Fabric Pattern

[SimonNicholson]

Has anyone made up a fabric pattern for the 4 place?

I am planning on using three pieces for the fuselage. Belly and two sides with a join along the spine.

Oratex in Focker red is what I will be using.

[Mark Goldberg]

Simon, the three piece method is what most builders do. One piece across the belly glued to the lower longhorns, and two pieces that cover the sides and top with a sewn seam running on top of one of the stringers. Mark

[rodsmith]

I don't know what Oratex requires for glue overlap. With Stewarts system I used 4 pieces, bottom, sides including vertical fin and separate top piece which gives you the top longerons to glue to and you would not have a long seam to sew. If Oratex does not allow fabric to fabric glue seam, you would have a short sewn seam in front of the vertical stabilizer.

[svyolo]

I inquired with the Oratex dealer and he said it was not allowed to have a fabric to fabric seam without underlying supporting structure. I was hoping to have a separate upper piece as well.

[SimonNicholson]

Simon, the three piece method is what most builders do. One piece across the belly glued to the lower longhorns, and two pieces that cover the sides and top with a sewn seam running on top of one of the stringers. Mark

Mark, when you did your LSA in Oratex, did you sew a seam along the top?

[Mark Goldberg]

No. It was a glued seam 5-6 inches wide. The two pieces were glued together on a long table. Not on the fuselage. Mark

[robcaldwell]

I used Stewart Systems and applied the fabric using the blanket method with no seam stitching. The process for the vertical stabilizer is described in the following video.

[svyolo]

Rob I have seen that before a couple of times but that plane is different. It has a transverse member forward of the vertical fin to terminate fabric. I was hoping to be able to do that but there is no tube to terminate the fabric.

I was really hoping to use separate pieces for the vertical fin like they did in the video.

[robcaldwell]

I did not have a tube to terminate the fabric so I made sure I had plenty of overlap. Probably a good 6 to 8" inches. It really turned out great! I'll post a pic when get back to the garage.

[rodsmith]

I inquired with the Oratex dealer and he said it was not allowed to have a fabric to fabric seam without underlying supporting structure. I was hoping to have a separate upper piece as well.

You could epoxy a strip of aluminum in front of the vertical stabilizer to attach the fabric to.

[svyolo]

I think you would have to weld a piece of 4130 to the longeron. To epoxy aluminum you need some surface area. You would probably have to wrap at least half way around the longeron, but the fabric wraps this too so I don't think it would look that good. I am still looking at this, and a different solution for the D window. Fabric goes on soon.