Fabric workshop on site 

Gary Altenheim, Skylark Ct EAA Chapter

EAA Chapter 1310 Fabric Covering workshop was held the weekend of May 31/June 1 of this year, at one of the chapter member’s home shop. Nine chapter members attended. Of those attending there was a wide range of experience levels and reasons for attending. The attendees ranged from a licensed AI and A&P to those having some previous experience covering aircraft, to others with a fabric covering project in their future, and some who were just interested in learning.

Our workshop leader was Tony Markl, who was the first fabric instructor for the Alexander Aircraft seminars, which were the forerunner for the EAA SportAir workshops. Pat, Tony’s wife, who is an expert in some areas of fabric covering in her own right, assisted Tony in instructing during the workshop.

Tony brought a number of different control surfaces to cover, each with its own set of challenges to be learned from. The idea being that the surfaces were to be taken from a frame ready for cover, to attaching fabric, rib stitching, installation of tapes, reinforcements, inspection and access rings, drain grommets and the various steps involved in coating the fabric.

While some would have liked to actually work on their project pieces during the workshop, Tony emphasizes the workshop is a safe environment to learn from both your (and others) successes and mistakes, and you don’t really try different things on your project. By the end of the workshop most everyone agreed that it was better to have made their mistakes on something that wasn’t going on their project.

The workshop was “hands on”: read the steps as outlined in a basic covering manual, figure out what you want to do and how to go about it, and then do it, asking questions along the way. At times Tony would stop the group and gather them together so they could share various successes and mistakes, and to share some of his experience and tips that he has gained over the years. People even came up with a few ways of doing things that were new to Tony, which he said he would use in the future. Pat took one or two at a time and taught them rib stitching.

At the completion of the second day each group shared some of what they thought were key points that they learned from the piece that they covered. All came away from the workshop with the confidence that they could produce an airworthy part, and an appreciation of what it takes to make it beautiful besides. Using the skills and tips that Tony shared with us, along with practice, there should soon be some more beautiful fabric-covered aircraft out there to fly and admire.

Tailwheel training  Fabric re-covering  Fabric manual
Aircraft delivery  Testimonials  Links