1996 - New Fabric on Fuselage and Tail

 I wanted a more authentic WWI look to the plane so I decided to use Grade A Cotton to cover the fuselage and tail.  As part of the WWI thing I decided to sew an envelope for the fuselage like on the SPADs.  When we were stationed in Japan in the 60's Patricia and I borrowed the neighbors sewing machine and made envelopes for an L-5A Stinson

The fuselage was placed on each side and each side panel was cut to fit with a little excess and then taped snug to the side.

 The turtle deck piece was cut to fit and pinned to the sides.

 With the fuselage upside down the bottom was fitted and pinned to the sides.

The cutout in the stringers for the lower wing took a little extra work to fit.

When you take it all back off you find out how big of an opening you need along one of the longeron seams to slide it over the fuselage.  The opening gets baseball stitched closed once the envelope is back on the fuselage.  Once the sewn envelope is secured to the fuselage and the seam closed cotton gets slightly shrunk tight with a light mist of water.

In 1996 I moved the Cabin WACO to an end hangar with a nice space for a workshop.  I built a platform for storage above and a nice lighted work space below.  Much better than doing dope work in the house.
The fin was covered as a separate piece after the fuselage so the top of the fuselage sides could be joined to keep it held down tight to the fairing.  The slight gap between the fuselage and fin is covered with tapes.

I wanted frayed edges on the tapes instead of pinked so I tore strips of fabric and sat fraying them in the evenings while watching TV.  I then rolled them up so they were easy to work with when installing them.  I frayed about 3/16" on each side.  It really was easy.  I like the look better than pinked tapes.  The edges sand down nicely.

 I wanted more finished looking gap fillers on the tail hinges than the "Z" strip Pete used.  I took 2 strips of fabric and sewed them together to make an "X" with 2 seams 1/4" apart in the center.  This was used between the hinges.
For the hinges I did the same thing but the gap was sewn wide enough for a 1/4" bolt to slide easily into the pocket.  These pieces were installed loosely on the bolts as the the hinges were assembled.  The ends were then trimmed to the guide lines drawn on the tail surfaces.  These same guide lines were used to trim the gap fillers to a reasonably neat line.  The thickness of the tail surfaces varies from root to tip.  It was a bit of work but I like the look.