Aerolite Sources
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Aerolite Sources |
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Some of you have contacted us to inform us that Aircraft Spruce and Wicks Aircraft are no longer offering Aerolite glue. I have been working on this and attempting to find out if this is a temporary or permanent situation.
I contacted Ciba-Geigy, who said that in 1989 Ciba-Geigy sold the Aerolite product line to:
DynoChem UK, Ltd,
Alan Works
Denby Road
Mold, Clwyd
CH7 1BF Flintshire
North Wales
UKTel: 011-44-1352-757-657
Fax: 011-44-1352-758-914
I have also contacted the manager of Wicks Aircraft and he says he is interested in continuing to offer Aerolite if he can get it. I've supplied Wicks with the information on DynoChem, so let's hope they work it out.
Alfred Scott
alfred@seqair.com
David Almey owns a home builders supply company here. I mentioned
your request to him, and he says he is willing to supply USA builders.
He can be contacted at skycraftltd@aol.com.
Let me know if want more infomation as I should be able to find
the main supplier/manufacturer with a little more research. I
have already tried to do that before emailing you but each contact
I made seemed to be keeping a tight lip and I could not get very
far.
I too contacted DYNA-CHEM, and they were not at all helpful. The receptionist claimed they did not make Aerolite, according to her another company in Scotland was the producer, although when I rang them they denied it. I will try again this week and get back to you.
Stuart Gane
stuart.gane@lineone.net
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Skycraft Ltd. We stock a large range of products as Stuart Gane will conform. I think we are the largest suppliers to the home build market in the UK. Details can be found on our website, which is still in its early days but Aerolite is already covered as well as is thin birch plywood. I expect the problem shipping this to the US will be the hardner as it will probably have to go sea freight. It would be better for you to purchase in bulk and distribute I expect. Visa and mastercard accepted. My Falco proceeds well and should fly next year. Just finished the nose leg assembly. Kind regards, David Almey Skycraft Ltd. Tel: (0044) 0870 7592723 |
A friend and I bought our Aerolite from DynoChem UK. But we waited nearly three months. Finely we got it in September 2000.
But I spoke with another company:
Aeropia LTD.
Aeropia House,
Newton RD.
Crawley
Surry. RH 10 2TY
Tel. 01293-459500
Fax 01293-459600
They told that I could have all the Aerolite I want. I got the address from Mr. David Dawson, Aircraft Spruce UK
I hope this can make the sun shine again!!
Uffe Hjordt Brink,
Denmark
hjordt.spec@get2net.dk
In reply to your e-mail dated 18th January, I can confirm that Aerolite 306 is still the most common glue approved for use in wood aircraft building in the UK. We have not had problems with this glue in hot weather like the Australians have. We find it excellent.
I suggest you discuss buying Aerolite from the UK centre for Aircraft Spruce & Speciality, telephone 01462 441995. Or you might try CP Industries at www.custompak.com who are already supplying Aerodux 500 in the USA.
Francis Donaldson
Chief Engineer
Popular Flying Association
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Many of you have reported problems in getting Aerolite in the U.S. Aerolite is readily available in England, however the glue must be shipped by sea freight. The cost of shipping means that it makes a lot more sense if Falco builders share a larger order. Garry Wilburn is getting ready to place an order for about 50 pounds of Aerolite, much of it to be split with other Falco builders. Please contact Garry immediately if you are interested. This is First Come, First Serve. Alfred Scott Dave Almey of Skycraft LTD, UK, can procure Aerolite and ship it to the U.S. via sea freight. Purchasing in 25 kg quantities is reasonably cost-efficient. I am willing to buy 25 kg of both Aerolite 306 powder and GBPX hardener. I will keep what I need to complete my project, and offer the remainder in 5 or 10 pound portions to other builders. It will be offered at my cost plus shipping to the new address. Powder would be priced at approximately $6.50 per pound and hardener at $4.50 per pound. Due to the size of this investment, I am looking for a few commitments prior to the purchase. If you are interested, please email me at gwilburn@kerrlake.com or call me at (804) 374-2904. Garry Wilburn |
I'd suggest that you visit the following website which might be what you're looking for.
http://www.dynoasa.com/dynoweb/dynoweb.nsf/pages/dynooc
On this page the company references "Dyno Wood & Speciality Adhesives".
Hope this helps,
Steven Woolgrove
steven.j.woolgrove@intel.com
A company called Gluelines (http://www.gluelines.co.uk/) is now an Aerolite distributor in the UK and he sells the glue in six-pack kits of 375 grams each -- guess about five pounds.
John Kahrs
kahrs@pixar.com
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From "Construction Notes" Falco Builders Letter March/June 2002 |
Thanks to Robert Bird, we have located a company in Florida that will import Aerolite, however you must be willing to commit on a fairly substantial order. It usually means that you get at least five Falco builders to split the order. We have used our website to help builders who place and order and then split it up, and that has worked well so far. We have also been working with Wicks Aircraft to get them to once again offer Aerolite in their catalogue. At this point, we don't have a final decision, but they are interested. We will keep you posted as things develop.
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Falco builder Bill Hoffman bought some Aerolite from Skycraft in UK, but Skycraft could not ship the hardener. Skycraft provided the following recipe for making GBPX hardener.
Aerolite is a urea/formaldehyde glue, and formaldehyde was used the making it, obviously. It's always been our understanding that the Formic acid hardner was chosen because it is just decomposed formaldehyde, and they used it because they got it automatically as part of the process. The hardener with Aerolite is a true catalyst, and thus is causes the chemical reaction but does not become part of the chemical process. Probably any acid could be used, but I wouldn't want to try that. Now, where to get Formic acid? Formic acid is used in taxidermy and beekeeping.
We contacted the manufacturers of Formic acid (BASF and Hoechst Celanese), and managed to get through to the product managers. To buy Formic acid in small quantities, they suggest buying from a laboratory supply company. Our local yellow pages list five companies under the "Laboratory Equipment and Supplies" category, so you might start by checking with your local supplies. It's easy to get if you want to buy a 55 gallon drum, but I made a number of calls and finally got the product manager for Formic Acid with BASF on the phone, and told him I was looking for a source in small quantities. After a lot of conversation, he suddenly said that I just needed to contact a laboratory supply company. He gave me three names to try: BASF suggests the following three sources:
Our suggestion is to buy a supply of four bottles. If you end up on the telephone with someone, for God's sake don't say "airplane" or they will panic and hang up on you. It's for your chemical laboratory, you're a high school teacher, and you just ran out... |
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