page_title: Aircraft fabric covering
section_title: Traditional methods
hierarchical_section_title: Aircraft fabric covering / Covering processes / Traditional methods
caption_attribution_description: English: Wing root detail of a Sopwith Pup aircraft at the Shuttleworth Collection
context_page_description: Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures, the de Havilland Mosquito being an example of this technique, and on the pioneering all-wood monocoque fuselages of certain World War I German aircraft like the LFG Roland C.II, in its wrapped Wickelrumpf plywood strip and fabric covering.
  Early aircraft used organic materials such as cotton and cellulose nitrate dope, modern fabric-covered designs usually use synthetic materials such as Dacron and butyrate dope for adhesive, this method is often used in the restoration of older types that were originally covered using traditional methods.
context_section_description: Traditional covering methods use organic materials, such as cotton. Once the aircraft structure is prepared by sanding, the material is applied using dope as an adhesive. Rib-stitching is used on faster aircraft types and especially on undercambered airfoils to ensure that the fabric follows the aircraft structure. The distance between stitches is reduced in areas affected by the propeller wash. The covering would then be treated with tautening dope to remove wrinkles and increase structural strength, finish coats often containing aluminium powder would serve to protect the surface from ultra-violet light. Large fabric panels of the World War I era aircraft were often laced together through eyelets to ease access to the internal structure for maintenance. Some disadvantages compared to modern methods are the relatively short service life of the covering due to biological effects such as mildew and the labour required to achieve the end result.
caption: Laced panels and stitched undercambered airfoil of a Sopwith Pup
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