[Joeaksa]

Originally posted by dd74
Joe: what's fabric covered mean? What sort of fabric is used?

DD,

In the old days it was cotton or linen, with a type of dope over it that shrunk the fabric. Problem is that it was really sensative that if you put too much dope on the fabric it could shrink so much that it broke the wooden bits inside, or not enough and the fabric could be loose. The old stuff was also highly flammable and the reason why the old WW1 planes would go down in flames when in combat.

Now almost all the planes use syn fabric that is closest to the fabric that sailboats use for their sails, but very thin. Then a dope is sprayed over them that contains ground up aluminum to keep the sun from getting to the fabric and weakening it. Next is a coat of paint.

All in all its fairly light and a covering usually last 30+ years if the plane is kept in a hangar. Leaving it outside can mean that it has to be recovered after 10 years or so. Its expensive and very labour entensive so something you do not want to do often. Doing fabric is kinda a work of art and people who do it are becoming fewer and fewer as time goes by. I still enjoy doing fabric but have not done it in a while.

Aaron,

Airplane went out of annual inspection yesterday. Need to do its yearly inspection then its legal to fly again. Glad to give you a ride anytime!

JoeA