Build Your Fabric Skills:
Series of articles by Ron Alexander from Kitplanes magazine:
Published in 2008- 2009


https://www.kitplanes.com/build-your-skills-fabric/

https://www.kitplanes.com/build-your-skills-fabric-2/

https://www.kitplanes.com/build-your-skills-fabric-3/

https://www.kitplanes.com/build-your-skills-fabric-4/

https://www.kitplanes.com/build-your-skills-fabric-5/

https://www.kitplanes.com/build-your-skills-fabric-6/

https://www.kitplanes.com/build-your-skills-fabric-7/

https://www.kitplanes.com/build-your-skills-fabric-8/

https://www.kitplanes.com/build-your-skills-fabric-9/

https://www.kitplanes.com/build-your-skills-fabric-10/

++++++++++++


Reproduced below a teaser lead-in  : first few paragraphs of the first article. . .


Aircraft covered with fabric have been in existence since the very beginning of flight. During the late 1800s, kites and gliders were constructed and flown. The Wright brothers’ curiosity resulted in their study of several glider and kite designs, each using fabric material as a covering. They discovered that without fabric on a wing it was useless as a lifting surface. In 1899, the Wrights constructed and flew their first kite from which further knowledge of flight was gained, and it was then used in the design of their first powered aircraft.

All of these designs were covered with a fabric material to hold the structure together in addition to providing the foundation for lift. Fabric also provided for flexibility of the wing structure, allowing control of the aircraft using the wing-warping technique.

The first fabric the Wright brothers employed was “Pride of the West” muslin. It was a tightly woven cotton material used largely for women’s undergarments. Strips of fabric were sewn together to provide covering for the wings and control surfaces. For later model aircraft they used cotton infused with rubber, making it airtight and waterproof.

Along Comes Cotton and Linen

Aviation pioneers largely used cotton and linen material for covering aircraft through WW-I. The fabric used on aircraft was later termed Grade A cotton, a name that is still recognized today, and it became the standard for builders of early airplanes. They covered their aircraft with fabric because it was light and easy to apply.

But just covering the wings with fabric wasn’t enough. Just as the Wright brothers learned, early aviators found that unless they tightened and sealed the fabric, the wings would not create lift, so they used varnish to seal the fabric. However, they discovered that the varnish would soon turn yellow and crack. They tried furniture lacquers next, with limited success. Finally, they developed furniture lacquer into nitrate dope, and the dope we use today is still made from the same raw material used in lacquer

Good Dope

The term dope as often used in our society today has an obvious and negative connotation. But to people who cover their airplanes with fabric, it has an entirely different meaning. Used for decades, the term describes a liquid that seals and tightens an aircraft’s fabric. Nitrate dope is flammable, and problems associated with this hazard were an issue during the early days of flying. A crash with any type of spark would almost certainly cause a destructive fire. Mechanics doing welding repairs or a careless cigarette smoker could cause major destruction of aircraft covered in cotton and nitrate dope. . . . . .
. . . . .
. . . . .