From: "Tester" <tester@fuse.net>
Subject: COZY: Re: Defining the problem-spar cap tape
Date: Fri, 4 May 2001 22:17:38 -0400

While building my canard and my wing I ran into two problems with the spar
cap tape from Spruce. First the key thread was broken in several places and
then tied off to the cross thread, or worse the spar thread. They tie it in
a very tight not making removal (with sticky stuff everywhere) very
difficult if not impossible. The second problem that I saw that I considered
horrifying, was the spar tape itself was cut in several spots and epoxied
back in place. Identifying these breaks was quite easy since they don't wet
out. Unfortunately, you probably won't see them until you are well into
wetting out the layer. Only fix is to throw the offending pieces away, and
run fresh tape. If you run into a spot that seems hard to wet out, examine
it carefully, I found blobs of epoxy elsewhere on the tape too.

I contacted spruce about the problem and although their first line of
defense (customer service) got me absolutely nowhere. I persisted and
contacted Steve via email. He sent me my estimated lost tape (15 yards
total). But never bothered to respond to my questions about the integrity of
the materials, and contacting other purchasers and warning them of the
hazards. If you purchased spar tape in the summer of 2000 and have not used
it beware of this problem.

Also interesting to note there seem to be two different widths that Spruce
passes as 3" tape. The first width I received (canard) was actually 3" and
the second (wing/center spar) was closer to 2.5". It takes a lot more 2.5"
tape (duh) to fill the troughs. I am not sure on what Nat recommends but I
knew my troughs were the correct depth on my wings, so I did the wings like
the canard and filled level with the surface.


Rob.
Cozy #870.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Nat Puffer" <cozy@extremezone.com>
To: <Cozy_builders@canard.com>
Sent: Friday, May 04, 2001 2:03 PM
Subject: COZY: Defining the problem-spar cap tape


> Builders,
> In one of my previous posts, I commented that one thing I have learned,
and
> that is not to come up with solutions until you know what the problem is.
> When I saw a sample of the problem spar cap tape, the problem wasn't that
> some of the cross threads were missing, rather it was a case of the
> operator having the tension set too high on the cross threads, so the
> colored, removeable thread was being pulled into the weave and couldn't be
> removed. Once Aircraft Spruce recognized what the problem was, they
brought
> in one of the old operators to show the new operator how to set the
> tensions. Latest word from Wicks is that the material they are now
getting,
> if not perfect, is very close to perfect.
> Regards,
> Nat
>