Color of Fabric Airplanes - Patch and Repair Considerations

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Narwhal

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Is white fabric easiest to repair and match to the correct color? I've heard that ideally, when an airplane is manufactured or recovered, you should attempt to attain a few yards of extra treated fabric painted in the appropriate colors for repairs.

Airports up here are predominately gravel and some holes in the fabric are almost inevitable, even if you stick to established strips.
 
Fabric on certified aircraft must use a FAA certified material.

I have never seen anything except White (ceconite and cotton)

the paint can be any color
 
Ok, thanks Tom. It sounds like there is no advantage to having a white airplane then, because the fabric patch would still need to be painted white (I presume the paint offers some measure of environmental protection for the fabric compared to the bare material?), or is it permissable to make patches without painting the bare white ceconite/cotton?
 
Narwhal747 said:
Ok, thanks Tom. It sounds like there is no advantage to having a white airplane then, because the fabric patch would still need to be painted white (I presume the paint offers some measure of environmental protection for the fabric compared to the bare material?), or is it permissable to make patches without painting the bare white ceconite/cotton?
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the paint system is the for UV protection.
Dope needs the silver to shield the UV
Ceconite (Dacron) needs silver or another method.
The Fabric "SYSTEM" is the STCed chemicals used to apply the fabric

lots of videos for applying fabric.
 
Tom-D said:
the paint system is the for UV protection.
Dope needs the silver to shield the UV
Ceconite (Dacron) needs silver or another method.
The Fabric "SYSTEM" is the STCed chemicals used to apply the fabric

lots of videos for applying fabric.
Click to expand...

Great, thanks again!
 
Fabric is never prepainted (unless it's Oratex, which is still pretty rare). The fabric patch is always glued on bare, then coated in a series of steps according to the fabric system used. Silver is typically used for UV protection under the color coats and you could stop there, so silver is easiest.
 
Narwhal747 said:
easiest to repair and match to the correct color?
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Just to add, whether a fabric repair is easier or provides a better color match usually falls to the fabric covering system or process used originally and the system used for the repair. As mentioned, the finish color is the final step in the covering process whether a repair or complete recover. However, with several different systems available, each one can present its own quirks when repairing existing fabric.

For example, one approved system may not permit the use of another approved system’s products for a repair vs a different system is approved to repair all covering systems. There are also different chemical compounds available depending on the process used from solvent based to water based/borne. And while the color white may appear “neutral” there are actually a number of different shades of white usually subjective to covering system used. So it depends…

FYI: as a side note, while certain covering requirements only apply to certified aircraft, it usually is best practice to follow those same requirements when repairing E/AB aircraft as well.
 
Tom-D said:
nope. "airtech" is the easiest. 3 wet coats of primer, you're done and ready for paint

http://airtechcoatings.com
Click to expand...
My point was that with the most common systems (Ceconite or Poly-Fiber), silver is easiest because you can stop there. Any other color, you still have to do silver and then add additional color coats.

But if I was starting a new cover job, I'd choose Oratex, 'cuz I hate painting.
 
A lot depends on the system used - Polyfiber / Polytone is stupid easy to patch. A gloss urethane finish is going to be more work.
 
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In regards to your original question: white (whether poytone or urethane) will be the easiest to repair because it will have faded or altered tone less than any of the other colors and will be easier to match despite the fact that they sell about half a dozen different "whites"
 
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