5500 Sullivan Street Cashmere WA 98815 1-888-356-7659 (1-888-EKO-POLY) Ph: 509-679-9116 Fax: 509-782-3025 info@stewartsystems.aero

Doug Stewart
Stewarts Hangar 21, Inc.
Cashmere, Washington

Paul and Tammy,

This is an enquiry that I received via email and my response to it. I am emailing this to you so you can see what kinds of questions I am getting from folks.....................

Doug Stewart

*****************************************

Hello Doug

I live in Butte Montana, about 90 miles from Ennis. This weekend I will be attending a 3 day class put on by Paul and Tammy from Aircraft Finishing systems. I am 90 days into a rebuild/recover on my PA-22 and am teetering between this new system and the (name withheld) system. It is my understanding that this new waterborne system is the old Blue River system. No doubt you saw the e-mail in our digest which indicates that this may not be the best choice. I would greatly appreciate some feedback regarding your personal experience with the waterborne system. Specific questions are, how old is your oldest recover job, is it looking good as new, how is this airplane stored/cared for, is this plane subjected to -30 degree weather, does this system get brittle when really cold, can a repair/patch be made that is good looking (blends in well) , if paint fades can it be rejuvenated like the (name withheld), do you think the paint job will last as long as (name withheld) ?

I am about a month from ordering my recover supplies and any info you could offer would be helpfull

Thanks Doug

-------------

First off, this is not the old Blue River system.

The glue is waterbase contact type cement and is very strong. I have used water based contact cement before and Cecobond is the best I have ever used, even better than the solvent based contact cements. Stewart Systems glues are
a bit different to use if you have used solvent based glues in the past since there is not adhesion when the glue is wet. I pre glue the areas that the fabric will attach to and as soon as the glue is dry to the touch and has changed color ( about 5 min at 75+ deg ) the fabric can be laid on and it will lightly tack to the glued surface. This is nice since a side panel of fabric can be placed on the fuselage and it will stay put or can be pulled loose until it lays like you want it to. I then take the small heat iron and make a quick pass around the joint to heat activate a joint about 1/16" wide. This attaches the fabric at this heat line. I then go back over the tubing with a coat of glue that is brushed down through the fabric. This also dries fairly quickly and first shrink can usually be done in about 15 min or so. It is also possible to coat the fabric and structure and let them tack up and then press into place on difficult areas. Lots of neat things that can be done with this process. The hardest part was unlearning some old habits. Tapes are laid on dry and glue brushed down through them and this really works very well. The more I use it the more I like it and really like being able to be exposed to it all day and not have any ill effects or lingering after effects. You could recover in your house with this process.

I have some paint samples that I've had for a year that have been exposed to outside elements ( attached to the side of my aluminum pump house ), in the freezer, inside the hanger and none of them have ever cracked even with tight 180 deg bends even right out of the freezer. I soaked one sample in a jar of gasoline ( auto 92 unleaded ) for 7 days and the paint came out perfect with no change to color or flexibility. By working it I was able to get it to debond from the fabric after this soak, but this was a narrow strip so I'm not sure but believe the glue is what finally gave up. It did not just separate, but had to be mechanically pulled apart. The paint is still very strong and flexible even after debonding from the fabric. I don't know how this stuff can be so scuff resistant and still be flexible, but it is.

Applying the paint is very different, and you really need to pay attention to the application during the 3 day class. We just did our first paint job on the Clipper with this paint process and went from I love it to I hate it to this stuff has got so much going for it we need to do some more of it. Our problem is that we went through some extreme
temp swings and not knowing enough about the paint let some of it start to get away from us because of the heat. Ask Stewart Systems during this stage of the program how to compensate for different temps and such.

Our experience with it is just this year so far, so no long term track record on our part. I have talked with Mark Pierce and he has a couple of projects that have been done for over two years and is having very good results with it.

If you are not comfortable with using Stewart Systems paints, almost any finish will go over their process. I have done one with Stewart Systems recover process up through the filler / ultraviolet coat and then top coated with PPG Durathane. That was done because only the wings and tail feather were done and PPG was on the rest of the plane. I really recommend the recover process and will very likely stay with the finish system also. Like it or not we are being forced into this type of produce in the near future. EPA is really starting to clamp down on hazardous materials and I personally welcome the change.

As far as low temps. Like I said I've taken samples out of the freezer and still can't crack them by bending. Paul said they got a sample to crack by taking it down to 60 below and whacked it a sharp blow and that one cracked.

From my perspective I sure can't promise you that this is a perfect process, but indications are that it is very good. From others that I have used I am impressed enough with this that I have no desire to use anything else again. I'm still not 100% with the paint because of the problems we had applying it, but in the long run we will probably end up using it for all of our jobs. Health hazards are minimized with it and a lot of our problems were caused by trying to learn a new process while under the gun to get a project finished and radical changes in weather during the application process. Even with the problems we had the finishing process was much less hassle than (name withheld) and looks much better. Also will not stain like some others.

For a comparison as to the glue. We have applied tapes around the wing gas tank junction on a 108 Stinson with (name withheld) glue and they are turning loose. The Stewart Systems glue is still doing it's job on a test tape we did, so are going to retape this area with the Stewart Systems glue since it is proving to be much better in the long term and much stronger.

Hope this helps
Doug Stewart
tdoug@chelanpud.org

Main Menu    EverShield   Fabric Aircraft   Composite Aircraft    Metal Aircraft   Industrial Products
About Stewart Systems   Contact Us    Stewart Systems Distributors   Stewart Systems Direction For Use   New Products  Color Chart  Price List