Hi All:


     I got my 45 year old Shark 15 out of the attic and I saw that the Monocote had pulled loose from the trailing edges on two wing panels. How may I repair this model?

     One thought is to slather Balsarite all over the edge of the wings where the Monocoat has pulld away and attempte to iron it back down.  I would then heat shrink it with a heat gun.  Sounds easy but will this old Monocote still have any shrink left in it.  I doubt it as it becomes vey hot in the attic.

    Perhaps I should remove all of the old Monocote and apply new Monocote.

    Or I could use some of the old silk that I have in the attic and do a silk and dope job.  Does silk "rot" when it becomes old even it has not removed from the pacage.  This is some that I bought from World Engines circa 1975! LOL

    Any thought about what to do with this great airplane?

                                                                                                                  Stay well,

                                                                                                                   Frank

I would just recover with Monokote.

Silk is a real crapshoot!  I still have a model built in 1963 covered in Esaki silk and it's still like new.  Other planes, the silk rotted away after 3-4 years.  Still don't know why.

Floyd

That would be a good choice in my opinion too.  I tried to recover my first Thunderbird.  Had upright engine.  At that time I did not fly the pattern.  Just loops, eights and inverted flights.  Well, to make a long story short.  The wood in the plane was old and brittle from hanging in the basement.  Also the Testors Glue had let loose in most of the joints.  Like an idiot I finished off the destruction of the plane and it went in the trash.  To me the Thunderbird was the most beautiful of the planes in that period of time.