SkykingC310
Pre-takeoff checklist
We had lots of hail yesterday. It's pretty common here. What do you folks do to protect your planes from hail? Do the canvas covers help at all? Or is a hangar the only protection?
Hail
- Thread starter SkykingC310
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ScottM
Taxi to Parking
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iBazinga!
SkykingC310 said:
Mine is hangered
Let'sgoflying!
Touchdown! Greaser!
I know someone who flew into some hail once.
He said he 'dove down with it, to reduce the damage"!
He said he 'dove down with it, to reduce the damage"!
Of course depends on the size of the hail but cover will help some. But you have to cover every horizontal surface.
Diana
Final Approach
I wondered about a dilemma we had once. We had the Citabria and the Skyhawk at the farm and only room for one in our hangar. A storm was coming and we had a debate as to which airplane would fare better in case of hail. Which would you leave out in the storm, the metal airplane, or the ragwing?
bbchien
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Ooh. Citabria into the hangar. C172 to fly away.Diana said:
Have you and Tom considered a Lift for the second aircraft?
Richard
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Ack...city life
Probably because he had heard at MMO the dents would pop back to normal skin.Let'sgoflying! said:
gismo
Touchdown! Greaser!
It sure seems like someone could make (and sell!) a hail protection cover. I think you'd need a fairly stiff outer cover with something "squishable" underneath. Perhaps a 20-30 mil vinyl top with 1/4" high density foam underneath. For a portable version to be used away from home (which is what I need) the soft layer could be inflatable.
Greg Bockelman
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bbchien said:
I don't think their hangar is tall enough for that.
Greg Bockelman
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Diana said:
Well, to me the Citabria is the one to go into the hangar and the 172 tied down under one of those trees in your yard. The trees will shield some of the hail, unless it is falling horizontally.
As for leaving a fabric covered airplane out in the hail, if the fabric is good, and the hail not TOO big, it will just bounce off. Provided the paint is flexible. If the fabric is old and not too good to begin with, the hail will shred the fabric.
All in all, fabric goes into the hangar.
bbchien
Touchdown! Greaser!
Dang. Then the only option is a Sam's club type canopy held down by 300 lb test New England Nylon Braid with appropriately buried tires/stakes/engine blocks holding the tethers down. I never can tell if that sort of setup is just an invite to stuff breaking away and MORE damage.Greg Bockelman said:
Sigh.
Maybe the cars go out into the open and the Citabria goes diagonally into the garage on a pair of dollys.