fixing dope on belly

5

_54Ed

New member
Bought a share of a Decathlon last fall, and it's in for annual right now. The cover is original from 1978, always hangared. The dope is looking pretty hideous on the belly of the fuselage. There are 3 or 4 dinner-plate sized areas where it was so bad that the A&P just flaked the whole area down to bare fabric. The fabric on the belly is oil-soaked too, which I assume makes it impossible to repaint the area (?).

We just took a hit in the wallet for a new engine and prop, courtesy of a prop strike during a tailwheel endorsement. We're not necessarily in the mood to be signing up for more major work and downtime, unless it's inescapable. What's the minimum repair work we can get away with to keep the aircraft flyable? What's the minimum advisable repair work to keep the aircraft decent?

If we do decide to recover the fuselage, how much time and money are we looking at?
 
You might be better off to just reskin the belly. I bet the problem dosen't go all the way to the tail. By the time you remove the outer layers,which if it's dope want be to bad , you might have new fabric glued on and shrunk. If you have a mechanic that will work with you ,get you a copy of 43.13 Approved Methods& Tech. and a copy of the finish system manual thats on the plane
and you'll have it fixed before you know it.

Woodie
N29763
 
Thanks.

By the way, does anyone know what the original finish system for a '78 Decathlon would be? I think it's butyrate dope on Ceconite, but I don't know for sure.
 
Check the Decathlon Service Manual, section 11. Dacron and dope! Not "Ceconite", but Dacron. Probably should stick to PMA fabric (off the same roll, but 4x the price, now that Poly Fiber owns all the STC's).
Any other system is a "major alteration". All of my fabric buddies say that dacron/dope is still the best, dollar for dollar.
 
Ceconite is a trade name for aircraft Dacron, the two may be used interchangeably.

Tom-
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top