Allan Morrison wrote:
Anybody tried to use painted airtight windowscreen(fiberglass or
nylon?)as a flat surface covering material?

I have looked at (via google) various aircraft covering materials(some
brandname)and am not impressed with their costs, their "painting"
requirements (labor+++), their mechanical toughness or their local
availability.

After installation probably two coats of paint would provide an
airtight surface

OR

the window screen could be painted on a flat polyethylene surface, let
dry and then installed.

Since the screen is so thin, two layers (one grid oriented 45 degrees
to the other) would provide a very strong and tough surface.

Any opinions? TIA.


1 extremely unlikely that window screen is as strong per pound as
typical a/c covering

2 totally unknown quality control of the screen

3 enough paint to fill the openings in a screen that's designed to pass
air is going to be very heavy

Tedlar (sp?), a more or less UV proof plastic sheet, was used to cover
some ultralites a couple of decades ago.

if weight is no object, Tyvek house wrap looks interesting but if you
intend to put humans in the plane you didn't hear that here.