In a message dated 7/7/2009 3:02:36 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
europa-list@matronics.com writes:
To date, I have had absolutely no issues with paint
bubbling but I am concerned that keeping it outside in very wet
conditions under a non-breathable cover may cause problems.
Hey Paddy,
For what it's worth, we see paint bubbling on glider fuselage belly's with
both urethane and gel coat finishes occasionally. This is almost always
caused by owners putting the glider in the trailer with the trailer fuselage
support cradle padding wet. This usually happens when the owner is forced
to put the glider away in a hurry due to a sudden rain storm. The padding
gets rain soaked before the glider can be put away in the dry. If the owner
doesn't take the glider out within a few days and let the padding dry out
the paint or gel coat will bubble. The cradle padding used on Cobra glider
trailers is similar to short pile carpeting.
We had an ASW-27 come through the shop a couple of months ago with this
exact issue and wet padding on the fuselage cradle was the obvious cause. The
cradle padding was still wet when we pulled it out of the trailer and the
bubbled surface on the belly matched the profile of the padding exactly.
According to the glider's owner the fuselage had been sitting on the wet
padding for about two weeks. The remedy was to sand out the bubbling with 320,
reshoot it, color sand with 600, 800, and 1200, then buff. A good coat of
high quality Carnuba wax on your finished surfaces would probably help
prevent bubbling. Probably wouldn't eliminate it, but it would help the finish
shed water.
Regards,
John Lawton
Whitwell, TN (TN89)
N245E - Flying
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