Floor boards
- Thread starter Mark_B
- Start date
S
StewartB
I remember planning for 050 floor boards and switching in the eleventh hour to 063. It seems to be working fine. I sure wouldn't characterize it as flimsy.
SB
SB
spinner2
MEMBER
Montana
Mine are .050" aluminum and plenty stiff. With all of the tubes and fasteners holding it down the rigidity comes from those elements and not the actual thickness of the aluminum, for the most part. Mine also have a 90º up-turned lip on the outside edge that helps stiffen them. The interior side panels are on the pilot side of that lip which keeps dirt from falling into the belly too.
As I remember now the weight was close to 1 pound less than plywood.
As I remember now the weight was close to 1 pound less than plywood.
Steve Pierce
BENEFACTOR
Graham, TX
Someone in AK makes them. When I was in Fairbanks Vicki had a set in her store.
Torch
GONE WEST
Fairbanks, Alaska
That diamond plate stuff reminds me of the time when a fellow pilot friend went to have running boards put on his Suburban and asked for that. The professional installer told him, you don't want that trucker shiz on your Suburban. So, if I can find anything else I will when it comes to putting in a floor of the Cub. Not something I want unless there isn't anything else better. Bottom line, get what YOU want. The new Corvettes have a balsa wood floor. They laminate both sides of the balsa wood with some type of epoxy and it is very light and very strong. Find some of that stuff. Don't know if it is legal on a plane but it would be a great floor if you are worried about weight. I know a Corvette designer that is a light aircraft fan. He flies a Cessna I believe. I will ask him when I see him this summer.
Jim Miller
Registered User
Normandy TN
Mark
They make a 1/16" aluminum skid plate also. I just bought some to use for heel plates over plywood floorboard.
Jim Miller
They make a 1/16" aluminum skid plate also. I just bought some to use for heel plates over plywood floorboard.
Jim Miller
55-PA18A
SPONSOR
Dillingham, Alaska
I'm in the process of recovering my Cub, and will be using plywood for the floor. Not long ago, there was a thread on floors, and several members wrote what they used to finish the plywood. I've searched for that thread, but no luck finding it.
Those with wood floors,...what did you finish the wood with, and are you happy with what you used?
Regarding metal floors,...I fly with Bunny boots in the winter, and with a little bit of snow on the floor, my feet are sliding all over the place.
jim
Those with wood floors,...what did you finish the wood with, and are you happy with what you used?
Regarding metal floors,...I fly with Bunny boots in the winter, and with a little bit of snow on the floor, my feet are sliding all over the place.
jim
B
bearsnack
Poly fiber epoxy varnish P/N EV-400
B
bearsnack
Poly fiber epoxy varnish P/N EV-400
cubdriver2
FRIEND
upstate NY
I would think that the metal floor would add to the noise level where as a plywood floor would act as a noise absorbing damper ?
Glenn
Glenn
Darrel Starr
Registered User
Plymouth, MN
We purchased precut floorboards from Earl Edgar back when he was running Northland Aviation. They are 12 ply Birch, 6mm (1/4 inch) thick from Finland. Earl told us the name of his supplier so we could buy more for the baggage areas. Th supplier is: http://www.bd-international.com/
We sprayed the floorboards with Polyfiber Epoxy Varnish and sanded multiple times then sprayed a final coating to get the shine. Yes, I know some folks don't care for the smooth possibly slippery finish but so far this has not been a problem for us.
Darrel
We sprayed the floorboards with Polyfiber Epoxy Varnish and sanded multiple times then sprayed a final coating to get the shine. Yes, I know some folks don't care for the smooth possibly slippery finish but so far this has not been a problem for us.
Darrel
Fortysix12
Registered User
RanchAero Grand Vista, Brooksville
You can't tell what my floor boards are made of. Marine 5 Ply coated twice with marine epoxy wet sanding and DAing between coats then epoxy primed and wet sanding once or twice then flattened imron finish. They're tough and look very different almost like laquer furniture. A little work but they will last longer than I will need them. The key to the wood finishing is sanding dry or wet between coats. I didn't wet sand until I was sure I had the wood sealed up tight.
Bushwhacker Air
Registered User
New York
I still have the Nortland Aircraft router templates Earl used to cut the floorboards. He built them to last!
Thos floorboards are gorgeous, Darrel.
Thos floorboards are gorgeous, Darrel.
Darrel Starr
Registered User
Plymouth, MN
Thank Chris, I was just starting to rebuild our Super Cub when I got in touch with Earl. He helped me out several times and I was very sorry to hear of his passing.
He said he was tooling up to make brake pedals so I asked the price. He hadn't quite worked the price out yet so I asked if he could beat Lee Bodie's price. Sure, so we settled on a price and he made some. Later he said he lost his butt on those pedals, a lot more tooling than he had expected. So he called Lee to ask how he could make them for Lee's advertised price. Lee said he had them advertised but hadn't yet made any -- OH! Anyway Earl always treated me very well.
Darrel
He said he was tooling up to make brake pedals so I asked the price. He hadn't quite worked the price out yet so I asked if he could beat Lee Bodie's price. Sure, so we settled on a price and he made some. Later he said he lost his butt on those pedals, a lot more tooling than he had expected. So he called Lee to ask how he could make them for Lee's advertised price. Lee said he had them advertised but hadn't yet made any -- OH! Anyway Earl always treated me very well.
Darrel
aktango58
FRIEND
18AA
I will nip in here, as I am getting ready to build no floor boards also:
I am looking to go LIGHT, but safe.
Gander has stated that carbon fibre inside the plane is a bad idea due to crash issues, (a different thread).
So if I want it light, but expect to fly floats also, what would you all suggest as the correct material?
Diamond plat looks heavy, no matter how you stack it, but tell me your thoughts!
I am looking to go LIGHT, but safe.
Gander has stated that carbon fibre inside the plane is a bad idea due to crash issues, (a different thread).
So if I want it light, but expect to fly floats also, what would you all suggest as the correct material?
Diamond plat looks heavy, no matter how you stack it, but tell me your thoughts!
Steve Pierce
BENEFACTOR
Graham, TX
I'm gonna order the plywood from the link Darrel posted. Hard to find good quality thin plywood anymore. Light and strong so it should serve my purpose. Bill Tracy made new floor boards while he was here. He and Cathy stained them real dark and then put Polyfiber Epoxy Varnish over them. Looks good and should be very durable. I am wndering about some sort of black paint and varnish to seal.
S
StewartB
063 aluminum with a lightly textured powder coating is light, durable, easy to clean, and isn't slippery. It looks good the day the plane's rolled out and you can expect it to look just as good 5 years later. Any notion that metal is noisier than wood forgets that we fly in cocoons of steel tubing covered by dacron and plexiglas. The floor material isn't very important. I wouldn't go so far as to criticize anyone for choosing wood, but I'm completely satisfied that metal is the better choice for me.
Here's a picture of mine on an average day. Dirt wipes up easily with some windex and a paper towel when I get around to doing it. I didn't turn my floor into a labor of love because I classify it much like my garage floor. Necessary equipment, ready to take abuse. I don't mind that it looks good but I won't spend any time to maintain it. My template was home made.
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Here's a picture of mine on an average day. Dirt wipes up easily with some windex and a paper towel when I get around to doing it. I didn't turn my floor into a labor of love because I classify it much like my garage floor. Necessary equipment, ready to take abuse. I don't mind that it looks good but I won't spend any time to maintain it. My template was home made.
I could see some concern with carbon fiber for the interior panels around the pilot and passenger, but not the floor boards. If you stacked hard enough for the carbon fiber floor boards to injure you; I don’t think your heart would still be attached.
Wood would be fine in dry climates. When we rebuilt the Trooper Cubs they required the wood floor boards to be layered with fiberglass. Still the old ones we replaced were waterlogged even with the fiberglass layers on them. I had a guide tell me once he stacked into some trees and a branch shot through the rear wood floor board and glanced off the passengers leg. This would not stop me from using wood if that’s what I wanted to go with.
I have installed a ton of .063 boards. They last forever. The weight is less than 9lbs. Now it's time for me to install floor boards in my rebuild and I'm thinking about trying something different. I found some .060 phonlic sheet and it is half the weight of the .063 aluminum. I am debating on adding a layer of carbon fiber over the top to stiffen it up a bit and for aesthetics.
Wood would be fine in dry climates. When we rebuilt the Trooper Cubs they required the wood floor boards to be layered with fiberglass. Still the old ones we replaced were waterlogged even with the fiberglass layers on them. I had a guide tell me once he stacked into some trees and a branch shot through the rear wood floor board and glanced off the passengers leg. This would not stop me from using wood if that’s what I wanted to go with.
I have installed a ton of .063 boards. They last forever. The weight is less than 9lbs. Now it's time for me to install floor boards in my rebuild and I'm thinking about trying something different. I found some .060 phonlic sheet and it is half the weight of the .063 aluminum. I am debating on adding a layer of carbon fiber over the top to stiffen it up a bit and for aesthetics.
aktango58
FRIEND
18AA
Thank you for the info Don.
I got a big sheet here, baring haveing to make them two or three times, I should have extra.
The only draw back is it is black. I don't like wood because my bird is wet all of the time... floats, hose for cleaning out blood, on and on!
I like the idea of cleaning with a rag and 409. I will think more about the Carbon
I got a big sheet here, baring haveing to make them two or three times, I should have extra.
The only draw back is it is black. I don't like wood because my bird is wet all of the time... floats, hose for cleaning out blood, on and on!
I like the idea of cleaning with a rag and 409. I will think more about the Carbon
