Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Original Posted By: "Ted Brousseau"
I just started covering some of my Piet. I bought the Dacron but balked atbuying the reinforcing tape just yet. Without doing exact math it lookslike one would spend as much $ for the dacron as the reinforcing tape. Yetthe tape only amounts to about 5% of the area. Am I missing something? Isthere a source for reasonably priced tape?Thanks, Ted________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: "Gadd, Skip"
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Fabric questionTed, I'm going with that 2.7 from Superflite 72 in width for $3.25 a yard. Am ordering 36 yds. NOW on the tape issue. Most of my friends are in residence and/or nursing homes with nothing to do after their meals, bath, shots etc but look at the girls passing in the halls and sing MEMORIES. SO, I'll just take them some pencil lined dacron with a pr of pinking shears and before long I will have provided two important things. My tapes in various widths and most important, the seventh cardinal principle of education,"a worthy use of leisure time". Who knows, we just might get something started. A great thing you can do for those infirmed is to let them know they are still needed and provide them with some sort of productive activity. DONT LET ANY FED READ THIS AS THEY MIGHT WANT TO IMPROVE ON IT. We all know what would happen then.Corky in La also trying to build as economically as possible.________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: John Hofmann
Thanks for the nice comment Skip. And I want to say thanks to Cy Galley for gettingit out. In my life I never had anything published, it's pretty neat! I just got my copy of the Experimenter in yesterday's mail, along with twoextra copies to pass around. My mother is visiting from Connecticut for a fewweeks, and she can't wait to pass the magazine around town when she returns!Oh, in the story I mentioned I didn't get in trouble as a boy by taking airplanerides without her permission. Well, I got in trouble last night ! I guessI'll take her out to lunch now and smooth things over. See you all later.Kent Hallsten Oklahoma City________________________________________________________________________________Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 10:53:09 -0600Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Fabric question

Original Posted By: "Ken Anderson"
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Fabric questionThanks for the reply John,It's amazing how every little word or thought on this list is important like my saying" a pencil line on the dacron". Your reply was very important to me and others who could have made the error through ignorance.I failed to mention that 1.7 Superflite sells is only 67 in wide. The top surface of the Piet wing requires a minimum of 68+ in order to get a good overlap.Corky in La just before the rains today________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: "John Hofmann"
Also if you use a chalk line only use blue chalk for same reasonKen----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: Craigo

Original Posted By: John Hofmann
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Fabric question

Original Posted By: "Steve Eldredge"

Original Posted By: John Hofmann
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Fabric question

Original Posted By: "Steve Eldredge"
Did you use rib stitching on the tail feathers? I attended one of thePoly-Fiber workshops last year and the instuctor told me rib stiching orlaceing was probably not needed on a Piet tail . Mark McKellar---- OriginalMessage -----

Original Posted By: "Steve Eldredge"

Original Posted By: John Hofmann
because ballpoint pen ink will bleed through ANYTHING. I cannot challengeRay Stits, but I wouldn't use ink of any kind.----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: "Jack Phillips"
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Fabric questionProblem magnified,On the drawing of the cutting line, their eyes are probably so bad they wouldn't even see it. On the blue line, chaulk or ball point, they are color blind so I'll probably take the stuff over to the Jr. High and give our soul children something to do instead of spending the day in the child care center without some project.________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: Dave and Connie

Original Posted By: "Steve Eldredge"
I can't believe you did rib lacing on the vert. and horizotal surfaces in30 min? Mark----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: Larry Neal

Original Posted By:
Corky,Are you talking about the tape you put on around the edges and over the ribstiching? It is anywhere from 1" wide to 3" wide? If so, that is not thetape I was asking about.I am asking about the thick tape that has adhesive on it. It is from 3/8"to 1/2" wide and is put on before you rib stich to reinforce the fabric soit doesn't tear from the rib stich. It is quite expensive and I waswondering if anyone had found a more reasonable source. Or, is that whatyou were talking about and you cut it out from fabric and glued it down?Ted----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: "Gary McNeel, Jr."

Original Posted By: Gary Gower

Original Posted By: "Gary McNeel, Jr."

Original Posted By: "Jack Phillips"
I was wondering if you should rib lace on the tail feathers. Is the fabricjust glue'd on? I saw someone's pictures and they put little spacers betweenthe tail ribs. I figured it was so they wouldn't get squeezed together whenthey were laced. But the plans don't call for them. Is glue fabric goodenough? is the fabric glue'd to the wing ribs also? I know they are laced.I've finished 24 ribs and the horizontal stab. just started working on theelevators.George AllenHarrisburg, PAGeorgeA(at)PAonline.com(Peitenpol builder)----- Original Message -----Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Fabric question> I can't believe you did rib lacing on the vert. and horizotal surfaces in> 30 min? Mark----- Original Message ----->________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: George Allen
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Original Posted By: Kip & Beth Gardner

Original Posted By: "Kip & Beth Gardner"
Unfortunately I had to "undo" some of my recent handy work. I found thatwhen I applied Polybrush it "glued" the fabric to the ribs. Took quite apull to get it to separate. I am stiching all ribs including tail feathers.Like Steve said, it doesn't take long and give a little peace of mind.Ted----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: "Ted Brousseau"
Ted, The Poly-brush is supposed to adhere the fabric to the ribs. Itsapplied after the leading and trailing edge are cemented and the fabric isheat shrunk.----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: Mark
I beg to disagree, the fabric is not supposed to be glued to the ribs, thereis no reason for it. In most cases, the dope would lift the varnish fromthe ribs, so ribs are usually covered with cellophane tape before covering.----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: "Wayne McIntosh"
In the Polyfiber process, there is NO dope used. Polybrush is a structuraladhesive vinyl that encapsulates the dacron fabric and assists it inadhering to the material underneath.Before covering the wing, the cotton inter-rib bracing tape is applied inthe main spar, and one line 2/3 back. This inter-rib bracing keeps yourribs from being pulled too far sideways by the fabric as it tightens.After the inter-rib bracing, you need to put anti-chafe cloth tape over therib. This is made in various widths to exactly match the width of yourcapstrips. Keeps the fabric from wearing through on the edges of thecapstrips, and also protects the fabric from cutting as you pull your ribstitches tight.Next, you put on the cloth, using Polytak, an MEK-based adhesive. If ittakes a long time (over 5 minutes) to set up, it will probably dissolve anyfinish on the wood or metal except epoxies. The Polytak is used on the LEand TE, and all seams must have at least one inch overlap.Now is the time to begin the heat shrinking process, followed byribstitching. Following this, a good coat of Polybrush is applied, and thiswill make the cloth stick to anything underneath it.A couple more coats of Polybrush - sprayed on!!! - and your fabric is well -stuck to the structure. Now you can put on the silver and whatever finishcoat you want. All of Polyfiber's coating for cloth are referred to asstructural adhesives, and they all melt together to form one continuouslayer of vinyl.Good luck with covering your Piets. The process is a first veryintimidating, but once you've done a rudder or an elevator, you'll come toenjoy the process of putting clothes on your bird.Craigo________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: "Ted Brousseau"
Ted and Gene, On page 26 of my Poly-Fiber manual it says:"Applying Poly-Brush does 2 things:1. It seals the fabric.2. It acts as a cement that soaks through the fabric and further secures thefabric to the airframe."You are supposed to brush on the first coat of Poly-Brush after you shrinkthe fabric and before you rib lace.The exception to this is when you have an undercurved airfoil like mostPiets have. In the case of the undercurved airfoil Appendix C of thePoly-Fiber manual tells you how to glue the fabeic to the underside of thewing ribs with Poly-Tack before you shrink the fabric.I saw nothing in the manual about applying celophane tape to keep the fabricfrom sticking to the ribs.Wayne McIntosh----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: Kip & Beth Gardner

Original Posted By: Wayne McIntosh
cellophane tape is more of a dope thing. If you do glue the fabric to theribs on the undercamber, it is just to hold it in place until it isstitched. The rib stitching holds the fabric up. I do not think the manualliterally means to hold the fabric to the ribs when it says "to theairframe." Fabric would not shrink properly (cotton or dacron) if it wasfirmly attached at every rib, that is why you don't rib stitch it first.This isn't really a big deal, just semantics. Whoever started this threadis doing it right.----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: Larry Neal

Original Posted By: owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com
I agree with gene.Chris bobka-----Original Message-----

Original Posted By: "Jeffrey Wilcox"
Jeffry, The rib lacing is done after the fabric has been heat tightened andthe first coat of poly-brush has been brushed on the entire coverered wing.Mark----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: Craigo

Original Posted By: "Mark"
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Fabric questionIn a message dated 3/19/02 8:32:26 AM Central Standard Time, kirkh@unique-software.com writes:> I hope this helps and don't know if anything has changed since the 1996 > manual> My July 1999 , Revision No. 19 manual says the same.George________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: "D.Dale Johnson"
I posted this once before,but since the subject is current I repostit for general information.Mike B Piet N687MB ( Mr Sam ) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Re latex paint: 1) I used Sherman Willams products, varnish, reducer, color & aircraft silver paste 2) Brush on two cross coats of varnish. Sand between coats & don'tspare the tack rag. 3) mix silver paste (the quantity is on the can ) with 1/2 pintreducer. Dump that into the varnish can, & spray one cross coat. Sand & tackrag. I sprayed the silver ony on the top of the wing. Also I did not silverthe bottom of the fuselage. 4) two cross coats of color & you are done. Caution-varnish will run, so apply it only to a horizontal surface. Good luck, but remember I did this 14 years ago, so I hope I got itright. Suggest you do a test piece first. Mike B Piet N 687MB ( Mr Sam )________________________________________________________________________________Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 16:46:46 -0600Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Fabric question

Original Posted By: Kip & Beth Gardner

Original Posted By: D.Dale Johnson
they didn't have poly tac in 1940. The tape was to prevent the dope fromlifting the varnish from the ribs after covering.----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: "Steve Eldredge"

Original Posted By: "Steve Eldredge"
Steve , Well, I've only covered the vert. stab and rudder to paint so Icould still lace the horizontal stab and elevators.Think I'll do that. Didyou use the Poly-Fiber system?----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: clif

Original Posted By: "D.Dale Johnson"
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: Fabric question

Original Posted By: "Steve Eldredge"