AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 1958 - (Page 33)

Put Your Fabric to the Test Laboratpry e x e m i h t b m is swr^ wwy t o determine health hether y o u h a t SO feet or defectsÑio m e presence m cracica 6,000, if you're trusting your or ring-worm in the dope, ¥wate life to a fabric-covered aircraft, i f s stains or mildew i the fabric, @n no wonder if you hope it's "good d e n of abrasion or damage. ~ New field' teat+ haven't changed Sf&ods." Most pilots ere safety-cowus, this much, as Civil Aeronautics Ad¥-*bu we havea friend -who recently r& ministration staff members in Wash' covered hia plane and is now wonder- ington point out:When the mechanic tug if he unnecessarily eased himself who signs your ah-worthiness certifioat of a few haadzed dollag, He cab dogs 80, it means that in big Own* the fabric is airworthy. knows he's safe, but was he stung? "The iRechanic inspecting if. did If you question the opinion, you as same punch tests," he said. "Turned owher do have the light to get the only kind of test $hat can proye conit down fiat? el~dvely precise tensile strength the "So what tbp?'" laboratory test c&n" W 4we started ripping the fsb- of hbGbw visa from the wings, but the atoff bcw=nbll* toofeed so good that I seat a sample eolKlitiOna. There hag been considerable c n oto the The local office obliged n mewithapulltest, andthistimethe fusion o * point in 4he-field.ffowfabric tested 94 pounds to the inch." ever, i t is generally accepted that a. s Fabric testing ^S pp+, tensile Seld inspector-mechanic i und& & strength satisfies official apecifi6a- certftin obligation to inform the tiona for deteriorated GradeA fabric, o d e r of kig right to a laboratory test. ~a there's no doubt our friend was A A. Voilmeckt!, chief of the Air* mf d w n d ie w a t anexplanation. f e Before signing the airworthiness- frstiae and Equipment Branch of certificate. for a fabric covered air- CAA, ppis i t thisway: "Yw, the air-> establish whether craft, the field examiner must some- craft wfaet how decide whethe the akin i in h f a b r i c onMa^fcreraftia aimorthy s good shape. Nice it would be, indeed, by having eoaiormity tests conducted If the aeciflion could be a u t o m a w by a recognizes testing laboratory. if some matriuDqt ¥wer available The 'mechanic' usually will advise for os6 in t h e field which would give theaircraft owner that the foregoing as accurate measyement of fabric vasy be done." strength and condition of the dope. The CAAappears to f e , howeVar, el THiere we, in fwt. a number that mislmaerstandings take plwe portable testing devices on the roar- often enough to warrant a specific ket. Some of them tost doped fabric c$@lmMon to tide field. In Noveal-, by a punch or impact technique. her,Mr. Volhaedte hfonaed AQPA they can The fabric akin of a plauie is ediabe a valh#blft help in shaping the plex. Both tee ffood doth and mechanic's 4eeiflioii. the layers of protective dope differ i n Remember the old-time mechanic their reactions to heat, moisture, who lawbed w e field teeters first mildew and atralni hn caws oat? Hiamethod waa to pat 016 Take the cloth itedf. It's highly fuselaze between the ribs. With a yaciBptible to eh&ngea in moisture. few pimch@, thuflms and an experi- Dry it out and I t loses strength. enced eye, such BO old band could ten William H Weber, laboratory d h e p . pretty well hW long that fabric could tor of Kewes Brothera, fabric makkeep. flying. H e looked for obviooa (CwtiWtsAwtww67) w a of

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 1958

AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 1958
Contents
Calendar
Legally Speaking
Editorial
What About Airspace Use, Mr. Pyle?
10,000 Seconds Under the Hood
Flying Weather One Month Ahead
AOPA Weathercast
AOPA 185579
Air-Age Teenagers Give City a Lift
Your Radio and You
Operation Cost Cut
Put Your Fabric to the Test
Are You "Compasss Punchy?
Yankee Duster in Latin America
South American Challenge
I Lived Through a Graveyard Spiral
Safety Corner and Accident Report
On the Airways
Travel
What's New?
Classified Department

AOPA Pilot Magazine - March 1958

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