Glare-shield

[ken hecht]

What is the commom grade of aluminum for the glare-shield? I seen the threads on the thickness, .016 and.020.
Ken T.F. 375

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Glare-shield

It wasn't originally aluminum. It was made of a cardboard like material with a leather grain embossed into the top surface in black. If you have an upholsterer local who does old cars it is the same stuff the hat shelf was made from in old cars (when people actually wore hats that didn't have baseball team logos on the front). It's cheap and you can cut it with shears or an X-acto knife.
Hank

It also falls apart when it gets wet, which is why so many planes have a flat black painted piece of aluminum.

[Forrest Barber]

Re: Glare-shield

The partion under the seats to the floor boards was the same material. I just replace with with aluminum. The glove boxes were the same type material.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Glare-shield

Don't forget the part that the material was actually made for. The hat shelf behind the baggage sling! I have patterns for the glare shield, kick plate, hat shelf and a couple of different glove boxes, but I would bet they are only good as a starting place to make new ones. All of mine had to be cut out at least twice to get them to fit.
Hank

[VictorBravo]

Re: Glare-shield

I saved over a pound of weight by making a new glareshield.

N29544 had a piece of thin .020 aluminum with a piece of carpet or Airtex interior fabric on it. It bugged me because it was dead useless weight so I removed it. But then the empty hole didn't look so good.

Someone told me the originals were certified with the cardboard, which I reminded myself is fairly flammable. So if something flammable is legal, and the airplane is not being used commercially (requiring all flame-resistant materials everywhere), I knew I could save a bunch of weight.

I made the new glareshield out of Depron foam sheet. This is the same material as the supermarket meat packaging tray but it is available in thinner sheets for industrial use... and model airplane construction. It is a thin foam lessz than 1/8" thick and you can find it in sheets. It is reported to be an underlayment for flooring in the construction world.

My glareshield was cut and fitted very carefully (Depron is highly delicate), then covered with a sharp black pinstripe fabric used for dress pants or business suits from the fabric store. I stuck it on with spray contact cement (3M #77 or equivalent).

The neat part is that I laid it out flat on a table when gluing on the fabric. When I curved the glareshield to stick it to the top of the curved instrument panel (Velcro), this pulled the fabric taut and any small wrinkles or bubblles disappeared!

The net result was a glareshield that weighed 4 ounces instead of a pound and a half, looked like a million bucks, and went in with a few strips of Velcro.

The downside is that it is definitely more susceptible to damage and took a little extra care to get it in and out without bending or creasing it. But I used a fabric that was black and had a tiny little pinstripe that matched the trim on the airplane... it added a little "wow" factor for sure.

As for the increased flammability of foam versus aluminum, with an airplane that has the fuel inside the cockpit I had to resign myself to the notion that if the cockpit were on fire and a fuel tank in the cockpit...it would not matter what the glareshield was made of.

If someone was re-doing all the original cardboard pieces in this foam, I suspect you could save three pounds on the airplane.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Glare-shield

Cool idea Bill. How about using the Dupron with a very thin Naugahyde or "leather paper" from a craft store? It would look just like the cardboard ones, weigh less (more than yours, but less than the cardboard) and best of all, be tougher and waterproof!
My boss was worried that all the materials I used when I redid my cockpit weren't necessarily the latest fire resistant, certified material. I tried to point out that when the plane was built they weren't required and I could use what was original legally, but it didn't phase him. The 12 gallons of fuel over our legs really eliminates any worry about fireproofing the rest of the cockpit, unless of course the fire STARTS on one of the new materials and SPREADS to the tank. With no electrical system and the fact that anyone who tried to light up in my plane would be shoved out the door (in flight if necessary) immediately kind of mitigates that risk.
Hank

[VictorBravo]

Re: Glare-shield

Well I know I'm going to get hammered on this one, but since I lost my mother to lung cancer and it vaporized our entire family... I'll hammer right back.

Anyone who smokes is an idiot in general, and anyone who smokes in or near an airplane is a double-idiot.

The few times I had someone ask about smoking in an airplane I told them they were sitting on the gas tank. That usually solved the problem. If not, I said the smoking section was on the outside of the cabin. In Taylorcrafts, there is often enough of a fuel vapor smell (from dribbles and such during fueling) anyway, so even the IQ-challenged smoker can understand it's the wrong thing to do.

[LostnSpace]

Re: Glare-shield

Talking about smoking, I had almost forgot about it, while learning to fly in a
7AC, before I had a car, the old man instructor (probably younger than I am now), would smoke in the back seat while I was busy trying to fly from the front seat, he would take a big drag, lean over my shoulder and say "Some fun eh kid?? and blow smoke in my face, my eyes would water, I'd choke and then try to say, Yep,this sure is fun, thanks for the memories, he didn't live long enough to die from cancer, he died trying to save a PBY that was rolling down hill in Idaho, the brakes were out because someone from outside the US had put fluid in the brakes other than 5606. O.T.

[mulwyk]

Re: Glare-shield

My glare shield is .020.

In WWII my dad was a 18 year old gunner in a B24. Returning flight crews were "de-briefed" with a shot of whiskey and a pack of cigarettes. He was hooked on both the rest of his life and always blamed the Army Air Corp. Interesting though, he survived a lifelong whiskey addiction, but in the end the cigarettes killed both my mother and my father. Bad stuff.

[LostnSpace]

Re: Glare-shield

Cigs were so common in WW II that in several of the maintenance manuals it states for the landing gear strut lenght to be showing was the length of a cigarette, of course they didn't have filters back then, O.T.

[Joel Severinghaus]

Re: Glare-shield

I just went downstairs and weighed one of my prototype cardboard glareshields with a postal scale. 19 ounces, including the strip of vinyl welt trim on its trailing edge where it's screwed to the instrument panel.

See also the recent thread titled "Metal glare shield" for a long discussion of the cardboard glareshield material. I found big sheets of "black textured panel board" at a local upholstery shop, and black vinyl "fender welt" or "Model A fender welt" is available from several Internet sources.

I think it looks cool and authentic, and how many other Taylorcraft parts can you make with just a pair of scissors?

Bill -- I did waterproof the cardboard with a coat of wax, which should also help it burn better

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Glare-shield

That looks really nice!

[Joel Severinghaus]

Re: Glare-shield

Thanks, Mark. But it was a bear to fit, as I suspect all glareshields are. Had to make four versions before I was satisfied. It was especially frustrating trying to sandwich the leading edge of the cardboard between the lip of the boot cowl and the rubber flap of the Taylorcraft windshield weatherstripping, while reaching all the way up under the panel with one arm to push the cardboard from below. After scratching the windshield with various taped-up metal tools, trying to pry the weatherstripping flap up over the glareshield, I finally hit upon using two long wooden chopsticks to roll up the weatherstripping (see photo.)

The coat of waterproofing wax turned out to be good protection against all the blood, sweat, and tears I shed during many frustrating hours of installation attempts.

[Mark Julicher]

Re: Glare-shield

Great idea on the chopstick tools!

I agree about the frustration. My glare shield fit-ups (plural) are not nearly as nice as the results you finally got.... And you never want to hear me do a headliner, it would make a sailor blush.

[Terry B]

Re: Glare-shield

Hi Hank,

Can you share the patterns? I think I'll have a try...