"Vaughn" wrote
I used to love the 1-26 when I first flew it, but then I flew a Ka-8.
Just as docile, just as old, just as cheap to buy - and a better
flying ship in every way.

...and 4 notches better on L/D but with a wooden wing. Not sure I would
want to tie one outside in South Florida, something that is no problem with a
1-26.

Outside tiedown for rag-and-tube aircraft is bad enough when it's dry
- then you just destroy the fabric. You ever recover a fuselage with
fabric? I have. It's not complicated, but oh man is it ever a bitch
to do. For the effort you put into recovering the fuselage once, you
could have built a primitive hangar.

In Florida, it's worse. Salty rain gets into the fuselage and the
tubes rust. Then, when you take the fabric off, you have a huge
amount of sanding and priming to do, and likely some welding as well.

The 1-26E is not so bad - it only has fabric tailfeathers, and those
you can recover in a long weekend.

Outside tiedown is something you really should only do on all-metal
aircraft, and then only inland.

Michael