Covering a wing?

[BellyUpFish]

Hey guys-

I'm on the hunt for a Team Airbike to play with and have found one for a pretty good price, but it's a project piece.

Wing needs to be covered.

Just curious what kinda job I'm looking at here. I've built hundreds of RC aircraft and covered them. It's looking like it's very similar?

Anyone?

 

[Tom-D]

Hey guys-

I'm on the hunt for a Team Airbike to play with and have found one for a pretty good price, but it's a project piece.

Wing needs to be covered.

Just curious what kinda job I'm looking at here. I've built hundreds of RC aircraft and covered them. It's looking like it's very similar?

Anyone?

Get the MM for "Team Airbike" and see what it requires. then down load the installation manuals for the fabric system you like and then go for it.

 

[poadeleted20]

The ex-757 pilot/A&P-IA in the hangar next to me has an Airbike tucked in with his Luscombe. Shoot me some contact info by PM and I'll put you in touch.

 

[BellyUpFish]

Get the MM for "Team Airbike" and see what it requires. then down load the installation manuals for the fabric system you like and then go for it.

Yeh, that's kinda what I'm thinking. How tough can it be?

 

[Tom-D]

Yeh, that's kinda what I'm thinking. How tough can it be?

You will require a few tools but it isn't that hard. specially if you follow directions well

 

[BellyUpFish]

You will require a few tools but it isn't that hard. specially if you follow directions well

Irons and shears I guess?

Watching some YouTube videos, definitely looks like something I could pull off.

 

[poadeleted20]

Get the MM for "Team Airbike" and see what it requires. then down load the installation manuals for the fabric system you like and then go for it.

Not many maintenance manuals for ultralights.

 

[Tom-D]

Not many maintenance manuals for ultralights.

Don't hang up the nomenclature there are directions, no matter what they are called.

The ISON Airbike and Tandem Airbike are a family of American high-wing, tractor configuration ultralight aircraft, that were available in kit form.

There must be kit directions some where, simply a matter of finding them. Your hangar mate might have a set to duplicate.

 

[Tom-D]

Irons and shears I guess

plus a few brushes, hot air blow guns, glue pots,and a thermometer, all can be found on aircraft spruce and specialities web page.

I do not know what the OEM system was but I'd try to stay as close to the OEM weight as possible. the ultra light weight restrictions are tough to stay under.

 

[flyingron]

The problem with the air bike is that the ownership of the thing got lost in a piece of nasty litigation (one of the big travesties of civil justice). Unless you can find an old original to copy, you may be out of luck and back to regular accepted practices.

 

[BellyUpFish]

Well I found a built one. Won't be covering it until its time for a recover.

 

[Henning]

I've been wanting to experiment with some of the shrink wrap films for covering material on ultralights, man, that stuff is tough as hell. They use it to wrap the tops of boats for transport and even make large cover structures using it and scaffolding for temp boathouses when in the shipyard to contain sand blasting grit and paint overspray as well as to keep the project dry and working even in torrential rain. I have hit the stuff nearly point blank with a sandblaster and heavy black grit and it bounced. Where the tape lap joints are, if you try to pull it apart, it will eventually break next to the tape. I've even seen it stand up to hurricanes quite well. Another nifty thing is that the rolls are wide enough that you can wrap around from trailing edge to trailing edge on most any GA sized wing and have material to trim. I think the double stick tape on the ribs would eliminate the need for rib stitching as well.

 

[Tom-D]

I've been wanting to experiment with some of the shrink wrap films for covering material on ultralights, man, that stuff is tough as hell. They use it to wrap the tops of boats for transport and even make large cover structures using it and scaffolding for temp boathouses when in the shipyard to contain sand blasting grit and paint overspray as well as to keep the project dry and working even in torrential rain. I have hit the stuff nearly point blank with a sandblaster and heavy black grit and it bounced. Where the tape lap joints are, if you try to pull it apart, it will eventually break next to the tape. I've even seen it stand up to hurricanes quite well. Another nifty thing is that the rolls are wide enough that you can wrap around from trailing edge to trailing edge on most any GA sized wing and have material to trim. I think the double stick tape on the ribs would eliminate the need for rib stitching as well.

Problem with it, is gluing it with out destroying it.

 

[Henning]

Problem with it, is gluing it with out destroying it.

No glue, everything is stuck together with this strong as hell 3M 2 sided tape, then the big propane burner comes out for a wave and everything tightens right up nice.

 

[kyleb]

Hey guys-

I'm on the hunt for a Team Airbike to play with and have found one for a pretty good price, but it's a project piece.

Wing needs to be covered.

Just curious what kinda job I'm looking at here. I've built hundreds of RC aircraft and covered them. It's looking like it's very similar?

Anyone?

It is very similar. You can do an airworthy job by following relatively few simple rules. Doing a pretty cover job is a lot more work. Doing an award winning job is a big, big undertaking - there are lots of seemingly minor things that go into a spectacularly good cover job.

Pick a covering system and stick with it. The two easiest to use may be Stewart Systems' water borne products and the Polyfiber (Polytone) system. Stewart is very straightforward, but people seem to struggle in getting a top notch finish coat. Polyfiber is easy, but uses a lot of MEK as a solvent. MEK is pretty nasty stuff.

I'm debating which of those systems to use on my Champ project. Through the silver coats, Stewart's product is my fave, but I have more confidence in a Polytone finish coat.

Both Stewart Systems and Polyfiber offer training materials - manuals and/or videos.

 

[Tom-D]

It is very similar. You can do an airworthy job by following relatively few simple rules. Doing a pretty cover job is a lot more work. Doing an award winning job is a big, big undertaking - there are lots of seemingly minor things that go into a spectacularly good cover job.

Pick a covering system and stick with it. The two easiest to use may be Stewart Systems' water borne products and the Polyfiber (Polytone) system. Stewart is very straightforward, but people seem to struggle in getting a top notch finish coat. Polyfiber is easy, but uses a lot of MEK as a solvent. MEK is pretty nasty stuff.

I'm debating which of those systems to use on my Champ project. Through the silver coats, Stewart's product is my fave, but I have more confidence in a Polytone finish coat.

Both Stewart Systems and Polyfiber offer training materials - manuals and/or videos.

You forget Airtech system.

it's the easiest of all and produces a bright shiney 50 year system.

http://www.airtechcoatings.com/featured.html

 

[kyleb]

You forget Airtech system.

it's the easiest of all and produces a bright shiney 50 year system.

http://www.airtechcoatings.com/featured.html

Airtech is polyurethane, right? For a one-off job, I wasn't gonna point someone towards a system which requires a forced air breathing system...

That said, I've got several friends who swear by the Airtech system.

 

[Tom-D]

Airtech is polyurethane, right? For a one-off job, I wasn't gonna point someone towards a system which requires a forced air breathing system...

That said, I've got several friends who swear by the Airtech system.

Health hazards are no worse than Polyfiber.

I prepare the parts thru the filler primer then take the parts to my favorite auto paint shop.