Hughes Aircraft Company

Willis B Tolley

John F Binnie, Jr

The structural and gas-light bond between a radome and a fuselage in a missile cna be simultaneously fabricated in an improved methodology which reduces the numbers of fixtures required to be utilized, dramatically reduces the time for cure, simplifies the procedure, reduces the cost of fabrication and increases the yield. The fabrication process is comprised of the steps of applying an HT-424 film adhesive on the vertical flange of an etched surface of a fuselage. The film is spaced apart from the butt surface of the flange. A fillet of EA-934 paste adhesive is laid and formed into the corner of the flange between its vertical surface and the radially extending butt surface. The radome is then assembled onto the flange with all the paste adhesive which is extruded from the flange during assembly being immediately removed with a dampened cloth saturated with isopropyl alcohol. The assembled radome and fuselage is set within a fixture and heated to the curing temperatures and times required for the structural HT-424 adhesive on the one hand and the gas-tight sealing EA-934 paste adhesive on the other. The assembled fuselage and radome is then removed from the oven and allowed to cool with the result being a fully cured gas-tight and structurally sound bond between the radome and fuselage.

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Tucson, AZ, United States of America

Willis B Tolley