Stewart Covering System

[Kitfox43]

Looking for comments concerning the Stewart Covering system. I've covered a few airplanes over the years, but have never used the Stewart system. Any pro or con comments are appreciated. Thanks
Brian

 

[Stewartb]

I have a part 135 operator friend who's done one for himself and one for a customer using Stewart's. He likes it for the absence of smell from VOCs but had to adjust his paint guns and techniques to suit the paints. I'm just finishing a Stits and Aerothane cover and chose it because the best looking older, well-worked fabric planes I know of used it. My last build used Ceconite and dope and while that's easy to use and to repair it doesn't hold up like Aerothane. As for Stewart's? I tried to find some older examples and couldn't. I felt like that made me a guinea pig for an airplane parking outdoors in Alaskan weather. I stuck with tried and true for my project.

 

[d.grimm]

All good, and I did it in my attached garage without losing my happy home.
Dave

 

[Tom-D]

I do the stewards system, like it very much. no smell, cleans up with soap and water. what you don't use goes back in the can, (no waste) shines as well as any other system.

It is a ceoconite system that uses all URA water born Products.
Probably the easiest system there is.
I found that washing the fabric prior to use helps a lot on getting saturation of the first coat.

 

[Tom-D]

I have a part 135 operator friend who's done one for himself and one for a customer using Stewart's. He likes it for the absence of smell from VOCs but had to adjust his paint guns and techniques to suit the paints. I'm just finishing a Stits and Aerothane cover and chose it because the best looking older, well-worked fabric planes I know of used it. My last build used Ceconite and dope and while that's easy to use and to repair it doesn't hold up like Aerothane. As for Stewart's? I tried to find some older examples and couldn't. I felt like that made me a guinea pig for an airplane parking outdoors in Alaskan weather. I stuck with tried and true for my project.

When applied correctly, it is easier than Polly, and half the cost and twice the useful life.

all their installation instructions are at U-tube.


When you've never done it, why bad mouth the system?

It uses the same fabric, is stitched the same, has a better glue.
When you consider the cost of thinner for the poly system, you save that much to start, then compare the costs of chemicals, and the Haz/Mat shipping costs. the savings are huge.

Poly is a 15 year system, Stwearts is a 50 year system.

 

[Stewartb]

Show me a 50 year old one!

I didn't bad mouth anything. I stated my preference based on my experience. You're welcome to state yours but when it comes to trying to sound smart by discrediting what someone else says? You need to learn to STFU.

 

[kyleb]

When applied correctly, it is easier than Polly, and half the cost and twice the useful life.

all their installation instructions are at U-tube.


When you've never done it, why bad mouth the system?

It uses the same fabric, is stitched the same, has a better glue.
When you consider the cost of thinner for the poly system, you save that much to start, then compare the costs of chemicals, and the Haz/Mat shipping costs. the savings are huge.

Poly is a 15 year system, Stwearts is a 50 year system.

Now, the Stewart's system is your preferred method, presumably including the finish coats?

Based on this post from a while back, you didn't like the finish coats and indicated that you'd use an unapproved top-coat over Stewart's base coats.

https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/stewart-systems.23162/#post-768213

In another post, you claimed that Air-Tech coatings are the the fastest, easiest, and lowest cost, or words to that effect.

How many cover jobs have you done each with Air-tec, Stewarts with an unapproved top coat, and Stewarts through top coat?

 

[Tom-D]

I love Airtech but it has become very expensive, and pretty much the same work as Stewards.

nice advantage you can use any top coat.

Now I'll ask a question.
can anyone tell one URA system's top coat from any other after it has hardened ?
Over the years I've done all the systems including dope over cotton, I feel poly is the most difficult to do, it requires many coats that has a silver UV protection. Stewarts and Airtech use the new era UV protection in their base coat/primer.
Airtech can be sanded very easily to make the pinked edges disappear if that is what you want.
Poly and Stewart's not so easy.

each of these systems have their advantages, so my favorite may change depending on what the user wants to achieve.
And to add, Airtech is by far the fastest. 3 wet coats of primer, you can sand in 15 minutes. wait 24 hours and top coat. yer done, and it's by far the easiest to sand, very much like any sandable primer. and it is fire proof.