K. Ari Krupnikov wrote:

I was under the impression
that it's not a good idea to keep a fabric airplane outside, so I
figured an all-metal TT would work better.

Aircraft used to be covered with linen or cotton. That would be painted with
"dope" to keep air from passing through the weave. Both of these fabrics will
last a long time if hangared and rot if left outside. The rot time varies
depending on ambient weather conditions. I personally know of one J-3 Piper
still flying with an immaculate 30-year-old cotton skin. Been hangared since the
cover job.

Modern fabric-covered aircraft use synthetics such as Ceconite (AKA Polyfiber)
or Razorback. Ceconite will deteriorate when exposed to UV rays, so the aircraft
are carefully painted to prevent this. Two methods work. With both, you paint
the aircraft with primer coats of nitrate and butyrate dope. You can either
follow this with color coats of butyrate dope, or use color coats of
polyurethane. An aircraft covered in Ceconite and painted with either of these
methods can be kept outside. If the color coats are butyrate dope, the paint
must be "rejuvenated" about every 10 years, but this supposedly is true even if
the aircraft is hangared.

The problem with Maules is that, prior to 1996, the factory used enamel as the
color coat over a dope primer. Parts of the aircraft are fiberglass, some parts
are metal, and some are fabric. Dope doesn't last on bare metal and cracks on
fiberglass. Enamel shrinks and produces cracks and other problems in the fabric.
Most have been recovered, but who knows (I know of one '95 model that hasn't
been). The only real cure is to strip and recover and repaint the aircraft,
though some people have had success sanding the finish coat off and repainting.

Anyway. If you get a fabric aircraft that has a Ceconite or Polyfiber skin with
polyurethane applied over a dope base coat, you shouldn't have problems with
the fabric.

Corrosion is a different issue, but metal aircraft also have problems with this.

George Patterson
Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a person to
use the Internet and he won't bother you for weeks.