Recovered from the recover

lwford

lwford

New member
FYI, I am doing a flying surface recover on an Aeronca Champ. The group who owns this also bought the Stewart Systems products to use on this. Nice stuff so far very clean and safe BUT on the STC Approved model list AML there is no approval for 14-19 or -2. They approve 14-9 thru 14-12 and the CH series. Just for kicks I e-mailed them the question why? Lynn the crate :?:
 
Lynn,
I know Dan and Doug Stewart personally. I will see if this can be rectified. I'm sure it is an oversight.
Continue to give your impression of their system. I have used some of their products but not the whole system.
Dan
 
I heard back from Stewart and the STC is listed under Alexandria Aircraft with the Vikings. That is good because so far I'm impressed with this. The basic fabric is Ceconite 102 and Stewart glue is a dream to use, no smell and no mess. Lynn the crate :shock:
 
I finished the Aeronca. If you are going to recover anything in your basement or garage go ahead and use the Stewart System. There are no odors and up to the spray gun it is very easy to use. Everything you ever heard about using water-borne paint is absolutely true! It takes three times as long and three times the coats at three times the price, with three times the trouble. I won't be using it again as I do all my covering in an enclosed hangar. I have now used everything but SuperFlite. My first choice is Ceconite and good old easy to use dope. If you want it super shine spray the finish dope with Randolph poly. The only green in water-borne has in GOD we trust on it! Lynn the crate :mrgreen:
 
More info: Looks like I was spot on. The Oct issue of Light Plane Maintenance article two by Mike Berry "Replacing Aircraft Fabric". He states the average cover job for a two place plane is 20 to 40 thousand WOW. He also states that water based has mixed reviews as shops don't like it due to lots more hand work and difficult to get a nice finish. I thought it was me for a while but Berry validates just what I experienced. It is enviromentaly friendly and has no odor but you will work your arse off to Get Ur Dun. Lynn the crate :shock:
 
I was at the factory recently. The retired shop manager from Weber is now running the Alexandria Aircraft shop. He said retirement bored him. They have all the stuff and are quoting a 14-19-2 recover job at $28,000. This includes normal minor repairs. He said they usually use the polyfiber system, but are experienced with everything and will use the system the customer wants. I left with good feelings about their capabilities and experience. Sounds like he's developing a small backlog of work as well.
 
I didn't read Berry's article, but the upper range of cost sounds steep to me. The cost for materials to do an "average" 2 place is $5-7000. This does not include structural repairs. If the owner is not willing to do all/most of the work, labor costs are a major factor on top of these figures. A 4 place probably costs 25% more.
About three years ago I spent about $11,000 in Poly-Fiber materials for my CH. This may still not be enough. It takes about 40 yards of material just for the wings and struts.
Dan
 
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