Briggs wrote:
So I'm curious as to how much more money you spent going with composite panels over the traditional aluminum and how much weight you think you will save? I think the eye candy alone would be worth it.
Thanks.
Don't make me do the cost........it's definitely more expensive, think double or triple the cost for raw materials alone. Add in consumables like bagging material, peel ply, breather cloth, then the tooling, vacuum pump, and finally my precious time and you quickly realize why pre-made composite sheet stock costs a small fortune. But this is my build, I like composites, and I already have the knowledge and tooling to make the parts.
Let's get back on track.....I weighed a bunch of my parts and I'm getting a low of 0.298 lb/sq.ft. and a high of 0.391 lb/sq.ft.. It all depends on the type of core (nomex, coremat, plascore) and what plys I used (carbon, glass, kevlar). For reference 0.025" thick aluminum sheet weighs in at 0.036 lb/sq.ft. I don't know of very many people that would recommend using 0.025" aluminum sheet for a floor, side panels, or a bulkhead. But I'll put my composite panels up against a steel floor or 2024-T3 or 7075-T6 alum. sheet any day of the week for rigidity and/or puncture resistance.