Full airplane cover?

[Robert M. Gary]

A friend and I have talked about buying a fun plane in addition to our
Mooney. All the "fun" planes I've enjoyed flying have been fabric. One
of our requirements is no electrical system (just because the must fun
I've had flying is when the plane is simple). I used to fly a Cessna
140 and even that wasn't simply enough for me. :) I'm thinking about
getting another Champ, Chief or J-3 (I've flown all 3). One of the
limiting factors had always been trying to justify spending $400/month
for a shared hanger for a second airplane. However, I noticed one
plane for sale that the owner had made a complete airplane cover. He
said he keeps the plane outside. The entire wing, body, and tail are
100% covered by this cover (looks like Sunbrella type material). A
typlical rule of thumb seems to be that a fabric plane will last about
10 years outside or 50ish years inside. I live in Nor Cal where we get
freezing nights in the winter and a few dozen 100+ days in the summer.

Has anyone had experience trying the full body cover thing? Can it
protect the fabric? It would seem that a $1000 cover would pay for
itself pretty fast compared to the massive cost for hangers in
California.

-Robert

[Jay Beckman]

"Robert M. Gary" > wrote in message
om...
> A friend and I have talked about buying a fun plane in addition to our
> Mooney. All the "fun" planes I've enjoyed flying have been fabric. One
> of our requirements is no electrical system (just because the must fun
> I've had flying is when the plane is simple). I used to fly a Cessna
> 140 and even that wasn't simply enough for me. :) I'm thinking about
> getting another Champ, Chief or J-3 (I've flown all 3). One of the
> limiting factors had always been trying to justify spending $400/month
> for a shared hanger for a second airplane. However, I noticed one
> plane for sale that the owner had made a complete airplane cover. He
> said he keeps the plane outside. The entire wing, body, and tail are
> 100% covered by this cover (looks like Sunbrella type material). A
> typlical rule of thumb seems to be that a fabric plane will last about
> 10 years outside or 50ish years inside. I live in Nor Cal where we get
> freezing nights in the winter and a few dozen 100+ days in the summer.
>
> Has anyone had experience trying the full body cover thing? Can it
> protect the fabric? It would seem that a $1000 cover would pay for
> itself pretty fast compared to the massive cost for hangers in
> California.
>
> -Robert

Robert/All...

Could moisture/mildew be a problem with a full cover? Or is there some way
for air to circulate enough to mitigate such problems?

Just curious...

Jay Beckman
Student Pilot - KCHD
16.3 Hrs ... Nowhere to go but up!

[EDR]

In article <q3Slc.11830$k24.5661@fed1read01>, Jay Beckman
> wrote:

> Could moisture/mildew be a problem with a full cover? Or is there some way
> for air to circulate enough to mitigate such problems?

Trapped moisture is DEFINITELY a problem and could cause serious
corrosion and/or rotting.
The 10 year figure is due to ultraviolet breakdown.
Depending on the structure (wood, metal, wood/metal), you would want to
do a recover just to check out the condition.

[Steve]

OH NO, FREEZING NIGHTS IN THE WINTER RUN FOR THE HILLS!
bah! try living in northern ontario for a winter. You Nor Cal boys would go
into a permafreeze.

Anyways, yes, I am living in Northern Ontario for school (Canadore College
School of Aviation) We're an aviation maintenance training school and we
use one of these full plane covers for our Cessna 310. The person in our
neighbouring hangars owns a Decathlon, which he also uses the full plane
cover for. The material is very thick gortex with a water proof soft liner.
We at Canadore use it only until mid november, then we bring it inside for
the winter, but our mid fall is like your mid winter, so it will work well.
Cant help ya price wise though.
"Robert M. Gary" > wrote in message
om...
> A friend and I have talked about buying a fun plane in addition to our
> Mooney. All the "fun" planes I've enjoyed flying have been fabric. One
> of our requirements is no electrical system (just because the must fun
> I've had flying is when the plane is simple). I used to fly a Cessna
> 140 and even that wasn't simply enough for me. :) I'm thinking about
> getting another Champ, Chief or J-3 (I've flown all 3). One of the
> limiting factors had always been trying to justify spending $400/month
> for a shared hanger for a second airplane. However, I noticed one
> plane for sale that the owner had made a complete airplane cover. He
> said he keeps the plane outside. The entire wing, body, and tail are
> 100% covered by this cover (looks like Sunbrella type material). A
> typlical rule of thumb seems to be that a fabric plane will last about
> 10 years outside or 50ish years inside. I live in Nor Cal where we get
> freezing nights in the winter and a few dozen 100+ days in the summer.
>
> Has anyone had experience trying the full body cover thing? Can it
> protect the fabric? It would seem that a $1000 cover would pay for
> itself pretty fast compared to the massive cost for hangers in
> California.
>
> -Robert

[Robert M. Gary]

"Jay Beckman" > wrote in message news:<q3Slc.11830$k24.5661@fed1read01>...
> "Robert M. Gary" > wrote in message
> om...
> > A friend and I have talked about buying a fun plane in addition to our
> > Mooney. All the "fun" planes I've enjoyed flying have been fabric. One
> > of our requirements is no electrical system (just because the must fun
> > I've had flying is when the plane is simple). I used to fly a Cessna
> > 140 and even that wasn't simply enough for me. :) I'm thinking about
> > getting another Champ, Chief or J-3 (I've flown all 3). One of the
> > limiting factors had always been trying to justify spending $400/month
> > for a shared hanger for a second airplane. However, I noticed one
> > plane for sale that the owner had made a complete airplane cover. He
> > said he keeps the plane outside. The entire wing, body, and tail are
> > 100% covered by this cover (looks like Sunbrella type material). A
> > typlical rule of thumb seems to be that a fabric plane will last about
> > 10 years outside or 50ish years inside. I live in Nor Cal where we get
> > freezing nights in the winter and a few dozen 100+ days in the summer.
> >
> > Has anyone had experience trying the full body cover thing? Can it
> > protect the fabric? It would seem that a $1000 cover would pay for
> > itself pretty fast compared to the massive cost for hangers in
> > California.
> >
> > -Robert
>
> Robert/All...
>
> Could moisture/mildew be a problem with a full cover? Or is there some way
> for air to circulate enough to mitigate such problems?
>
> Just curious...

I don't think so. Most airplanes use a cover (just not a full plane
cover). A lot of companies (like Bruce's) spend lots of money on
research to ensure their fabrics breath correctly. One of the more
populate products is Sunbrella material which is used on boats and
other expensive outdoor toys. I would think that if the fabric didn't
breathe and was harming expensive toys, that the company would have
problems.

-Robert