canopy's? what does FRP stand for?

[dyin2fly]

looking to get a new canopy, but cant find anything that is cheap and looks halfway descent. I have a 425 basic, what does( frp) stand for on the canopy title?
the plastic ones I have keep cracking apart on me.
any advice? thank you

[Ah Clem]

Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic

[dyin2fly]

thank you, sounds like it ought to be a little stronger.
in your opinion, are they worth buying?

[Ah Clem]

It just means its fiberglass.

Not any stronger than any other fiberglass.

[dyin2fly]

[QUOTE=Ah Clem;3003546]It just means its fiberglass.

Not any stronger than any other fiberglass.[/QUOT

I meant its stronger than plastic.

[Copter64]

Originally Posted by Ah Clem

It just means its fiberglass.
Not any stronger than any other fiberglass.

Can anyone explain a bit more on this?

There seems to be many different interpretations of what it means for something to be "fiberglass". When I think of something made of "fiberglass" I think of pieces of woven fiberglass cloth pressed with resin/epoxy built-up on a mold, thus the piece will have a visible fiberglass weave pattern (unless this is filled and sanded smooth). (This is the way that fiberglass boat-hulls used to be made. later in the industry, they moved to using chopped-up pieces of fiberglass instead of woven cloth)

Another way to do it is to have chopped-up small pieces of fiberglass mixed with a resin,or polymer (plastic), pressed into a mold ... similar to injection molding. I think this is closer to what "FRP" is, it is like plastic injection molding but the plastic has chopped-up fibers in it. Thus, there are no layers of woven fiberglass cloth as the underlying structure.

[Brick]

i put my plastic canopy together using CA with an activator ...it's solid as a rock ! yeah it's got the seam down the middle, but it turned out pretty good

[dyin2fly]

yeah, but mine is cracking around the canopy mounts.
tore up pretty bad now, cant even get them to keep the grommets in anymore.

[PTcaflyer]

...If you have 5 min. epoxy, put some tape over the canopy mount holes and apply epoxy on the inside of each hole about 1" dia. and let set up...you could even put some fiberglass cloth down with some CA and epoxy over it...just drill new holes and they will be way stronger than original...Or buy a new canopy !
PT

[Brick]

yeah, the only cheap alternative is the GAUI frp canopy......which is a nice canopy !

http://www.heliflightcenter.com/2041...n_p/204166.htm

[Robertwav1]

I bought a trex 500 canopy from hobbyking I believe. It needed a piece of vinyl extension on the bottom to accomadate the mount but it looks good. Painted and fiberglass for around 15 - 16 $. A lot tougher then the plastic ones that come with it and looks better. I won't spend $40 on a canopy that I'm eventually gonna lose in a crash anyway.