Recovering a Tube and Rag Aircraft

Generic polyester fabric, contact cement and dope.

Excellent. Where may this dope be bought? If you buy it from the
aircraft suppliers you pay an arm and a leg, plus awful hazmat charges.

-----------------------------------------------------------

The local Home Depot (San Marcos, CA) carries nitrocellulose dope.

-------------------------------------------------------------

But you left out: Which is lightest in weight?, Which is easiest to
apply? and Which is most beloved amongst those who have never done any
fabric work at all?, always a hot topic on this Newsgroup :-)

Mr. Hoover, kind sir, could you (or someone else as knowledgeable) answer
those questions you posed?

------------------------------------------------------------

That was offered tongue-in-cheek. If you're experienced in fabric
work you can do a pretty good job with whatever materials come to
hand. But if you don't know how, you're probably better off going to
one of those 'Workshops.' They'll be happy to sell you a dimes-worth
of information for a dollar, along with their over-priced dope, fabric
& glue. Make you an Instant Expert in all aspects of fabric work :-)

Of course, if you were experienced in fabric work you wouldn't be
asking.

I learned using the $35 videotape and the manual, didn't need to pay
tuition.

I have rib-stitched several aircraft and covered two sets of wings,
including the wings on my Taylorcraft --- done in the 80's. The reason why
I was asking is I wanted to find a cheaper alternative to Stits (now
Polyfiber) and may well have found it.

Of course, if the aircraft is experimental, no big worry. I just saw
homebuilt parts today covered beautifully with un-pma'd dacron, contact
cement, and dope. No dope at HD here though, but it can be bought at
Sherwin Wilhelmina.

The Catch-22 is that you need to know how to do fabric work
before you can appreciate most of the answers you're going to get.

No C-22 for me.

Most homebuilders only cover one airplane in their life, generally
buy-in to one of the package deals, use the tail feathers and control
surfaces to learn on. Usually works out okay but the cost can run two
or three times more than it should. I suggest you try to find an
experienced hand to show you how to rib-stitch,

Been there, done that. I ran up and down the stairs and aggravated the
dog, watching Ray Stits on the video, then running downstairs to do another
loop of the stitch with flat thread until I had it down. Then I buried the
knot in the wing. That was almost 20 years ago and it's like riding a
bike --- you may get rusty but don't forget. I didn't but was looking for
a better process. What's wrong with trading two or more competitors off
against each other? It's the American way. Therefore, I'll probably try
Airtech this time. I have friends who swear by it. We'll see whose
materials are cheaper and I'll post it right here.



do the taping and so
on. Basic covering is fairly straight-forward but the durability and
appearance of the finished job hinges on a host of details.

-R.S.Hoover

Veedubyie, you're better at giving lectures on rivits. Rivit. Rivit.
Rivit.


That young fellow in Minot, N. Dakota, now he's got the voice of experience
on fabric covering.

" jls" wrote in message
t...
[...]
That young fellow in Minot, N. Dakota, now he's got the voice of
experience
on fabric covering.

I just got off the phone after talking to Minot Piper, who has covered,
stitched, and painted many an airplane, and oh brother is he an interesting
and informative gentleman to talk to. But he lives in Abilene, Texas, not
in North Dakota.