How to replace covering with elevator and rudder on

Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

CAREFULLY cut the covering about 1/4" - 3/8" in back of the hinge line and remove the old covering.

When putting the new covering on, seal the edges down, and PARTIALLY tighten the covering WITH AN IRON. Now go over the seam at the hinge line with your iron turned up to the maximum temp THE COVERING can take. Now you can finish tightening/shrinking the covering.

Remember to rebalance the plane after. While the same covering may be used, there may be weight differences between rolls.

On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 04:49:40 -0700, " snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com" wrote in :

Think ahead.

You know that you won't be able to wrap the covering over the hinge line.

Leave the old covering intact there, along with (say) a quarter-inch all around to give the new covering something to stick to tightly.

If your new covering won't stick to the old, then you're in big trouble. :o(

Marty

Hi Ted, I think the OP wants to recover the entire fuselage not the elevator and rudder. Ed F.

When you remove the covering from the fuselage, leave a quarter inch around the tail feather joints onto the fuselage. Cut new fuselage pieces to meet just at the joint. Don't try to cover with one or 2 pieces. If the fuselage cross section is rectangular, use at least 4 pieces - joints/overlaps will be invisable.

Before covering make sure any old covering you are overlapping is clean. I use alcohol first then rough up with steel wool then final wipe with either acetone or the solvent used for adhering coverings. This solvent is terrific for making sure the underneath layer is clean enough for a good bond.

Ed