S

Spindrift

Well Known Member
The glare shield in the RV7 I bought is painted white, so its actually more of a glare magnifier. On the flight home across the country, it was so bad that we made a special trip to a craft store and bought some matte black construction paper and taped it in place, which helped immensely. Now I'm looking for recommendations on what material to spray mount in place for a more permanent solution. I was also thinking to use the same material on the sides of the cabin. I did some searches but didn't find any good answers.

Thanks,
 
Hi Bill,

Unfortunately, your airplane is already built but the one I had, had black vinyl applied just before the windshield was installed....the easy way to do it.

You can, however, apply it after the fact. My -10 has a light colored cloth cover and it's lousy compared to the black.

Best,
 
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This is what we use for our glareshields. I am giving you a link for a certain vendor, but any automotive fabric supplier will carry a black tweed. If you search their website, you will see a large selection of vinyls as well. We use black for the glareshield and a color to match the upholstery for the side panels.
http://www.yourautotrim.com/prestigeblack.html
 
It also says : Automotive Seating, Door Panels, Dashes, & Headlining

But let me clarify our use
We keep our aircraft hangared, so they are only outside during flight and at airshows. If we are overnight parking anywhere we put the canopy cover on.
In the above conditions, we have not noticed any changes in color nor any signs of wear.
 
glare shield

I bought a barbecue mat at Walmart for $16. one side was vinyl, but the other was like felt. I cut a paper template, then transferred to the mat.
it's heavy enough that it just lays there, but I did use a few tabs of double-sided tape to keep it from moving.
I then slit some fuel line hose and used that on the edge of the glareshield, trapping the mat under it. Then I used a piece of black foam pipe insulation over the hose. makes a pretty nice rolled edge, will reduce lacerations in a crash, and the bonus is, I can use velcro hooks on anything I place on the glareshield mat, and it stays put!
total cost about $25.......and no glare. The rest of my interior is painted light cream, and it really causes quite a bit of reflections in the canopy. For best vis, I'd recommend everything inside be as dark and flat as you can stand!
 
I still have some loop velcro left from the bolt I bought to do my glare shield. It is like black velvet and has held up well. $25 + s&h and I will send you enough to do your plane. It will also give you a place to stick pens and other stuff.

This stuff is like cloth, not the hard plastic strips.
 
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dashmat

.....pretty funny, dashmat also sells tonneau covers, bbq covers, auto bras etc.
looks like its all similar material after all.
..just FYI before you spend $149 on a dash cover, it might just be the same as the bbq version!
 
flyboy1963 said:
For best vis, I'd recommend everything inside be as dark and flat as you can stand!
Click to expand...

Amen to that! My interior, including the panel, is painted white and its horrible. Not only does it show dirt badly, but the reflections in the canopy are obnoxious. Haven't yet decided whether its worth repainting and adding more weight, especially since in places the paint is already pretty thick.

Bill, I like the idea of the loop side of the velcro. I'll send you a PM and we can figure out details.

Thanks for all the suggestions.
 
Leather

It may be more expensive, bur leather would be ideal. Less glare than vinyl and it should last longer.

Bob Kelly
 
videobobk said:
It may be more expensive, but leather would be ideal. Less glare than vinyl and it should last longer.
Click to expand...

I picked up a hide of black leather at a local fabric store on sale for half off so it was about 80 bucks. I am using it on the glare shield of my -8 and it works great. I have PLENTY left over for future use. I installed it this way:

Cut a piece to fit the curvature of the windshield at the intersection of the windshield and glareshield. On the aft edge of the glareshield (at the glareshield 'lip'), trim the leather about 1/4" to 3/8" too long. Fold the leather around the edge of the the glare shield, and use the 'standard' plastic channel that is commonly used on the edge of glareshields. If pushed hard enough, the plastic channel will go over the now double thickness of the leather and the thickness of the aluminum. The rest of the glareshield is not attached to the aluminum in any way. The angle formed between the windscreen and the aluminum glare shield is such that the leather is 'trapped' and held in place. Doing it this way avoids a mess with contact cement, plus allows easy removal if you ever want to take it off. Works great.
 
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One of the local carpet stores had a material that appeared to be identical to what is used to make automobile dash mats, it is actually sold as a form of outdoor carpet.

I bought enough of it to cover my 4'x7' work table with the inset back rivet plate, and also to do the instrument cover and the rear baggage shelf, cost less than $30.00.

The material is a loose spun, non woven product, and will stick to the "hook" side of velcro. A few bits of velcro hook stuck to the alum keeps things in place.

Sorry, no product name or link:confused: but I suspect many carpet stores will have something like this.

The edge is covered by split fuel hose, wrapped in the same UltraLeather used for the interior.
 
Velcro is great!

I'm with Bill on this one. We installed sticky-back loop velcro on Mikey's glareshield and it has been great. Looks good like snug black cloth, allows my various antennae, Spot, pens, etc. to stick (and release without lifting up, unlike flannel that some use), and no glare (except from the Spot). I was a bit skeptical that it would look tacky when Paul suggested it but I'm sold on it now.
 
HDepot Aircraft Parts

I originally painted mine flat black - but it was getting just too hot in the Texas sun - along with heating up the avionics.

So I went to HDepot and found some aluminum covered bubble insulation as well as black indoor/outdoor carpet. I cut the insulation a bit smaller than the carpet and contact cemented it to the underside of the carpet. I used windlace (some call it pinch welt or pinch weldt) from an auto upholstery shop to finish the edge/hold it in place. Works like a charm.

The black carpet doesn't glare on the windscreen and the insulation keeps the sun from heating up the avionics too much. Sort of a "rich" look/feel too. Wasn't expensive either.
 
..And while we are at it..

While we are talking glareshield (don't want to hyjack the thread)..what about the glareshield edge?..just about finished with my 7a, and when I look at that sharp edge, bad, bad, bad thoughts seem to enter my mind..what about the best way to cushion the edge??...and does that interfere with the glareshield covering material?
 
Windlace

bkc3921 said:
While we are talking glareshield (don't want to hyjack the thread)..what about the glareshield edge?..just about finished with my 7a, and when I look at that sharp edge, bad, bad, bad thoughts seem to enter my mind..what about the best way to cushion the edge??...and does that interfere with the glareshield covering material?
Click to expand...

See my earlier post: windlace from the auto upholstery shop
 
Currently I have a tan piece of leather on the dash. I will change that as the glare and color don?t match what I want.

I ordered a bunch of samples from a company called Miami in Ohio. The best look and feel sample was leather like vinyl branded Allante. About 20 bucks a yard. You can google Allante and find cheaper than this company.
www.miamicorp.com/products/VINYL/LEATHER%20ALTERNATIVE.aspx

To soften the edge of the glare shield I cut some tubing lengthwise and slipped it on the edge before I glued down the fabric. I used a double sided tape called Permacel to stick it down. Very strong stuff. Even in the Houston heat it has not let go.
 
edge of glareshield

Hey Brian,
I also imagine bad things when my face hits the dash.....so I figured the fuel hose would be the final cushion before the sharp edge, and to spread the load over a wider area, the black foam pipe insulation. Of course, this will degrade over time, and something denser would be nice, but for a dollar, it does the job!
wrapping a denser foam, like the black soundproofing foam, with upholstery or matte leather would be real slick.
Everyone should think about how you flop around like a rag doll in an accident, 5-point harness or not! It's worth looking at all the killers inside your cabin.( a loose flashlite in a 20 g impact becomes a 40 lb. bludgeon!)
 
pseudo-velcro

When I got my carpet material from Abbey at Flightline Interiors it looked and behaved JUST LIKE the furry/fuzzy loop side of Velcro and came in a variety of colors. I asked if she had it in black, the answer was yes and that is now what I'm using. Ditto on everything said about the benefits!

Jeremy
 
Here is my black carpet from Airtex with rubber trim from McMaster Carr.
Makes a good base for my antenna farm.
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