First step was to remove the 2x1 braces and all the bondo blobs...
I used the multi tool as a "meat slicer"... running the blade as flush with the surface as possible and removed small layers of bondo at a time.. this worked great!
Then sanded the remaining bondo away...
Oh that's right, there is another winglet...
Very cool sight to see the winglets on the wings with no bracing!
There was still a bit of bondo on the corner where the winglet meets the wing... this is not ok!
So I used a metal file to get it all off...
Taaaa-daaaaa! No more bondo!!!
With the surfaces prepped... it was time for the inboard top layup! I prepped the bench to prepreg the UNI plies... I used aluminum foil and planned to start with the smallest ply first (like an upside down wedding cake) so that when I transfered the preg onto the winglet/wing, it would be right side up. This worked well; however, the ply stuck a bit to the aluminum foil and ended up doing the other winglet with cling wrap - this made it much easier to peel the cling wrap off compared to the aluminum foil.
But before I prepregged the UNI plies... I painted plain epoxy onto the surfaces.. and applied a small flox fillet on the corner to avoid air bubbles...
Two plies of BID at 45... note the BID wraps around the winglet leading edge at the bottom as stated in the plans...
With the two BID plies wetted out.. it was time to do the UNI prepreg...
I made sure the BID plies had no air bubbles on the corner...
And then installed the prepreg... used a squeegee to make sure there was no air bubbles and that the uni strands were perfectly straight...
Peel ply....
Aaaaand repeat for the other winglet...
After cure, it was time to trim everything flush...
And there you have it! Top inboard layups complete!!! The winglets are now officially bonded to the wings!! Next up - rudders!
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