Van's Air Force
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Outdoor tie down/ wing covers etc
- Thread starter H-Ottawa
- Start date
Norman CYYJ
Well Known Member
My RV 7 has been parked outside for six years and no problems. Still looks new out here on the west coast.
Norman CYYJ
Well Known Member
Just a canopy cover. No corrosion anywhere either.
flyboy1963
Well Known Member
Wet coast?
...I'm not sure Norm's airplane in Victoria even counts as actually being exposed to 'the elements' !
ok, he DOES have to contend with the sea air, sea gulls, sea shells by the sea shore etc.
I think the locale will determine your preference to some degree; and what i mean by that is.....here in the Okanagan/southern BC, there is plenty of hi, low temps, sun, rain etc.
...but what really seems to effect the aircraft is dust! There's a nearby gravel pit, upwind, and highway, and the grime and cr@p that accumulate the day after you wash your plane can darn near render it u/s.
I use the heavy Bruce's canopy cover at home, and the light fly cover as a sunshade when away ( and to keep prying eyes out).
My personal opinion is that covers, if not perfectly secure, will chafe, and that having a breeze blow thru the structure, keeping it dry, is a good thing......but lots of guys use full covers, and love that you can just go out, pull them off, and fly, with little or no cleaning of dirt or frost.
Then there's critters. Birds, mice, marmots, can all get into your plane, causing varying degrees of pain. Covers may limit access points.
so there's a long winded " it depends"
...I'm not sure Norm's airplane in Victoria even counts as actually being exposed to 'the elements' !
ok, he DOES have to contend with the sea air, sea gulls, sea shells by the sea shore etc.
I think the locale will determine your preference to some degree; and what i mean by that is.....here in the Okanagan/southern BC, there is plenty of hi, low temps, sun, rain etc.
...but what really seems to effect the aircraft is dust! There's a nearby gravel pit, upwind, and highway, and the grime and cr@p that accumulate the day after you wash your plane can darn near render it u/s.
I use the heavy Bruce's canopy cover at home, and the light fly cover as a sunshade when away ( and to keep prying eyes out).
My personal opinion is that covers, if not perfectly secure, will chafe, and that having a breeze blow thru the structure, keeping it dry, is a good thing......but lots of guys use full covers, and love that you can just go out, pull them off, and fly, with little or no cleaning of dirt or frost.
Then there's critters. Birds, mice, marmots, can all get into your plane, causing varying degrees of pain. Covers may limit access points.
so there's a long winded " it depends"
RickWoodall
Well Known Member
Not ideal
I would say a big negative on the outdoor thing. Bruces Covers makes excellent full plane covers for RVs but not cheap. A couple local rvs in Windsor did keep theirs out for a few years. Definitely limits both the flying (pain to strip covers and fly) and the weathering of plastic, paint etc.
Sometimes there are times you can find a deal keeping it in a hangar with a couple high wings, as you can fit nicely between them with a fairly small footprint, good rate.
So it is possible to keep outside, but you will need good covers and it will limit winter flying. I would spend some time with the good people at carp and smith falls and get their two cents before deciding what make she most sense. Ottawa certainly cant be compared to Victoria for wx.
I would say a big negative on the outdoor thing. Bruces Covers makes excellent full plane covers for RVs but not cheap. A couple local rvs in Windsor did keep theirs out for a few years. Definitely limits both the flying (pain to strip covers and fly) and the weathering of plastic, paint etc.
Sometimes there are times you can find a deal keeping it in a hangar with a couple high wings, as you can fit nicely between them with a fairly small footprint, good rate.
So it is possible to keep outside, but you will need good covers and it will limit winter flying. I would spend some time with the good people at carp and smith falls and get their two cents before deciding what make she most sense. Ottawa certainly cant be compared to Victoria for wx.
Norman CYYJ
Well Known Member
The plane gets it fair share of dust and then gets stuck on with all of the left overs from all of the jet traffic. No problems with critters there are no entry points for the little rascals, but do have plugs in the engine ports.
