Fabric time

Another week of work and we are making lots of progress.

Yesterday we finished the ailerons cabling, leaving the plane ready for fabric covering.

Gamal showing me how to apply anti-chafe tape

To cover a surface is not very difficult, but requires experienced hands to do a good job. Luckily we got our friend Gamal to give us a hand on it.

You start by cleaning all surfaces where you will be placing the adhesive and apply anti-chafe tape to prevent metal to cut through the fabric.

Cutting fabric

After the surface is ready you apply the fabric adhesive.  For this proyect we selected Stewert Sytems Eko-Bond adhesive mainly because it is a water based latex, so I had no problem bring it from the US on my checked in baggage.. Had customs asked about it, I was ready to say it is a new brand of hair shampoo :)

Applying the adhesive is quite easy, just "paint" a thin film of it and wait till it get sticky before placing the fabric on top.  ( a great video tutorial can be found At Stewart Systems youtube channel )

Applying the top layer of  fabric adhesive

Once the adhesive has cured, heat is applied to shrink the fabric to eliminate imperfections. Again, the process is not hard, but you need skill to do it right. I'll say it is more an art than a science. 

Water based adhesive, really nice to work with.

Gamal & Juan heat activating the sealant

Covered wing, ready for Aircraft dope

A good days work got us two wings covered and the prep work for the rest of the surfaces.

This week we should be finishing that and applying aircraft dope. With a bit of luck , the plane may be ready to test by next week.