Fabric for simple DIY airplane cover

The fabric on professional ones (like Cambrai, etc.) looks more or less like sailcloth.

I don’t think felt is structural enough and parachute fabric (nylon?) is too thin.

Glider cover use some outdoor weather proof breathable fabric with an inside liner to let air circulate and not scratch.

Canopy cover (for sun not rain) usually are made of one side brushed cotton flannel. I’ve just seen that one manufacturer has just switch to softshell material (see the last 2 pictures)

The covers I have had since 2002 were “lightweight reflective” from Bruce’s Custom Covers in the US.

The outside and inside surfaces look like this

It is really good stuff. Keeps the cockpit cool on the hottest summer days, and the “furry” lining prevents the windows getting scratched – so long as you never let it fall on the ground, and if you do then it needs to be washed.

There’s a silver material occasionally available as offcuts which one UK company uses. Light weight, waterproof. I believe it’s too expensive for them to buy other than as offcuts from defence sources. We’ve got 2 for our Jodel. Sorry don’t know more regarding sourcing.

I purchased a lightweight boat cover from ebay for £20.00 ( new with free delivery) silvery grey in appearance.
I wanted a sun/heat/theft deterrent/very convenient alternative to our main heavy cover.

I cut the boat cover up and recreated a copy of the permanent cover, with a couple of mods to make it able to fit in less than a min (no excuse not to apply it)
It was originally intended for a 1off holiday but was extensively used and survived in full.
It scrunches down into a bag the size and weight of a football. Very happy with the fabric, but don’t think it would survive a tornado.

Sorry, haven’t figured out how to post pictures from an android phone to here.

I bought some waterproof ripstop nylon from Ebay for about £10.

To make the pattern I covered the aircraft in brown paper, I think it was some kind of underlay -wallpaper, using tape to join sections together or flatten down any excess flaps of material on the curves. I drew a line down the center of the aircraft, then took the paper off and cut it into likely looking panels that would sit reasonably flat. There’s a cutout for the venturi and a cutout for the fuel tank. Really you want to cover the fuel cap to stop water getting in, but as someone here pointed out, not with something that may cause static.

The result fits pretty well. I made a first version out of a bedsheet which is the only version I use at present in the hangar – stops birds getting into the cockpit, conforms to the aircraft very nicely as the material stretches a little, and it’s breathable.

I can imagine someone with an expensive canopy might want to use something softer such as cotton to cover it; I would have thought the important thing is not to use material that will pick up dust and grit and be difficult to clean.

haven’t figured out how to post pictures from an android phone to here.

Check posting tips. You may also need to go to your Preferences and enable the more advanced user interface.

Thanks Peter, it was that I hadn’t enabled advanced for mobile devices.
Next time I will resize correctly.

Some thoughts on it. These cover have to be pretty UV stable, so best look at tarpaulin cloths, some prefer to buy it from yachting supplies. The sewing thread has to be high grade UV protected also, otherwise it will not hold long – especially important to keep the girlfriend happy after spending much work. Decide what to do about the inside. If you simply use the cloths, it will scratch paint and wreck the windows, so you have to do some protective measure inside. Double layer with a soft and breathing cloths inside is the way to go. Further sun protection is also a good idea, so silver reflective outside does have its benefit. Short shopping list: silver coated sun protective tarpaulin cloth outside, soft cloth double layer inside, high grade UV sewing thread.