Hysol 101

[Dave S]

Hi Mark,

Well.....good question.....for those of us who have either built a Kitfox or are at some stage of construction it's apparent, but not necessarily so to a person who is considering or has not see the construction manual...so here goes....

Hysol is one type of structural epoxy adhesive....there are others but this is the one which is currently used on the Kitfox build.

So what do we do with it???? It is used to bond the wing ribs to the wing spars, also to bond the intercostals or ribs to the tail structure as well as many applications in construction where rivets and structural bonding is superior in strength to riveting alone....for instance....when affixing the lift strut brackets to the wing spars (many rivets and hysol). There are other parts of the process where hysol is used; but, you get the idea.

Now...what is this mixing and handling all about? Hysol, like other epoxy products is a two part product which has to be mixed in correct proportions to get its maximum strength.

Then there is the issue the two parts are somewhat the consistency and stickiness of something between "gorilla snot" (contact cement) and "smurf poop" (blue RTV).

That's the short read as to how & why we come up with clever and convenient ways of dealing with this stuff.

I can see your point...I have friends flying ultralights and trikes, etc, and when their machines were built no Hysol was involved...but lots of bolts, rivets and pins.

Cheers,

Dave S
KF 7 Trigear (Flying)
912ULS Warp Drive

St Paul, MN

[Chewie]

You had me at "Smurf poop".

Great info, thanks!!
Mark

[cap01]

do you mean what is hysol ? two part industrial adhesive that pretty much the whole airplane is stuck together with .
hows the flyin going ? weather up north not very good for getting out to head down there , maybe tomorrow .

[Chewie]

Fly-in was (and still is) packed! I saw one kitfox there, a Model IV 1200. Nice guy. If you stop by Sunday the weather here should be epic again, like it was today. None of that Columbia Gorge world-class wind crap.

Yeah, I was asking more about the application of hysol. Jim in Portland did a very nice job sealing the wing strut fairings and it may have been this stuff.

Mark

[jiott]

Hysol is an adhesive, not a filler. On my strut fairings I used Hysol to glue them in place, but then used Super-Fill epoxy (a Polyfiber product) to fill and fair in the strut ends. They are both two part epoxy's but totally different purposes.

Jim

[Flybyjim]

Thanks for all the suggestions for measuring the Hysol.

[grdev]

Is Hysol used to glue leading edge to spar? If so how much does it take to do the job? Is this stuff safe to use in a basement work shop, I mean with the fumes and stuff? Is the Dow Corning RTV just used for the fuel Tanks?

Thanks
Gil

[Esser]

There is a smell to the Hysol but it's not over powering and doesn't have fumes. You more smell it when you are right over top of it. I used it in my basement all last winter with no issues. You do use it for the leading edge and yes the rtv is for the tanks.

[Paul Z]

My sister has a collection of Smurf's going back to the start of the Smurf's. I have always wondered what the Smurf Poop was referring too! My sister is going to love her new gift a tube of Smurf Poop. I've even got a picture for the label,
image.jpg
I'll need to work on the "Caution" label "Smurf Poop is extremely resilient and will not come out of clothes, or bed coverings". My work jacket became a work jacket because of Smurf's Poop!

Hi Mark,

Well.....good question.....for those of us who have either built a Kitfox or are at some stage of construction it's apparent, but not necessarily so to a person who is considering or has not see the construction manual...so here goes....

Hysol is one type of structural epoxy adhesive....there are others but this is the one which is currently used on the Kitfox build.

So what do we do with it???? It is used to bond the wing ribs to the wing spars, also to bond the intercostals or ribs to the tail structure as well as many applications in construction where rivets and structural bonding is superior in strength to riveting alone....for instance....when affixing the lift strut brackets to the wing spars (many rivets and hysol). There are other parts of the process where hysol is used; but, you get the idea.

Now...what is this mixing and handling all about? Hysol, like other epoxy products is a two part product which has to be mixed in correct proportions to get its maximum strength.

Then there is the issue the two parts are somewhat the consistency and stickiness of something between "gorilla snot" (contact cement) and "smurf poop" (blue RTV).

That's the short read as to how & why we come up with clever and convenient ways of dealing with this stuff.

I can see your point...I have friends flying ultralights and trikes, etc, and when their machines were built no Hysol was involved...but lots of bolts, rivets and pins.

Cheers,

Dave S
KF 7 Trigear (Flying)
912ULS Warp Drive

St Paul, MN

[jmodguy]

Cool country singer Tobie Keith would be proud he has a song "Red Solo Cup" lol

now there is another use for them besides drinking

There are alternatives.... Toby would be dismayed to say the least. Red solo cups have one purpose - the others - not so much!!