Light Aircraft Association

Hi,
My hunt for hangerage in the South isn't going too well... so I am wondering if I were to buy 'whole aircraft' covers - Ive seen some aircraft parked at Popham covered in this way... would it survive like this?

Thanks for any input
Chris

My advice would be don,t ...that comes from 30+ years of wooden aircraft ownership.There is only one light aircraft that (relatively) happily lives outside and thats the PA28 family (I run a company flying club PA28 that seems to do ok outside )Expect maintenance costs to be much higher on ANY aircraft that lives outside.Places like Great Oakley still have hangarage and offer a great flying enviroment with few restrictions.Just have to plan your fling carefully.VBR Alan

Some wooden aircraft can be kept outside. The main deciding factors ( there are many), would be what glue is used and if the interior is varnished, and the covering material used.



However a jodel is not suitable because of the original glue.Even if it has been rebuilt using modern epoxies,some of the structure (more than likely the wing) will still have the old glue in it.

My old Jodel was left outside ( by some one else) for less than a day because they wanted to work in the hangar in the warm in mid winter.It rained and froze very hard and the tailplane disintegrated !
The LAA (PFA) have issued guide lines to owners of wooden aircraft in the past. As an inspector I can only advise you not to do it.

Whilst many good covers are available, none of them are compleatly waterproof and in certain cases can actually hold in trapped moisture.
One winter outside will kill a Jodel.

As a Jodel man myself, I have to agree with previous comments - not a good idea.
Finding hangarage is fraught with difficulty. My suggestion would be that you get involved with your local Strut. Hopefully there you will meet owners who keep their aircraft at local strips and airfields, they are by far the best contacts to find out where space may be available.
It is also a bit of a chicken and egg situation. Strip owners get asked time and again if they have space available, only for nothing to come of it. the easy answer is therefor 'No'. If you have an aircraft when you ask you are sometimes taken more seriousely, but it's a bit of a risky strategy! If you do find somewhere, even if it is not as convenient as you would like, and perhaps more than you want to pay, grabbing it, buying the aircraft and then being patient waiting to get into somewhere better would be a better compromise perhaps.

I would echo Brian's suggestion of hanging out at Strut meetings. I joined my local Strut earlier this year and just through casual conversations have found out about three strips close to where I live, in areas that I thought I knew well (and I'm not even looking for a strip -- but am now thinking about logging these into my GPS for emergencies...)
Also, if you can find parking, then perhaps you could negotiate to put up some shelter of your own devising. There are a number of options, most of which would be cheaper than rebuilding a rotting Jodel!
Good luck.

Over the summer with a cover - it would probably be OK. Over the winter when the cover holds in the damp as much as keeps the airframe dry - no.

My old Emeraude was periodically 'kept' outside as its then owner fell out with various airfield managements. When I recovered it - the flaps were held together only by the fabric. The wing trailing edge and parts of the ailerons simply opened up when the fabric was cut off. Same as the floor...

Modern synthetic glues resist damp better - but you have to be sure all the joints were made with them - which is pretty unlikely.

With a Jodel I think it is either hangarage or no aircraft.

The answer is dont think about keeping it outside. I have the tailpane of a Spanish Jodel left outside in Kent that had to broken up after one English winter. It is certainly not airworthy.

A recent accident in Canada shows the danger of storing an aircraft outside; the spar appears to have been rotten and the outer panel separated from the Falconar Jodel. There is no conclusive evidence that this was the cause but data on the Jodel Yahoo group seems to point that way.

http://winnipeg.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local ... nnipegHome

Thanks all for the advice... patience it is then.. last thing I want to do is to wreck an airframe.

It seems like wood (or more specifically glue) may not be the best choice of material for an aging airframe in any case, or as an absolute minimum a very, very thorough survey by a specialist pre-purchase.

The hangar search continues, finding an active strut is high on the to-do list

Chris

Aging airframe? watcha mean?........She's a sprightly 52
The occasional shower isn't a problem, but you really do need to look after them.

Yep... aging... (thats 12 years older than me!)

Some really lovely looking examples available at the moment, hence my interest.... but I agree, they have to be looked after properly.

Its just so frustrating here in the South to observe as a newbie the virtual closed shop when it comes to getting yourself out of 'spam can' flying.

Will keep plugging away

Chris

Keep plugging Chris. I have only had mine a year, but I talk to her more than the missus.
See you at Sywell?

Intending to go to Sywell, yes, will be my first fly in to arrive by air (deep end, in at..)

Arriving in a Spam Can Im afraid, Grumman Tiger G-RICO

Persuaded my girlfriend that camping is a good idea... and looking forward to meeting & getting to know people in the LAA.

Chris

Hi Chris, PM me about hangarage in the SE, I may be able to put you in the right direction...no promises though !!

Will.

Chris,

PM sent (no promises either but somewhere worth checking).

Tony Nowak