Brodhead Pietenpol Association

Original Posted By: "Jack Phillips"
Dick wrote->Do the tail feathers first of course. It goes so fast that it's almost a>let down, You spent so much time getting to that point and in no time>it's done. The rib stitching is the biggest chore. Fabric stretching and>applying the tapes are really easy.Thanks, but- all I'm doing are repairs! As you'll recall, this is the repair of NX41CC after its ignominious nose-over incident on Veterans Day. There is the vertical stabilizer to re-cover, plus several areas where the fabric has had to be opened up to access various fittings. Sad to say, unless I re-cover the whole airframe, this bird is going to look like it has some experience in theater (of war), with field repairs! I'm going to try to do a good job on the paint matching, but patches will show upon close examination.My thought it to apply round patches to the areas we've had to open up, and to use pinked edges on the round patches. As I understand it, I'll need to sand back the paint on the underlying fabric to get to bare fabric, then Poly-Tak the patch in place and go from there. If this is the wrong approach or if there are easier ways to do spot repairs, please advise. I also assume everything will be the standard weight fabric (2.7 oz.), although some have used the lightweight fabric for the tail surfaces. I believe Ernie Moreno told me he used the old HS90X fabric to re-cover the tail surfaces on his airplane to shave a bit of weight off the tail.Oscar ZunigaSan Antonio, TX________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com
Oscar,I'm doing the same thing to my Pietenpol after its forced landing. A coupleof questions come to mind:1. What paint was used on it originally? If a polyurethane paint was used(like I did on mine), the old paint will have to be sanded off - and that isa major pain. If PolyTone was used, MEK will remove it easily. I suspectMEK would take butyrate dope off as well, but I have no experience withthat.2. How long are the cuts in the original fabric? If the cut is 8" or less,the overlap only needs to be 1" when you glue the new fabric down withPolyTak. If more than 8", you need a 2" overlap. I cover the overlap with2" pinked tape as well.3. On the vertical stab, you will probably have to use bias tapes to tapearound the curve at the top. Just follow the directions in the polyfibermanual.If you have questions, contact the folks at PolyFiber. They are very goodabout answering technical questions. http://www.polyfiber.com/Jack PhillipsNX899JP -----Original Message-----

Original Posted By: BARNSTMR(at)aol.com

Original Posted By: "Steve Ruse"
Subject: Re: Pietenpol-List: fabric workOscar,I have oil based enamel Aluminum Rust-oleum on my plane, for the UV protection, and oil based Red Devil Red, for the trim. The paint is holding upvery well. For the repairs I have done, I have been fairly successful by using ducttape to remove most of the paint, down to the fabric. Carefully test small areas. Experiment using the duct tape right on unsanded paint, or use fine sandpaper to remove the gloss, clean the dust off and press the duct tape on, and RIP off the paint, leaving reletively clean fabric. This probably wouldn't work with Dope. I finished up cleaning the fabric with plenty of clean rags, and MEK wearing rubber gloves. Remove the paint, and clean the fabric before you cut the fabric, or the loose edges are much more difficult to clean. LikeTerry said, be very carefull not to sand into any fibers. 1" to 2" overlap for the patch, using poly tac, and even blend the edges away with you fingers and the glue. Finish blending the edges with an iron at temperatures toward thelower end of the range. You should be able to blend in paint right up to the patch, and make the patch almost disappear. To save weight on the empenage, Iused 1.8 oz fabric. It's also easier to use the lighter fabric, however, your patch should be the same weight as what it is covered with. Fabric repairis not very difficult. Matching the paint will probably be your biggest challenge, however, repairs give 'er some character !!Chuck G.________________________________________________________________________________

Original Posted By: owner-pietenpol-list-server(at)matronics.com
Hey DJ,Thanks a lot for helping me out, I wouldn't have found it without your help!I've been meaning to e-mail you since your post about your hangar issues. Isure hope you can find a solution, I want to see you fly your plane one day.I'd hate to see you get rid of it. I've spent the last six months lookingover your site, trying to learn as much as I can, it is packed with goodinformation and a lot of great pictures.I didn't get to look at the Tcraft when I was there. We all night fromMinneapolis, got to South Bend at about 8AM, spent an hour looking at theplane, and then headed out. I was dog tired and it was about 3*F, way toocold for me! Once I got done looking at the plane there wasn't much else onmy mind.If you ever make it out this way, be sure to send me an e-mail or something,I'd be glad to take you up for a while!Steve-----Original Message-----

Original Posted By:
I bought some of the oil based Rust-oleum to try on the steel parts of myplane and it seemed to work really well. It thins easily and covers wellwith a small sprayer. I got some on the edges of some fabric areas and itseemed to stick pretty well to the dope (I was using an air-brush trying toget some small steel parts coming through the fabric that the dope didn'twant to stick to at all). Question is, how well does the Rust-oleum stickto fabric with dope already on it? I haven't done the trim colors yet andthe custom mixed Rust-oleum is MUCH cheaper than dope and has a good finish.Will it last? Anybody tried markings in an oil based paint on a dopefinish?Hank J----- Original Message -----

Original Posted By: Edwin Johnson