A friend and I have talked about buying a fun plane in addition to our
Mooney. All the "fun" planes I've enjoyed flying have been fabric. One
of our requirements is no electrical system (just because the must fun
I've had flying is when the plane is simple). I used to fly a Cessna
140 and even that wasn't simply enough for me. I'm thinking about
getting another Champ, Chief or J-3 (I've flown all 3). One of the
limiting factors had always been trying to justify spending $400/month
for a shared hanger for a second airplane. However, I noticed one
plane for sale that the owner had made a complete airplane cover. He
said he keeps the plane outside. The entire wing, body, and tail are
100% covered by this cover (looks like Sunbrella type material). A
typlical rule of thumb seems to be that a fabric plane will last about
10 years outside or 50ish years inside. I live in Nor Cal where we get
freezing nights in the winter and a few dozen 100+ days in the summer.

Has anyone had experience trying the full body cover thing? Can it
protect the fabric? It would seem that a $1000 cover would pay for
itself pretty fast compared to the massive cost for hangers in
California.

-Robert