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Minimum finishing

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12notes

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Aug 27, 2014
Messages
1,286
Location
Louisville, KY
I've read here that you can spend enormous amounts of time finishing a composite plane to get it to look perfect. Obviously, if looks are a primary concern, this is well worth the effort. But if looks are not that important, what is the minimum you can do without causing a considerable drop in performance? I know paint is necessary for UV protection, but what level of filling and sanding is required to be "good enough"?

Sorry to be vague, but I really don't know enough to be more specific. If a composite wing requires, say, 80 hours construction to be pretty and 120 hours to be perfect, how many hours would be flyable and how much more would get a comparable (within 10%) cruise speed to the pretty one? (Times were wild guesses, please correct if they're way off).
 
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