by Jim Bair » Fri Jun 13, 2014 3:38 pm
I have covered the tail surfaces and part of the fuselage. Getting ready to do the wings soon, and with left overs from that do the ailerons and flaps. I have been pleased with the results for my application. My previous fabric experience was with more conventional systems and this is almost nothing like those. There are advantages and disadvantages. If you are building a show plane and want a smooth, glossy, heavy finish in different colors, then go with a standard fabric, with fill coat, silver coat, and glossy top coat. That wasn't what I wanted. I'm building a bush plane. It will get muddy, it will be spending some nights out camping and run the risk of getting hailed on, and I anticipate it may get torn in the brush and need repaired. This is my first orated application and so far it looks like exactly what I was looking for. It looks to be very light weight (as in MUCH lighter than conventional, but not sure how much) and very strong and very repairable. As in imagine gluing some duct tape on and press on. Or if dented, apply a bit of heat and the dent comes out. Good as new. The stuff is amazing. It actually looks better than I anticipated and if I would have had the luxury of helping someone else do one first Nd getting some experience with it, it would look much better. My project is a family one and my daughter did quite a bit of the work and in one spot we have a bit of glue showing. I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. It will look fine from 50' away. Like I said, I'm not building a show plane, I'm building a bush plane. I always like camo planes, but went with yellow and will trim it with some vinyl graphics. They aren't as permanent as paint, easy, and repairable. One thing I liked about it was that I worked in my garage and house during the winter to save trips to the airport and heating the hangar, and it lends itself very well to that. And when your iron it on, you're done! No building a paint booth or taking big parts to a pro shop. Bottom line... I wouldn't do my show Christen Eagle with it, but for a bush type plane I think it's awesome.