Recovering yourself

R

redbowen

New member
Estimates from $10,000- $23,000 to recover and paint, but poly-fiber.com says you can do it yourself for $2,500- $3,000.

Can anyone confirm that doing it yourself is indeed saving you this much. If anyone has done a complete recover I would love to hear how it went and how much you spent on the project.

Thanks,

Bryan
 
What is your time worth? Fabric work seems to be becoming a lost art. If you can find someone to work with and teach you, you will have fun, be frustrated, and well rewarded once your project is completed. There are lots of old timers around that would love to pass on there skills. Most dont have a schedule and that route while very rewarding can eat up lots of flying time. If you want to buy an airpane that needs work just to save money that seldom works. Your much better off buying one that has already been done. If you are telling yourself you will know what you have when your done thats great but the next guy wont care and you wont get your money back. Bite the bullet, buy a late model nice airplane or a rebuilt one and go fly it every day. If cheap is your requirement go buy a spam can. My last 7AC I did cost about $7500.00 and took long enough that I bought and sold two other airplanes before it was done. It will become more about the time and less about the money whichever way you choose to go.
 
Fabric work isn't difficult at all, but very time consuming. It can be fun and enjoyable, as long as you approach it that way. Paying someone to do your recover is an expensive way to go, but you'll end up with a very nice looking aircraft...if the shop is experienced. If you buy the Poly-Fiber manual, (and even the video if you really think you need to), and follow the instructions carefully, and take your time to make straight cuts with your scissors and lay out your tapes straight, there's no reason on earth that you can't cover the aircraft just as well as anybody else. Don't make any changes to the process called out in the manual...like putting Imron over the fabric. That would be a stupid stunt after all the work you've done to make it right!!! Follow the manual to the letter, maybe pay someone to do the spraying if you aren't comfortable with that, and you can have a fine finished product that you can be proud to say you covered yourself.

Have fun, let us know what you decide.
 
These guys are right. The expense in the affair is the labor. By doing it yourself you can save a lot. Just be warned/reminded that because the labor cost is high...its because there is so much, and you will have to do most all of it.

If you have never done it before, plan on your airplane being down a long time. For the project minded person who likes this kind of task, its great. Make sure you have the time set aside for it. I would not recommend doing home remodelling for the wife at the same time.... :lol:
 
Bryan, like everyone alse has stated, it is time consuming work. But something you really need to think about is just how much do you know about aircraft maintenance? I take it your not an A&P. Do you know one that has fabric experience? Not just someone that says, "heck ya' I'm a A&P" but doesn't know squat about tubing and fabric. It's not just removing the old and replacing with new and walla- your done. There's rusted tubing.. clean, treat, replace? Wood spars.. would you recognize a crack? what type of crack is allowed and what isn't? You need a pre-cover inspection signoff in your log book, know someone that will do that? There is just so much more involved in a recover job. I suggest you attend a class put on by Poly-Fiber. Look at their video as mentioned in previous thread. Don't jump in thinking your going to save tons of $$. Contact the local EAA Chapter and talk to those guys. As mentioned above you might find an A/P (with experience) with lots of free time. Make him your "new best friend" Good luck and have fun
 
It really isn't difficult. You "will" need two sets of hands at times. I would say using the envelopes will help alot. Decide which process you are going to use, get the manual on the process and order you a small amount of the supplies or if you can find a shop they might give you some scrapes find yourself something small to cover and just see what it's like. Alot will depend on how much time you can devote to the recover job. If your the type person that can work on one thing for days on end and not burnout it really want take that long, remember these guy's that do this for a living do this for "money" which motivates them to work on it every day. Working an hour a day it will take you forever and you might never get through with the job.


Woodie
N29763
 
Thanks for all the responses. I do have the time and I have always wanted to build a plane from scratch, so I believe that this would be a good test to see if I like the work. I have a local mechanic that can supervise and do the sign offs. I still have alot to think about.

A follow up question that should raise some debate is: Should I put in an aluminium wing spar while it is uncovered?

Thanks,
this site is a great help,
Bryan
 
Bryan,

The crack that condemned one of my spars was pretty tiny, but no re-reading of the AD was going to change the verdict: Replace it. So I went thru that whole debate, much of which is captured in old posts on this forum-- do a search and you'll find some good stuff.

To summarize my line of thinking, I figured it was going to cost me about $9k to rebuild my wings with new wood spars or $11k to go with aluminum. It would take the same amount of time either way. If I went with wood and got another crack, I'd be back to square one again. I went with aluminum.

It cost pretty much what I expected. I estimated four months. It took closer to five, but I took a vacation and then got divorced. No kidding. Maybe I shoulda slowed down. Who knows.

I didn't know or want to anything about covering until my plane's value dropped to way less than I owed on it that fateful summer evening. But I knew noone else was going to fix my bird 'cause I couldn't afford to pay someone. So I just dug in. I opened the hanger doors, cranked the tunes, and kept some cold beer nearby. Pretty soon, I had all the help and advice and good friends I would need to complete the project.

Have fun!

-Alex
 
Bryan,

So what was the final verdict? Did you do the recover yourself or pay someone to do it? How long did it take (in hours)?

I'm looking at the same options for sometime this next winter. I'm expecting 6-7 months of downtime depending on how many hours per week I can work.

Enjoying the spring flying in MS,
Doug

doug_snead@yahoo.com
 
Great advice here, I have rebuilt and recoverd several light aircraft including a J-4 and after the cover came off we found a tremendous amount of work had to be done before the new cover could be installed. I averaged two years on each of my rebuilds and the project became a"lifestyle". I remember my wife and I rib lacing for what seemed forever on the J-4.

I toyed with the idea of restoring a Citabria, did the math and went and bought one last week that was newly restored with metal spars and newly overhauled engine. Probably came out several thousand dollars ahead than doing it myself. If you have never rebuilt wings with new spars you just cannot imagine the amount of labor involved. It is significant and seems to go on forever. It is truly a labor of love. The short cut is to buy new wings, do the math on that and you will have your answer.

Fla115
 
I have a Scout that needed the wings recovered. I had the wood spars, and 36 gallon tanks. I decided to go with the new ACA metal spar and 72 gal tanks with new cover from ACA. I use the aircraft for business and felt the down time would hurt and the increase in value after the metal spar was installed was worthwhile. I do aircraft maintainance and have recovered/rebuilt 15 airplanes in the last 20 years. If time is of issue hire it done.
 
i have just finished a recover of a 7eca. it took me 4.5 weeks of afternoons and weekends probabley cost 2500. I have to say that is is a very detail intensive operation. it will depend on your make up as to whether you are interested in doing it your self
 
I have done partial recovering on a couple of aircraft (never wings, but will next winter). I also have a couple of suggestions. Try to plan on doing something on it every day, even if it's reironing the tapes or putting in a couple of screws. When you're faced with a large project, it's easy to be overwhelmed and put the work off, then lose interest in the project (look at the number of homebuilts and rebuild projects that are for sale). My other suggestion is to try to work at home, like the garage, if possible. It makes it much easier to complete the project when you only have to step out the door rather than drive several miles to the airport. Also probably helps keep peace on the home front a bit. I have a heated shop probably 50 feet from the house so it's very easy to turn on the heat and the radio and work on each component until I'm satisfied. Also can quit for a cup of coffee and conversation with the wife (tell her she has to help turn or hold something). Seriously though, I can't think of a more fun project than recovering once you start and really get involved.

I used the Superflite 6 process and have been very satisified. They have a excellent new manual out which I didn't have on the last two projects and "no" I don't work for Superflite.

Good luck!!

Mike Berg
 
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