out in the elements

[N74DV]

I have a set of wing and fuselage covers from Bruce's Custom Covers for our Tcraft.

We're here in AZ and hangars have an 18 year waiting list (of which we are on about year 11) so we must tie the plane down outside on the ramp.

It's good and dry here in AZ but the summer sun surely must wreak havoc on tube and fabric aircraft.

The covering is in great shape. It was covered 21 yrs ago with irish linen and cab dope but it sat pickled in a garage until 2001 at which point it had been hangared until last October when we took possession of it.

so... I'm wondering, if we keep her covered up when not in use, is it possible to get another 5 yrs or so before having to recover? or is this a pipe dream?

[flyguy]

Re: out in the elements

With cotton I don't think dry, heat, or sun is your worst problem. If you have good silver I think moisture will get you first, and ozone, or what ever it is that turns cotton into garbage from the inside out.

My first one had cotton ribstitching, if you can imagine that.
"Bend over," he said to me, "I'm going to give you your first lesson on buying old airplanes."

I hope your wings are painted white.

[VictorBravo]

Re: out in the elements

"Bend over," he said to me, "I'm going to give you your first lesson on buying old airplanes."

I think I definitely am going to want to hear the rest of that story Darryl...

[Tom G]

Re: out in the elements

I've had the same covers from Bruce for about the past 5 years and they hold up very well. I'm in New Jersey so our climates are quite different. The only problem I have is I notice some mold growth on the inside of the covers and I have some on the top of my wings. The covers do a great job though of shielding the plane from the sun as my paint hasn't chalked at all. I have 8year old ceconite so things seem to be holding up pretty well.

I was going to call Bruce and see if there is some way of having the covers cleaned. I wonder about the sun protection as well and if it deteriorates over the years.

I don't think the mold problem would be a factor for you though and like I said I would say they do a very good job of protecting from the ultra violet rays.

They are a real pain to put on especially when I'm by myself but they are well worth the effort.

I'm waiting for a hangar as well.

[flyguy]

Re: out in the elements

Dacron is really amazing though. I don't think I have heard of anyone with good silver and paint who has had fabric problems from UV or whatever. How long have we been putting dacron on airplanes: bet you can find several with fabric that is that old and still ok.

Yeah Bill, that first BC12 was a real jewel. Found a nut on the elevator cable hookup missing, just the loose bolt holding it together (after I had flown it a few times.)
One elevator cable and the rudder cable were crossed over each other back in the fuselage (flew just a LITTLE weird).
Aileron was binding against the edge of the bay.
Wing root fairings were missing (it is actually easier to land that way, doesn't float at all, but the tail wiggles around quite a bit.)
When I reached in to check the rib stitching I came out with a handful of broken threads.
Finally the engine quit because there was sealant floating around in the carb bowl.
I will only mention in passing what a mess the wings turned out to be when I took them apart.

If I'm a little rough on AI's sometimes, just consider that this plane had been freshly signed off by the guys buddy when I bought it.

Lord knows there must have been something meaningful that I was supposed to accomplish later as I didn't manage to kill myself.
DC

[mulwyk]

Re: out in the elements

DJ:

18 YEAR waiting list? What's that about? The Law of supply-and-demand suggests astronomical demand like that would produce a huge hanger building boom. What am I missing?

[N74DV]

Re: out in the elements

DJ:

18 YEAR waiting list? What's that about?

Let me clarify that the 18 year waiting list is for city owned hangar rentals. There are private hangars available for rent but like you say... supply/demand kicks in and a typical private hangar rents for anywhere between $500-900/month. What you usually see is guys who have very $$ airplanes like new Cessnas, Cirrus, etc. They have the $$ to buy the plane and they have the $$ to pay $500 a month to store it.

The other problem is the cities won't approve much more hangar building space. not because there isn't room.... there is TONS of room left on the airports. But rather they wish to lease that land to industrial and corporate building developers. They get more $$ that way in lease profits and taxes.

Go figure... an airport used primarily for industrial and corporate purposes.

Take Scottsdale Airpark for instance which is just up the road from me. It is all industrial/corporate. Very small amount of GA hangars and maybe only 5% of those businesses have anything to do with aviation.

There is one project coming up this year to build private hangars at Falcon Field. It is rumored to be the last set of hangars ever to be built in this area which includes the other 4 surrounding airports. Once these are built it's all going to be industrial/corporate.

I considered buying one, but at a $95,000 price tag for a "T" hangar it's hard to swallow. It may be a good investment but I'm tapped out with two other rental homes and my own house.

It's pathetic now days how cities can just kill aviation. Especially at a field like Falcon Field with so much WWII history. At this rate in less than 15 years I doubt you'll even be able to actually land or take off an airplane at an airport lest the corporate schmucks based at one complain that the noise is affecting their bottom line.

here's a composite of Falcon Field I just put together.

Blue is existing city owned hangar space.
Green is the proposed space for the last set of hangars built
Red is where the city wants to build industrial/corporate buildings

Keep in mind that this airfield trained hundreds upon hundreds of WWII bomber pilots in the late 30's and 40's. Very rich with aviation history.

[tawadc95]

Re: out in the elements

same situation at the yuba city airport!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
politicos are ruining this country

[robbie]

Re: out in the elements

Question? How much do they get for tie down a month?
The sun out there must really be hard on the paint and glass on the plains.

[whake]

Re: out in the elements

I lived in Fond Du Lac in 1950, worked for G & L. We have the same hangar problem in Venice FL, 90 guys on the waiting list, plenty of room to build more hangars. The city spends a fortune on consultants to show them and the locals how to build Resorts and industrial complexes. The airport is on an island near the beach surrounded at the south end by 27 holes of City golf and a large county park, to the west is the Golf of Mexico. Developers would sell their xzvzczvxx to get the property. We formed a Pilots Union to keep the city fathers at bay. Probably the only airport in the country with a registered Pilots union.

[flyguy]

Re: out in the elements

I've been trying to get the guys here to at least talk about starting a pilots association. Our city parks and recreation department runs the operation, if you can imagine what a mess that is, but the guys all seem too wrapped up in their own concerns to do anything about the place getting worse and being run by people that don't know anything about aviation.

Geeze,and I thought California hangar rental rates were high.
DC