Saturday, June 7, 2014

Mega Mosquito Fin Gluing Notes, Part A

Before the fins are glued together, check out some construction questions from TRF:

There seems to be confusion on how the laminated Mega Mosquito fins are glued up.
From a posted answer on TRF:

Quote Originally Posted by Mushtang View Post
You should line up the root edge of the fins which will leave the outside edges uneven. After the glue dries use a sanding block, palm sander (which I used), sand paper, etc. to even up the edges of the fins and remove the burn from the fins.
If you use too much glue before weighing down the fins you'll have the problem of sliding that you suggested. Use a lot less glue and you'll be okay. Be sure to smooth a thin layer of glue all over the entire surface with your finger before sandwiching the fin layers together and you'll be okay. I weighed mine down with cookbooks overnight.

Check out the first sentence in Mushtang's post:
"You should line up the root edge of the fins which will leave the outside edges uneven."
If the outside (rounded) edges were squared and even, would this give you an automatic  stepped root edge?

More vague instructions!
The instructions don't mention the importance of the root edge alignment!
I slightly stepped the outside fin veneers to better fit the curve of the body tube.
After the laminated sides dry there is no way to sand the root edge so root edge alignment is critical.

Mushtang is right on this:
Use less glue and the outside balsa sides will be less likely to slip when the weight is set on them.
Instead of gluing both sides at once (glue on both sides at the same time might lead to more slipping) glue it one side at a time for more control.
Under the weight of some heavy books you shouldn't get any warping.


The instructions make no mention of rounding the fins edges.
I rounded the leading an trailing edges, they would look a little clunky all squared off.
The original Mini Mosquito instructions (at the right) say to air-foil the fins! 
Like the Mini Mosquito needed to go any faster or higher!

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