Having spent many hours doing layups in both carbon fiber and e-glass, I
have come to the conclusion that if I were to build another glass airplane,
I would throw the e-glass away, and do everything in carbon fiber (I'd use
glass where antennas need to work.)

Reasons:
1. Carbon wets out faster than glass.
2. Carbon lays up easier than glass.
3. Carbon never seems to get bubbles, and glass never completely gets rid of
bubbles. (Translation: MANY HOURS OF WORK)
4. Carbon is stronger than glass. (Maybe lighter, too.)
5. Carbon seems to make epoxy set a little faster than glass, allowing more
work in a session. (This is minor, and requires verification.)
6. Carbon never seems to slide once set in place, while glass often does,
particularly when working around curves.

Disadvantages:
1. Carbon is more expensive than glass. (More than offset by #3 above. See
below.)

Vern has to charge us $35+ per yard for 5.7 ounce carbon fiber normal weave.
While I normally would say buy from Lancair, this is one time I suggest you
look around. I just got a shipment of the same stuff for $20.19 per yard
(<15 yds). For larger amounts the prices are $18.99/yd (15-99 yds) or
$17.94/yd for 100 yard roll at
http://fiberglasssupply.com/Product_Catalog/Reinforcements/reinforcements.ht
ml.

Certainly this is more expensive than e-glass at $4-5 per yard, but consider
the following. If you use 50 yards of fabric (either kind) in the plane, at
$20/yard, carbon costs $1,000. E-glass costs $200. The difference of $800
equals less than 54 hours of bubble chasing in e-glass at $15 per hour. I
know that I have spent a LOT more than 50 hours chasing bubbles in my 6,500+
hours on my IV-P. Need I say more?

Ted Noel
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