We are proud to introduce a World first product to the market. These are aero grade structural basalt fiber sheets.
I designed these sheets specifically for jet modelers and the aerospace industry. The very specific thing about this product is that it is designed for both structural reinforcement, to improve the look of the internal structure and to be flame proof. As such it features one face with a nice satin look and one face with a ready to remove peel ply fabric.
The peeled side will ensure the absolute best bounding characteristics onto any type of material used in a jet and is totally free from any release agent. So it is just a matter of cutting your plate, removing the peel ply and gluing it with any type of epoxy in your plane.
The added benefit of leaving the peel ply in place is: protection of the basalt fiber surface, and ease of cutting. We recommend cutting the plate from the peel ply side with a hack saw fitted with a ceramic cutting blade ( the ones that have a diamond coating ). This will ensure that the satin face is not scratched. The peel ply being still in position during the cutting process will help the hack saw socket to glide on the plate.
Additionally, the plates feature a very unique material. Basalt fiber is a Russian aerospace technology mostly used by Sukhoy. This fiber is made from extruded volcano rocks that are purified and re-melted at 1500 degrees c. The resulting filament is extremely resilient at high temperature and actually gets harder with temperature rising up to 1000 c.
The plates are infused with a specific aero epoxy resin. The fabrics are laid up dry on the marble and the resin is sucked by the vacuum, chasing absolutely all the air bubbles. The fabric is also optimally impregnated with this method with no resin excess. Finally, the plates are post cured at 80 c/ 175 F and have a plastic point of 250 c/ 480 F, and will keep their strength even in the hottest conditions. These plates will resist to 250c continuous and will not allow a 1000c torch to pass through.
Finally Basalt fiber is completely non conductive and inert to any radio wave. This is a good alternative to carbon fiber where design black waving is required but radio making is a concern.
The fiber features a nice dark brown hue and is very close to carbon fiber aesthetically wise.
The plate rigidity is slightly higher than glass, with a better shock resistance than carbon fiber. This material can be considered as being half way between carbon fiber and kevlar fiber.