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Airplane and Wing Covers:

OK, looking for some advice and I actually have about $1200 to spend..

I've been saving for a while now and want to invest in a new cockpit cover with wing covers for the mains and horizontal stabs for the winter frost. (already have a good cowl cover)

Has anyone recently purchased a good cockpit cover, or wing covers? If so, do you have any good recommendations?

I have an el-cheapo E-Bay cockpit cover that has lasted about 2 years and is now showing major signs of weathering (it was only $100) so that is going by this winter.

Also, does anyone know of a FULL airplane cover for outdoor storage? I have seen covers for planes exposed to frequent hail conditions - sort of padded.

Thanks - I actually have the money, now just looking for the perfect set of covers. Any advice appreciated. MM

PS: No, a hanger is out of the question - they are $450 a month here!

Mike,
I highly recomend PlaneCover.com [planecover.com] for a cockpit cover.

As far as wing covers, I am looking too.

Will be having morning frost here all too soon.

Thanks Ron, I will keep this place in mind. I have a chronic leak somewhere near the cockpit and will occaisionally get a wet carpet in the cargo compartment - hate that! Will continue looking for the right cockpit/wing cover combo....MM

http://www.kennoncovers.com/wingcovers.htm

OR

http://www.aircraftcovers.com/index.php?cPath=1_11_124_128&tplDir=fallback

Ron, what do you think of these? Anyone have them yet? I am considering this complete set. The 150 in the add even looks like mine! MM

Mike,

Before I got a hangar, my plane used to get wet carpet in the cargo area after a rain. I tracked it down to the panel near the wing root. There was a gap. I sealed it with silicone and that seemed to help.

Thanks Hung,

That is the first area I suspected....actually took those off and put weather stripping under the entire panel and then sealed the outside with silicone...still have the darn leak!

I have now used 3 tubes of silicone around the entire cockpit area on top and bottom of the wing where it meets the cockpit, suspecting water may be running along a line before getting into the plane....seemed to work for a while, now the water is back from time to time. Vexing problem and one that keeps me from getting a new interior, which I sorely need.

So, I will invest in the covers...check out the two sites I am considering...both offer wing covers as well, and one offers a combination to cover the entire plane. MM

When I was trying to find the leak, I thought it might be dripping from the back window. So I placed a towel directly below the back window. After a rain, the tower was dry but the carpet under it was wet. So I took off all the side plastic panels. After the next rain, I saw water trickling in along the wall directly behind the pilot's seat.

You might want to remove the side panels, then spray water above the plane and see where water comes in.

Mike,
I bought a cockpit cover and wing/tail covers from airplane-covers.com. The covers are coming up on two years old and still look very good. The fit was excellent and they come with a standard two year warranty or a three year warranty for Sunbrella fabric. I use the cockpit cover 365 days a year and the wing covers for approximately 5 months a year. I paid a total of $511.90 in December of 2007. (including shipping) The cockpit cover covers all the glass and the fuel caps.

I will be going to Old Rhinebeck next week and I will bring the cockpit cover if you would like to take a look. If I don't bring a passenger, I can also bring the wing/tail covers.

George,

Wow, thanks - that is the kind of steer I was looking for wrt finding the wing covers...and only $500+ for everything? Good deal; I will look into it. I really do want to find a quality product.

I am not sure if I am going ot Rhinebeck or not...have to clear the calendar, but if so, will PM you and find out if you are bringing them to take a look.

Do you use them in frost, snow and ice? And they hold up OK?

Again, many thanks George.

I'll second the recommendation for the Deerton, MI company Airplane-Covers.com. I'm on my second cockpit/fuel tank cover. This second one, unlike my first which lasted outdoors from 11/04 'til it started to shred 8/06, is made of Sunbrelle. This fabric is a big improvement over whatever the first was made from.

My second cover was more expensive, but I was given a small credit d/t it's premature demise. It is on all year and has stood up well since I purchased it in 9/06. I have no idea of how many more years I'll get from it, but there is no sign of failure yet.

I like it better than the cover Ron has because it covers the entire rear window. I was concerned the leak I had was coming from the upper seam where the window meets the metal. The cover I have is Cessna 150-2 Solid Color Sunbrella Cover with Accent & wing Wrap Cost $294.95. They sell other (smaller area coverage) covers which I wouldn't recommend, but may be sufficient for your purposes. Take a look at their web site.

One modification that I made to my cover was to replace the bungee cords which hold the (partial coverage) wing covers which cover the gas caps with 3" wide webbing and associated Fastek buckles. I made the suggestion to the company to d/c the bungee cords because they were insufficiently rugged and did not stand up to several months of stretching. I got the webbing off of my first Airplane-cover.com so other than my time, there was no additional cost. The company did offer to repair the bungees, but I knew what I wanted and did it myself. I have spoken w/ the owner and have found him responsive and receptive.

The sun is intense and destroys most lesser fabrics not up to constant exposure. Whatever company you go w/, I'd advise u2 spend the extra bucks for the better quality material.

I have no experience w/ wing covers, just know they are costly and that's why I have avoided them. I agree frost is a pain to remove, but doesn't take too long-perhaps just as long as it would take to doff and don the covers?