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Aluminum sheet skin?

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J

JoeMartin

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2019
Messages
62
Location
South Dakota
I really like the look of polished aluminum skinned airplanes. Instead of the fabric has anyone used thin aluminum sheet? I'm not sure what the weight difference would be.
 
JoeMartin said:
I really like the look of polished aluminum skinned airplanes. Instead of the fabric has anyone used thin aluminum sheet? I'm not sure what the weight difference would be.
Click to expand...

Our S1L was built with aluminum skin. The only fabric is the horizontal stab, elevator and rudder. Empty weight is 570 pounds with a Jabiru 3300 which I believe is slightly heavier than most VW engines. Downsides are a lot of extra work and some oil canning on the rear fuse at high power. Looks good even though not polished.
 
To get the "look" that I want, the entire plane would need to skinned with aluminum. You are right, it would be a pain in the butt. I guess I'll see how I feel when I get to that stage.
 
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