Badland Part 103 Pilots and Builders Forum

So I still haven't decided if I am going with a full covering job or a partial (3/4) look.

What advantages does each one have? (excluding cost-weight-build time)

I almost hate to cover up all the neat tubing in the fuselage. I like the earlier Ducati trellis tubular frame motorcycles but have never owned one.

Lets see what ya'll have to say about this.

I don't have a Badlands but its really up to personal preference. Maybe a slight advantage in a crosswind but small. Easier inspection but also moisture can get to it easier. Weight savings would be minor. What do you like? Some like it and some don't. Myself, I can't see it from the pilot's seat anyhow.

I liked the somewhat-naked look of the F-3 in the Gallery section of the Badland Website, so I decided to go with that look. I had Chris do my F-3 airframe in white powder coat to go with mu Sky Blue and Fokker Red Oratex covering.

I' currently in the covering stage. and have a love-hate relationship with the Oratex. It generally goes on very well and shrinks down taunt beautifully with the Sentinel heat gun. However, I'm still in the learning stage on how to remove the kinks that crop up in the curved areas of the empenage.

NOTE: If you go with the semi-naked look in Oratex, be sure you make it clear to Janina at Better Aircraft Fabrics in Anchorage that you need about 0ne-third less fabric than the fabric nesting diagram provided by Chris. His diagram is for a full cover. I found it to be of great help in sizing the material by area (flaperons empenage, wings, etc. A great help if you''re doing a two-color scheme.

If you're referring to the yellow F3 in the gallery that would be mine.

I went with the 1/3 naked look because I also like the trellis look and figured crosswinds would have less of an effect. It also makes inspections much easier.

I am very happy with the look of mine. But as mentioned, it's entirely subjective.

Adding to the question: As Mountain Cat stated, the weight savings is minor, but the question came to mind when I read comments about cross winds. I'm thinking in the other direction - is there any performance gain or loss in fuel burn or speed with or without covering?

Todd

I doubt there would be any performance gain that would be noticeable. The naked tubing would have more drag than a smooth fabric surface. A round tube is very drag producing. But, any performance gain or loss wouldn't be noticeable at the speed of the Badlands. 100mph+ maybe.

For the uncovered look, one advantage I came up with is that it definitely looks like a part 103 aircraft.

You will even expose the 5 gallon fuel tank to visual scrutiny as well. I have a friend with an Aerolite 103 with a gorgeous polished aluminum 10 gallon tank, it looks sharp but it screams non-103 aircraft on the taxiway.

Also allows you access to the fuselage tubing if you need some tie-points for trailering your plane to another location.

Trailering is going to be part of my plan for sure. I want to be able to fly with you guys sometime in the future.

Mountain Cat wrote: ↑Sat Nov 25, 2023 9:19 pm I doubt there would be any performance gain that would be noticeable. The naked tubing would have more drag than a smooth fabric surface. A round tube is very drag producing. But, any performance gain or loss wouldn't be noticeable at the speed of the Badlands. 100mph+ maybe.

That's what I was thinking that the lack of the fabric would be negligible on forward performance. With the narrowing of the planes fuselage the tubing isn't in direct path of the airflow, so drag on the tubing wouldn't be much of a consideration.

Thanks,
Todd