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General control line discussion => Open Forum => Topic started by: Dave Sabon on April 24, 2015, 10:14:31 AM
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Is anyone out there making Carbon Fiber Fuel tanks ala Windy Urtnowski available for purchase?
Regards,
Dave Sabon
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Dave,
These were very expensive tanks and required a lot of hand lay-up. Windy had special molds for making the standard size 1"x 2" x ___ size tank and the end caps. Wayne Triven made them for Windy and gave him the procedure, unfortunately Wayne passed away a few years back.
Although they were a bit lighter then a plastic R/C clunk tank it never was enough to justify the cost. The plastic R/C tank is about half the weight of a tin tank and the CF tank was about 2/3 the weight of the plastic tank (about 1/4 oz less). If you use the R/C clunk tank set up for uniflow its a good set up, you can search this forum for info on how to do it. If you want to save 1/8oz on the clunk tank you can shave the rubber stopper down a bit (it is the heaviest part of the plastic R/C tank).
Best, DennisT
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Is anyone out there making Carbon Fiber Fuel tanks ala Windy Urtnowski available for purchase?
Kaz sells them, and they are works of art and feather light. I think that's what David is using now.
Most of the other guys (as mentioned, Wayne Triven, and also Jim Tichy who supplied David for a while) making them have passed on - and that may not be a coincidence. The epoxy used is really nasty, toxic stuff and while I am not prone to worrying too much about alleged chemical exposure, I would be inclined to take great care with this particular class of materials. You can use them safely but you do need to take extensive precautions.
Brett
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Most of the other guys (as mentioned, Wayne Triven, and also Jim Tichy who supplied David for a while) making them have passed on - and that may not be a coincidence. The epoxy used is really nasty, toxic stuff and while I am not prone to worrying too much about alleged chemical exposure, I would be inclined to take great care with this particular class of materials. You can use them safely but you do need to take extensive precautions.
Brett
Good advise above from Brett, I can tell you first hand as I work with many many different types of resins, and it gets very nasty, especially when you have to post cure them, the fumes are extremely nasty!
Randy
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Thanks Brett. I've connect with Kaz. For what it's worth I have a couple of the Windy Urtnowski 7 oz carbon fiber tanks and they weigh less that 1 oz. I have one in my Shark 45 that has well over 600 flights on it with no issues with the tank. The pilot yes, but not the tank.
Regards,
Dave Sabon
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Thanks Brett. I've connect with Kaz. For what it's worth I have a couple of the Windy Urtnowski 7 oz carbon fiber tanks and they weigh less that 1 oz. I have one in my Shark 45 that has well over 600 flights on it with no issues with the tank. The pilot yes, but not the tank.
Regards,
Dave Sabon
Hi Dave,
I remember seeing some very fine patterns with that Shark and the PA61 that was in it! Fine flying airplane, and good running engine.
Is it still flying?
Randy Cuberly
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Dave,
These were very expensive tanks and required a lot of hand lay-up. Windy had special molds for making the standard size 1"x 2" x ___ size tank and the end caps. Wayne Triven made them for Windy and gave him the procedure, unfortunately Wayne passed away a few years back.
Although they were a bit lighter then a plastic R/C clunk tank it never was enough to justify the cost. The plastic R/C tank is about half the weight of a tin tank and the CF tank was about 2/3 the weight of the plastic tank (about 1/4 oz less). If you use the R/C clunk tank set up for uniflow its a good set up, you can search this forum for info on how to do it. If you want to save 1/8oz on the clunk tank you can shave the rubber stopper down a bit (it is the heaviest part of the plastic R/C tank).
Best, DennisT Dennis, i know where Wayns tank mold i S?Ps.
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Hi Dave,
I remember seeing some very fine patterns with that Shark and the PA61 that was in it! Fine flying airplane, and good running engine.
Is it still flying?
Randy Cuberly
Hi Randy, yes the Shark is still flying and with the automotive clear on it the finish, except for some hangar dings is in good shape. By the way, it has a PA 65 in it.
Regards,
Dave Sabon
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I new and flew with Wayne a few times back around 1990's. I have two of the tanks that were never finished. ~^He was perfecting these tanks for 1/2A use. I was trying to make the nose lighter on one of my planes and he handed me the two tanks.
Ed
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Eddy-
If and when you are able, could you post pictures of the CF tank parts??
I'm thinking of dabbling in this for a 1/2A myself, and want to see how my ideas of what to do compare with other peoples thoughts.
Thanks in advance,
Chris
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Hi Randy, yes the Shark is still flying and with the automotive clear on it the finish, except for some hangar dings is in good shape. By the way, it has a PA 65 in it.
Regards,
Dave Sabon
I remember Dave terrorizing Socal with that ship!! Side exhaust PA 65 if I remember correctly. I judged one of his flights at a past contest, and Dave had them cold going away with that thing.
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Howard made some CF tanks and gave up after struggling with leaks. Not at the joints, but right through the fabric. May have been due to the type epoxy in the pre-preg, but it sent him back to sheet metal. Or maybe he just needed nose weight... VD~ Steve
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And this was odd.....because Howard's is all lectric! LL~
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Howard made some CF tanks and gave up after struggling with leaks. Not at the joints, but right through the fabric. May have been due to the type epoxy in the pre-preg, but it sent him back to sheet metal. Or maybe he just needed nose weight... VD~ Steve
I got them working and used them until the end of my IC stunt days. I tried other resins, but you gotta use the one that Wayne used. It's made for chemical tank linings. It was fun making the tanks. You can make odd tank shapes, especially if you make clever plugs to mold them on.
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Howard, can you share the brand of resin that you were using?
I'm guessing plain old mgs won't work?
Thanks,
Chris
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Here is Wayne's article on tanks: http://www.nclra.org/TechTopics/WayneTrivin/CompositeTanks.html .
Resin was Shell Epon 862. It's now known as Epikote 862, made by somebody different. Here's some information: http://www.evroberts.com/EVRTDS/49/EPIKOTE%20Resin%20862%20EPIKURE%20Curing%20Agent%20W_tds.pdf . You can get it from EV Roberts.
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Thanks a lot for the info, Howard.
Regards,
Chris