Fliteskin Products Home Page

Sheeting open frames:

Fliteskin^TM can be attached to a balsa or ply frame in 3 different ways: with Elmer's Nano^TM polyurethane glue, with a good quality contact cement or slow curing CA (Cyano) glue suitable for fiberglass. In every case the areas to receive the glue need to be sanded with 150 grit or similar.

Polyurethane glue: (Nano) Cut the sheets to overlap 1/4" to 1/2" over the leading edges and wing tips, sand with 80/100 grit the areas of Fliteskin that will be in contact with the frame and especially the edges. Apply glue only to the frame (ribs, spars, etc.) After positioning the skin in place, secure with tape, pins and weights. One method is to pin strips of balsa or spruce to the ribs and spars, holding the ends with small clamps. Use a sheet of wax paper in between the strips and the skins to avoid accidental bonding. This assures the skin is held tightly against the wood frame while the glue sets (about 4 hours).

Once dry remove pins and trim edges with scisors and/or sand paper. Excess dry glue sands easily.

Contact cement: using good cement like PlioBond assures a strong bond that will not be affected by temperature changes. Follow the instructions on the cement container, making sure that the wing is flat on the building board when placing the Fliteskin^TM over the frame.

DHVenom 1/6 scale, wings are ready to prime after covered with .012"Fliteskin^TM.

NOTES: It is much easier if leading edges and wing tips are installed and sanded flush with the ribs prior to sheeting. Once sheeting has dried you can proceed glassing those leading edges and tips.

Polyurethane glue expands somewhat so practice with small pieces before sheeting for the first time.

Sheeting foam wings:

Sheeting foam wings with Fliteskin^TM is so simple and the results are so great that after the first use, you'll never go back to the long and messy process of sheeting with balsa, fiberglass and resin.

It can be glued directly to foam cores using ELMER's Nano Glue^TM or Gorilla Glue which is safe on foam.

1. Prepare the foam cores as you would for balsa sheeting (cut channels, install spars, etc).

2. Install leading edges and wing tips. Sand even with the surface of the foam.

3. Using a metal ruler and a hobby knife, cut the pieces of Fliteskin^TM to fit the core (top & bottom) with an extra 1/4" or so to cover Leading edge and/or tip. It takes about 4 or 5 scores of the blade to cut through the sheet, alternating both sides of the blade works best. Fliteskin^TM can also be cut with scissors but the ruler and knife method assures a straight line cut over the plans. You can choose to add the leading edge and wing tip after sheeting is completed but the first option facilitates fiberglassing.

4. With a little experience you can glue top and bottom skins at the same time; lay both pieces flat on the table (trailing edge to trailing edge) and join with masking tape on the outside surface.

5. Spread the glue evenly with a large squegee or trowel, creating a THIN film over the COMPLETE surface of the skins. Do not apply glue to the cores. Spread a thicker coat on the edges to assure a good bond and lay over the foam core.

6. Place assembly inside the foam craddle placing a flat board on top with enough weight to keep from lifting.

7. Once the assembly dryes, it will be very rigid and strong. Now you can cover the leading edges and wing tips with your prefered method .

8. Ailerons and elevators can be cut and hinged using balsa blocks.

Stabilizer ready to receive leading edge and tip

NEVER apply HOT IRON directly to Fliteskin^TM.

Other applications:

Fliteskin^TM can be used to build parts that need to be strong and conform to shapes.

Landing gear doors. A set of perfect fitting gear doors can be built and installed in minutes using laminations of .010, .012 sheets or thicker.

1. Cut two pieces for each gear door to be built. They can be cut the same size or one can be slightly smaller to resemble scale looking inner lining.

2. Place a sheet of wax paper or Monokote over the area where the door is located. Coarse sand (180) the surfaces to be joined.

3. Using slow curing Cyanoacrylate glue, laminate the two pieces of gear door and place over the gear area holding against the surface of wing or fuselage. Once the glue has set the door will hold the shape and will not chip or break.

Flaps and lining of wheel wells are also accomplished with professionally built results as seen in the following examples. The flap is built directly over the plan and the ribs are glued with thick CA .

**********************************************************