And No, You DON'T Have To Be An RV-Owner To Attend

Aero-News has learned of an upcoming seminar aimed at improving homebuilders' knowledge and expertise in fiberglass building techniques.

Even though Eugene, OR-based Synergy Air specializes in RVs, those building Sonex, Glastar, and many other designs can likely benefit from the seminar -- which will be held at the company's facilities at Mahlon Sweet Field (KEUG) October 6-7.

Synergy points out that although the majority of most Van's aircraft are fabricated of metal, there is a surprising amount of fiberglass work to do before you fly. Doing good work in fiberglass requires a specific set of skills –- skills that are not difficult to teach, but can take a long time to acquire if you try to develop them on your own through trial and error.

The need for good fiberglass technique starts near the beginning of the project. The rudder, elevators and stabilizers contained in the empennage kit all have fiberglass tips. In the wings, you'll have to deal with the big fiberglass wingtips and lighting installations. By the time the airplane is finished, you will have to tackle the canopy installation, landing gear fairings and engine cowling.

And if you're building an RV-10, you need even greater skills -- as the entire cabin top, including the doors, will require a thorough familiarity with fiberglass bonding and finishing techniques.

 
Synergy tells ANN its intensive course will give participants two full -- VERY full -- days of hands-on experience and practice, using a variety of projects. They will cover the basics of fiberglass materials: cloth, resins and fillers.

Then, participants will move on and learn all the materials, techniques and "tricks" necessary to finish canopies, cowlings, landing gear fairings and wingtips to a professional level.

Those include:

• techniques of wet lay-up (necessary around the canopy and landing gear),
• how to fit fiberglass components to the rest of the airframe (necessary when installing the cowling, landing gear and tail fairings)
• how to fill and prepare fiberglass parts for final painting (necessary everywhere!)

By the end of the two-day course, Synergy says participants will leave with the skills to install, fit, modify and finish fiberglass parts with confidence.

Cost and enrollment information for the course is available at the FMI link below.

FMI: www.synergyair.com