Road Foamie - done for the year

[atahoekid]

Not that I want to subject the tear to any further testing, but I was thinking if there's much of a difference between a good canvas sock and a fiberglass sock. the fiberglass was 6 oz so you can definitely can something heavier but obviously no need. I wonder what equivalent weight in canvas would be. I'm thinking about a canvas covering for the new cowling. Lots of edges and small corners to try and fiberglass. I think canvas handles better. Opinions????

[GPW]

Give it a try , you might like it ...

[desertmoose]

Mel:
Did you ever figure out your propane problem?

Sam

[atahoekid]

Give it a try , you might like it ...

Just thinking I might... Like I said easier to handle than fiberglass. End up with a more professional looking piece when I'm done.

Mel:
Did you ever figure out your propane problem?

Sam

No, I haven't had the time to try the procedure you suggested. I'm about to step out and work on the trailer right now. I think I'll give it a go. I'll let you know.

[eaglesdare]

So glad you did not get hurt! Very happy to hear how well your foamie did in this situation. Good job!

[mezmo]

Quite prescient of you to build in a crumple zone !

Sorry to hear of the mishap, but good to hear there were
no injuries and only really minor damage to the Road Foamie
- considering the various scenarios that could have transpired.

Will you be skinning the inside as well this time on the new
tongue box ?

Cheers,
Norm/mezmo

[GPW]

You know we’ve yet to get into Repairing Foamies’ ... let’s hope we don’t have to , but ..."things happen" ...

Having played with Foam RC planes for many many years , and testing their integrity by repeatedly crashing them in to the earth at high speeds , we’ve become adept at foam Repair ... With foam , the damage is always localized to the point of impact , and does not spread through the entire frame as with wood structures.. (well crash tested on both) ... and being a homogenous material (no grain) , you can simply cut away the damaged area and replace it with fresh foam ... It’s that simple ... !!! We do that ALL the time at the flying field , and always have a hot glue gun handy (with inverter) and some scrap foam ...even in the worst crash , we’re back in the air in 15 minutes ... some repairs are not pretty , but Work , and can be beautified later ..
All the foam plane principles apply to trailers too , and they Don’t have to fly ... intentionally ... a simple repair kit for repairs on the road could come in handy ...

[atahoekid]

I wish you had mentioned that thought about repairs earlier, but since it was easy enough, I just finished cutting new panels for the cowling and they're glued up and drying right now. If I ever get to a point where I'm looking for something to do, I may try to repair the cowling. Just for grins and giggles and a test of the repairability of foam. Guess I shouldn't throw it out in next weeks trash... I'm thinking that for the most part a roll of duct tape will serve as a sufficient repair kit until you can get home and do the repair right. The duct tape is an essential part of my camping toolkit already.

Along a similar line of thinking, I am considering buying a piece of diamond plate bent to match the curve of the nose and attaching it to the bottom of the nose. That will serve as a rock guard and also serve to cover up the lousy job of fiberglassing I did there. I tried to glass it on the windiest and hottest day of last summer and while in full sun. Lots of bubbles. Anyway, to the point... I really don't have a way to attach the diamond plate to the nose currently since it is only foam bent over a frame. There's nothing solid under it for a screw to bite into. I'm going to go ahead and glue in hardpoints where needed and it will attach just fine. You can't do that with many other materials!!!

Foam is easy to repair and easy to alter. Gotta love it.

[GPW]

One thing to try is to pour boiling water on the damaged cowl ... I know it sounds crazy , but it works ...

[Wobbly Wheels]

...I really don't have a way to attach the diamond plate to the nose currently...

What about using something like SikaFlex ?
You could eliminate mechanical fasteners altogether, along with the need for hard points.

I like seeing diamond plate on these trailers: it looks really sharp.

[atahoekid]

I finally managed to get a trip in without an incident. We made the 3 hour 15 minute trip over 10,000 foot Tioga pass to Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park without anything going awry. Weather was great, campground was nice but a bit noisy due to the group in the Group area across from us. The falls in Yosemite were at their height for the year and they valley floor was CROWDED! Pulled the Road Foamie home in very windy conditions and felt very solid. No fear of blowovers, no fear of getting blown apart. Just a nice easy drive.

[GPW]

Mel, guess you have the new Foamie altitude record... Glad there were no incidents ...

Foamies should be fairly sound proof eh ?

[eaglesdare]

[atahoekid]

Mel, guess you have the new Foamie altitude record... Glad there were no incidents ...

Foamies should be fairly sound proof eh ?

The Foamie is very sound proof!!! Once we got inside the Road Foamie you could barely hear the drunken howling... It's just I'd rather have been outside by the campfire.

[couponjnp]

There you go. Off to non-incidental beginning. Forget about first two trips and keep it .

JNP