The fabric covering has begun. The fabric has been installed to the fuselage. The fabric had the first shrink to 250 degrees and then the fabric patches and control cable fairings have been added. The empennage pieces have fabric on them as well. The whole process of applying the fabric goes relatively quickly.




I have used the Stewart System products to install the fabric.The two big advantages of the Stewart System is that there is NO stink and you don't have a race with the glue drying time when applying the fabric. You can get more information from them online. There are You Tube videos of the fabric installation with their products. I also recommend their waterborne polyurethane paint.

Fabric installation is relatively simple with the Stewart System products. Apply the adhesive to the frame and wait for it to tack up which takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Apply the fabric and lightly apply pressure where the adhesive is and the fabric sticks, no clamping is required. The glue remains tacky for a long time so you don't have to rush. You can lift the fabric and reapply it to get it exactly where you want it. When you are satisfied you can run the small iron at 250 degrees over the fabric above the adhesive to heat activate it. At this point you can still pull the fabric up and reapply the it if you need to but the fabric is attached more firmly. When you are satisfied with the placement of the fabric just apply the adhesive over the top of the fabric where it attached to the frame and wipe the excess off right away. The adhesive goes through the fabric and bonds to the glue underneath. The wiping helps eliminate any entrapped air. After a day the glue joint is very strong. Pull tests have shown the fabric to fail before the glue joint.

After the adhesive is cured for a day you can shrink the fabric at 250 degrees. Then make any cuts and add patches where necessary. Afterwards shrink the fabric but not the patches at 300 degrees and the final shrink at 350 degrees. At this point you can do the rib stitching and add tapes where necessary.

I utilized and IR thermometer to monitor the temperature of the irons. The alternate method of using a candy thermometer and silicon heat transfer grease is time consuming and risky. If you have any residue of the silicon grease get onto the fabric it can ruin the paint.




This method is quick and easy. The unit shown is a Flash Point IR thermometer. Most irons you can buy today have an internal shutoff. I didn't find that to be a problem. The shutoff timer is set to an hour. This is much longer than my attention span. I also check the temperature of the iron before touching the fabric each time I pick it up.