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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. |
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" 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. |
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