Tips 'n Tricks

If anyone has any tips or good information that will help others, please send it along to me and I will put it up on this area.  Thank you.   Sylvia

 

Applying Monocote decals Wet the Monocote area and decal before applying. After you  get it arranged the way you want, let it dry over night and iron in place the next day. This greatly reduces air bubble problems.                                             Jim Mahoney

Making 'Decals' from Monocote. I make a pattern of what I want on regular paper and tape it to the Monocote that I want to use. Then when I cut around the paper pattern,  the Monocote 'decal' falls away. To keep from getting bubbles under the 'decal', I put an appropriately sized piece of waxed paper between the layers and keep sliding it slowly away, just ahead of my iron. The iron must be kept on a low heat setting until the Monocote is ironed down. Then I increase the heat and go over it to finish.                                                                                                                       Ed Francis

Lifting that oil from wood If your wood is oil saturated and Monocote will not stick, get some K2R spot lifter which can be found at Eckert neighborhood drug stores.  It comes in a 5 oz aerosol can. Spray the oily wood, let it dry completely. It will draw the oil out into a white powder which can be brushed off. Reapply as needed.                                            Bill Johnson *Eckert is now CVS. The last time I was unable to find K2R at the store and had to order it online but it works great! Sylvia

How to figure CG Pick a point of reference; say the tip of the spinner. If using the spinner, use a square or other straight edge to locate tip of spinner straight down to the workbench. Put a string across the main wheels, over the axles, and measure that distance from the spinner. The middle of that line will be your axle reference point (for both wheels). 1. Measure the (d)istance from the spinner to the centerline of the wheels.  2. Measure the (d)istance from the spinner to the tail (or nose wheel axle, whichever applies) 3. With the plane in the flying attitude (tail up and wing attached in place) (w)eigh each wheel and the tail (for tail dragger). If it is a tricycle gear, then (w)eigh nose wheel, not the tail. Then each wheel's weight is multiplied by that distance (spinner to axle point) which gives you inch pounds.  Add the 3 of them for total inch pounds and divide the total inch pounds by the total weight (sum of wheel/tail weights) and you get the distance from the reference point to the CG in inches. (d1 x w1) + (d2 x w2) + (d3 x w3) ÷ total weight = distance from reference point to CG (distance to wheel 1 x weight of wheel 1) plus (distance to wheel 2 x weight of wheel 2) plus (distance to wheel 3 or tail x weight of wheel 3 or tail) Divided by total weight = distance from reference point to CG in inches                                 Ed Francis