This first repair video will get you up to speed on the materials and basic technical methods that you'll need to know before learning the more advanced repair techniques taught in the Glider Repair Lab 2.
We all crash, and we don't always have the cash to just buy a replacement glider. In this second Repair Lab, you'll learn some advanced methods for fixing the most challenging kinds of composite airframe damage suffered in high-energy crashes.
We first work on a carbon/kevlar/glass Onyx JW with a torn-out wing tip joiner and major centre panel damage. At first this wing seems like a write-off, but with careful re-assembly, reinforcing with carbon and glass, and a ton of filling and sanding, this wing comes out looking close to new and stronger than stock. You'll learn every technique and trick used to make this no-longer-in-production high performance wing safe again for soaring.
You'll then learn some really useful new techniques for putting a broken F3J-style carbon fuselage back together from 3 seperate pieces. You'll learn how to make a custom carbon doubler piece that will mechanically join the rear end of an Icon 2 boom and then finish the repair with carbon cloth and peel-ply fabric used as a compression-release layer. Then you will watch me re-join the front fuselage nose area that was completely broken off with both internal and external laminations along with a cool method of inlaying carbon tow to bridge some shattered cracks in critical structural areas.
To finish this deep 2 hour tutorial, you'll learn some paint-stripping and painting methods for making your repairs look more professional. Doing repairs is all about the right materials applied in the correct way followed by lots and lots of filling and sanding. With the techniques taught in both of the Glider Repair labs, you should be able to fix most minor and severe damage in a safe, professional, and aesthetically pleasing manner.
