Fuselage Envelope Supplier

J

jmorois

New member
Does anyone know where you can purchase a Poly Fiber fuselage envelope?

I have tried "Aircraft Technical Support", however they will not sell it without purchasing everything through silver. I also have tried Aircraft Spruce, however they only offer the 4-panel version, which has seams sewn along the upper stringers and lower longerons.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thanks,
Jake
 
I don't mind the seams on the upper stringers. In fact, I think I would prefer it.
"Aircraft Technical Support" explained that their upper seam runs down the centerline, between the upper stringers, however.

What I really would like, is to have the belly seperate, not sewn in place. I found that, with the first envelope I tried from Aircraft Spruce, no matter what I tried, the lower seams did not line-up along the longerons, as you got closer to the tail. I would have ended up with a very unsightly seam under the left horizontal stab.

I guess I'm looking for suggestions as to what has worked best for anyone who has done this before. Is it better to have the upper seams run along the stringers or is it preferrable to have a seam running down the center-line with an additional tape?

Thanks much.....
Jake
 
I have never had much success geting the seams to end up EXACTLY where I want them, because they invariably migrate a bit during the shrinking process. Even if there were some way to apply the heat evenly over the entire surface all at once, (and there isn't) rather than the way we do it, which is "really hot over here right now, and not at all over there, I'll get to that in a few minutes....." it would still probably not be pefect. Tube and fabric airplanes can look very, very good when their fabric work is done with attention to detail. But not perfect. They are hand built, and it shows. If you're that much of a perfectionist, you'll have to sew you own seams by hand as you go, and be prepared to discard the whole mess and start over maybe several times until it meets your high standards, or you give up and become pragmatic like the rest of the tube and fabric world. No envelope maker will ever satisfy you. May I sugest a nice, aluminum airplane? Oh no! The imperfections of riveting!

Hag
 
The OEM envelops do not have the belly 'triangle' sewn in. You install that first BTW.
The seem is down the middle and we cover it with a 3 inch tape.
 
Thanks Jerry,

You said that you get the OEM envelopes from Airtex.
Do you sell them as well?

I appreciate the help.

Thanks,
Jake
 
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