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Opinions on fabric

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Posted

My plan is to go with the sterwart system but I'm wondering about what polyester fabric weight to go with. The kit I'm building came with the light uncertified fabric 1.7 or 1.8 oz and I still have it.(kept in a closet for 21 years) From what I've been reading the light wasn't recommended for planes over 65hp and I'm using the 912ULS 100hp. Maybe the reccomendation was due to the speed?

I'd like to be cheap and use what I have but for a few hundred extra dollars this probably isn't the place to be trying to cut any corners if theres any risk of trouble.

Travis

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Posted

My plan is to go with the sterwart system but I'm wondering about what polyester fabric weight to go with. The kit I'm building came with the light uncertified fabric 1.7 or 1.8 oz and I still have it.(kept in a closet for 21 years) From what I've been reading the light wasn't recommended for planes over 65hp and I'm using the 912ULS 100hp. Maybe the reccomendation was due to the speed?

I'd like to be cheap and use what I have but for a few hundred extra dollars this probably isn't the place to be trying to cut any corners if theres any risk of trouble.

Travis

I would go with the medium,I think it is 2.7 oz,you can get it from Aircraft Spruce for under 5 bucks a yard for non certified.You will like the Stewart System.Randy

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Posted

The actual weight gain or savings is not really that much in the long run.

To me, it was more important on my mission. Are you planning on flying airport to airport and keeping it in the garage or hangar?? If so, the light fabric is all you will ever need.

Are you planning on dragging the wing tips through the trees and the tail throught the brush on tiny little rock and gravel strips and keeping the plane out in the weather? If so, Meduim is the clear choice.

I used medium on mine and dont regret it! 3 yrs ago when flying off skis, a buddy flying his MK IV that was covered in the light fabric landed next to me in some deep snow that had about 3/8" of nasty ice on top of the snow. His fuse and lower rudder got torn up pretty good and had to be taped up before we could fly out of there and mine only had a little bit of paint rubbed off it.

:BC:

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Posted (edited)

Travis,

Give Stewart a call and get their opinion - I talked to them a while back when we warped the hell out of the root rib on the J3. They said that this new 2.7 shrinks so much more than the old, that there have been warpage problems on the Kitfoxes, and they recommend only 1.7 which is a finer weave and takes less paint to cover.

In no circumstance with either, do not go over 300 shrink - 275 might do for the 2.7, and maybe for the 1.7.

He also said to pull the big wrinkles out of the fabric when you first do the undercamber, and then glue front and back and every rib before shrinking at 250. work from middle bay and skip bays each way, then go back to the skipped bays.

Do the topside and shrink to 250, same skipping method, before going to 275 on the bottom, and you work both top and bottom at the same time, skipping, as you continue to shrink.

One option, and I'm not sure if this would work, (ask Stewart), would be to only use 2.7 on the horizontal tail and under the fuselage, if you plan on driving thru brush, or landing in 10 feet of snow covered with ice, or on glaciers,

like the wild Alaskan bush pilots do?

I have even wondered about fiberglassing, or sheet aluminum on the bottom of the fuselage, but that would add weight. Has anyone ever tried this?

Hope this helps.

ED in MO

Edited by Ed In Missouri

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Posted

The actual weight gain or savings is not really that much in the long run.

To me, it was more important on my mission. Are you planning on flying airport to airport and keeping it in the garage or hangar?? If so, the light fabric is all you will ever need.

Are you planning on dragging the wing tips through the trees and the tail throught the brush on tiny little rock and gravel strips and keeping the plane out in the weather? If so, Meduim is the clear choice.

I used medium on mine and dont regret it! 3 yrs ago when flying off skis, a buddy flying his MK IV that was covered in the light fabric landed next to me in some deep snow that had about 3/8" of nasty ice on top of the snow. His fuse and lower rudder got torn up pretty good and had to be taped up before we could fly out of there and mine only had a little bit of paint rubbed off it.

:BC:

What kind of tape did y'all use? My Viet Nam "conflict" buddy says they had some super-sticky, super-strong tape there then that was not authorized but kept a lot of shot-up planes in the air and saved a lot of lives.

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Posted

What kind of tape did y'all use? My Viet Nam "conflict" buddy says they had some super-sticky, super-strong tape there then that was not authorized but kept a lot of shot-up planes in the air and saved a lot of lives.

Gorilla tape.. the only stuff I have found that will stick when its cold out! when you try to peel it off it takes the paint with it.

:BC:

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Posted (edited)

What kind of tape did y'all use? My Viet Nam "conflict" buddy says they had some super-sticky, super-strong tape there then that was not authorized but kept a lot of shot-up planes in the air and saved a lot of lives.

Twister,

You were in Turkey while I was flying in Germany - A friend of mine was USAF in Turkey at that time, and said that Gary Powers and the U-2s, were flying out of there. Ever see them?

ED in MO

Edited by Ed In Missouri

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