Pete Klapp wrote:
>>My question for Mark and fellow netters is where to purchase carbon fiber cloth other than Aircraft Spruce as they are pretty pricey. Also need to know which weave is best to use.<< The last CF I bought (and that was a long time ago) was from http://www.avtcomposites.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?search=action <http://www.avtcomposites.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?search=action&category=09 00> &category=0900 . They had pretty decent prices then, but I'm not sure how they stack up these days. I used 282 3k, which is 5.9 ounce, for my wing covering, since it's light and it was overkill for wing skins anyway. I bought enough to do the cowling, which is 2 layers all the way around, except I put an X shaped reinforcement across the top because that surface is largely flat and unsupported (until I built plenums under it). N56ML's cowling is admittedly flimsy, but weighs 4 pounds total, including the hinge pin attachment. Still, it's strong enough that I took off once with one whole horizontal hinge pin missing once (it was installed, but I missed the mating hinge pin and didn't notice). On climbout I noticed the right side of the cowling was sticking up about 8", and it simply stayed lifted like that until I landed and fixed it. That was a heart stopper. See http://www.sollercomposites.com/fabricchoice.html for a description of weave styles. Twill is the ticket for compound curves, but "plain" 282 worked fine for me. I guess it would be better for the inlet areas with their tight curves, but mine worked out OK. Mark Langford ML at N56ML.com
