the open ends of the spar tubes for the pvc/tripod stand. I should have thought that one through.

As I've posted earlier, working mostly alone to set the rigging on the wings I used 2 roller shop stands on an old IKEA table and my handy Harbor Freight Engine hoist. I don't think I'll be able to use the hoist on the cover wing so the remounting/rigging will probably require college-boy's extra hands.