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i've got a pa-12; nice fabric; nice paint, but i have a few places where i need fabric work, and believe it or not i'm having a hard time in northern mn finding anyone that is interested in fixing it. does anyone know any good fabric people? i'm will to fly anywhere to get it done right.
thanks,
turbo
I don't know anyone in that area, but I can tell you that doing fabric work is not hard to learn -- and it is definitely worth wasting $50-$100 worth of material to just try your hand at it. Make an 2' x 2' frame out of 1x4s edgewise. Buy the Ceconite manual (I assume there is a Stitts manaual too), a couple yards of fabric, and some small quantities of the liquids: adhesive, nitrate dope, butyrate dope, and associated thinners. The keys to a good job seem to be careful preparation (clean surfaces, proper thinning), good temperature control, and patience. Thin some glue and cover the frame, shrink the fabric and spray on the dope. Tear it off and repeat until you like the results, then finish it though the various coats to try your hand at painting process. Stick it with a knife and patch it using the same techniques. At this point you will probably have more experience than most A&P's! Then it is a simple matter to scrub those scuff marks with a little thinner, glue and shrink a patch, and finish the job to blend in.
All the materials are available through Aircraft Spruce or Univair.
After I paid $800 to have an IA cover some gear leags once, I swore I could learn to a better job and it wasn't that hard.
The downside is that, after a couple successful patches, you start thinking about doing a whole plane -- next thing you know there is a project in the garage!!
You might check with the guys at the Brainerd, MN airport.
My only suggestion to a newbie is make sure that "where" you do it is well ventilated and sealed from the "House". My first project was a T-craft that I rebuilt and decided it should be Bahama Blue and Daytona White! We (my wife and I) lived in a 900sq ft. house with an attached 1 car garage/ spray booth--ha ha! By the time I was done we had a baby blue tinge on everything in the house! It was not until I moved onto an Airstrip, built a hanger that I was brave enough to spray in the garage.
Now You can build a visquine booth, and duct it to the outside? (why didn't I think of that)
The stits manual is available online from Poly fiber and they also have video's, and put on clinics around the country. Also you might join the EAA and go to a meeting or to or look for a Starduster, Pitts, or any other fabric homebuilt around you and introduce yourself!
Have fun and (Don't inhale) the high will kill you dead!
Tim
The first thing you should do is identify what your plane is covered with, and what paint was used. Is the problem that nobody you've found does fabric, or they just don't want to do the patch work on your plane? Your plane may not be easy to patch. What you can or can't do, or should or shouldn't do, depends on what you have.
Hey Turbo...Call Ted Hulke (Also nicknamed Turbo) at: 218-820-0141
He works out of Brainerd or Aitkin or Pine River or His house. He just built a hangar/house on his land just east of the Pine River airport. His "runway" is strictly a Cub strip with a pretty cool approach through the trees.
He has a PA-14-150 on floats for sale that they got out of Vermillion. He just finished a PA-12-150 and is finishing up a J3-90. He's pretty good with fabric. Andy Dunlap at Brainerd Airmotive can also set you up depending on how big the patch is (pretty busy with other stuff). Lots of Cub knowledge in the area.
Brad
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