deLuxe headliner new!

[Ragwing nut]

Made by Baker Sr himself. I had him make it for mine, and decided to use a broad cloth instead. Made of wool, exact same headliner in his airplane. Even includes his instructions. It has been stored in the box he shipped it in, wrapped in black trash bag, in the closet. Absolutely perfect. $200 shipped.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: deLuxe headliner new!

I have a set of those instructions. Real life savers when I put mine in!

Hank

[George Bassett]

Re: deLuxe headliner new!

Hank Any way I could get a copy of those headlinner instructions? I have a new headlinner from Tom and got instructions by phone,at the time I understood,now not so much. They sure would help. George

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: deLuxe headliner new!

I will keep a watch for the instructions. I may have taken them out to the airport for when I do the 45 headliner (although the 45 isn't like a 41 or a 46 since it has a factory skylight and VERY different support wires). There are a lot of differences between a 41 and a 46, especially around the "D" window. The 46 used a metal frame for the "D" very much like the 45, but the 41 had a wood frame.

I have lots of photos of us putting in the headliner. The BEST advice is to get someone who does antique car headliners. The guy in the photos runs an upholstery shop and was worth his weight in gold! He was also smaller than I was (I was 225# and I think he was about 160!).

If you are recovering PUT THE HEADLINER IN BEFORE YOU COVER THE FUSELAGE! I will be doing it that way on the 45 and using hooks, zippers and Velcro to hold it. When I recover I will take it back out, cover and put it back, but it will already be fitted and be MUCH easier to put in again. An added benefit is the headliner can come OUT for an annual or repair.

The instructions focused a lot on how to do the edges around the "D" window which won't apply to a 46. The first photo is of the metal frame for a post war and the second is of the wood frame for a 41. The third and forth are of how the fabric wrapped around the wood frame (with some thin foam under it). As you can see this won't work at all on the metal frame. Hopefully someone who has done a post war can post some photos on how you attach the headliner around the metal frame. Also note that the 41 has a wood frame hat shelf that ties down the back of the headliner.

Hank

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: deLuxe headliner new!

This is how the rest of the headliner attaches (on a 41, which is what Tom has and the instructions refer to). There is a series of metal wire bows that arc across and support the headliner. The ends go into small holes in the square tube over the door. The edges are pulled and streached into the window holes and behind the hat shelf. Another reason to put teh headliner in FIRST is you can put the zippers in the right places. Mine were in the original locations and are NOT over where you need to work. I need a couple of extra elbows to reach things like the aileron cable pulleys and safety wiring the aileron cross wires to the turnbuckles was a MISERABLE job done almost entirely by feel. Moving the horizontal zipper by an inch or so would have made it a snap. The zipper over the RH door is to access the fittings to the RH wing tank and is also NOT in the right place. You can make it work, but not if you aren't intimately familiar with where everything is. The last photo is how I closed up the front corners. I have seen several ways to do it and don't know what was original but this looks great when the wings are on.

Hank

[Ragwing nut]

Re: deLuxe headliner new!

sold