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Posted

Who makes the best airplane covers these days? I called Jim on the east coast, but it sounds like they're closing up shop and not taking new orders. Bruce's makes an attractive cover, but I don't like the snaps and it sounds like Jim would install a zipper to make the cabin door accessible: a big plus when you've gotten your top on and realize you forgot something and it's windy. 

Posted
1 hour ago, Antares said:

I called Jim on the east coast, but it sounds like they're closing up shop and not taking new orders

This is terrible news.  I have really enjoyed dealing with Jim over the years, and in my opinion he made the best Mooney covers.

Cheers,

Dan

  • Like 1
Posted

I have a Bruce fuselage cover, tailcone cover, cowl plugs, and pitot cover.  They are all excellently made, and they fit perfectly.  I imagine that if you asked for a zipper aligned with the TE of the door, they'd sew one in.

The snaps are completely trivial to install, they just replace one screw adjacent to each cowl flap, and they secure the front of the cover without a strap binding on your gear doors.

Posted

I don't feel comfortable with how snaps hold and I believe that they can introduce unwanted aerodynamic drag. If the cover were to come unsnapped, I could see it beating stuff up with the chinstrap. I like the way that Bruce's covers fit the airplane, and I think they've very attractive covers; I just don't like the way that they attach. 

Posted

The cover comes with a safety strap to hold the ends of the straps together in the event that the snaps let go.  I pass mine through the nose gear - underneath the tube your towbar goes in, and cinch it up just enough to take the slack out.  The position of the snaps makes them letting go extremely unlikely: they are "around the corner" of the cowl from the cover, so that tension on the strap pulls perpendicular to the snaps, rather than in-line with them.

As far as aerodynamic drag goes.... there are two of them, and they have a surface area of less than half a square inch between them.  Unless you're pushing transonic, their added drag force will be measured in millinewtons.

Posted

I've been outside with Bruces's cover for 20 years. I'm on my 3rd I believe (maybe 4th). I've never had an issue with the strap causing problems even if it came unsnapped for some reason.

 

-Robert

Posted

I have a cover but never use it.  Its huge, so it doesn't go on trips.  And I've never seen the Mooney leak even a drop if I remember to button it up.

Posted
19 hours ago, INA201 said:

I just took some measurements for these guys todayhttps://www.airplane-covers.com/. I didn’t think about Bruce’s. Any thoughts on these guys?

They are located in a small community near Marquette / Gwinn, MI (KSAW).  They got an order for a Seneca a few months ago and the guy and his wife drove down to Iron Mountain to measure up the Northwoods Airlifeline Seneca (a 4 hour round trip), offering us a free cover for letting them do that.  We declined the free cover, but told them they could donate one at our next fund raising event.  Seem like really nice people.

Tom

Posted
13 minutes ago, Yooper Rocketman said:

They are located in a small community near Marquette / Gwinn, MI (KSAW).  They got an order for a Seneca a few months ago and the guy and his wife drove down to Iron Mountain to measure up the Northwoods Airlifeline Seneca (a 4 hour round trip), offering us a free cover for letting them do that.  We declined the free cover, but told them they could donate one at our next fund raising event.  Seem like really nice people.

Tom

Oh, I should’ve mentioned that the customer service when I called was really good so I’m pretty confident the product will be as well.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted (edited)
On 6/6/2018 at 6:04 PM, ShuRugal said:

I have a Bruce fuselage cover, tailcone cover, cowl plugs, and pitot cover.  They are all excellently made, and they fit perfectly.  I imagine that if you asked for a zipper aligned with the TE of the door, they'd sew one in.

The snaps are completely trivial to install, they just replace one screw adjacent to each cowl flap, and they secure the front of the cover without a strap binding on your gear doors.

My cover secures completely with straps that stretch to stay tight, no snaps, nothing attached to the plane, and it's clear of the landing gear and doors.

20180616_122047.thumb.jpg.82aad66a69946ec5251f647350d09745.jpg

20180616_122033.thumb.jpg.81fa119aadd5a4e4e10e0b71c3dda90f.jpg

20180616_122037.thumb.jpg.e2652636d28598d009045485ded2dfe4.jpg

 

Edited by Hank
Posted
On 6/7/2018 at 11:36 AM, INA201 said:

I just ordered one from these guys. I’ll report back when it shows up in a couple of weeks. It was around $320.00 with tail number embroidered on both sides.

https://www.airplane-covers.com/

I went with their low end option 3 year ago (I may have paid around $240 if I recall) because my plane lives in the hangar most of the time and the cover only gets used on long trips.  It has held up well so far, remains waterproof, looks attractive, and fits nicely. I would recommend them.

  • Like 1
Posted
On 6/7/2018 at 11:36 AM, INA201 said:

I just ordered one from these guys. I’ll report back when it shows up in a couple of weeks. It was around $320.00 with tail number embroidered on both sides.

https://www.airplane-covers.com/

I bought my covers from airplane-covers back in 2010 when I purchased my Mooney. In fact, on their site, my M20E is still the «Cover girl»!

My Mooney lives outside all year long, and the covers are still strong. 

I've redone 3 of the buckles and some stitchings 2 years ago, at the local shoemaker for $75 and should be good for another 10 yrs! Good stuff!

IMG_0042.JPG

  • Like 1
Posted

Another vote for the Airplane Covers guys, also known as MACS Covers. I received one of their covers with my '76F when I purchased the aircraft in December last year. The cover fits well and works well. It has my tail number embroidered on both front corners which I believe discourages theft. There are no snaps on my cover, just nylon straps and buckles.

  • 4 months later...
Posted
On 6/18/2018 at 12:39 AM, Sime said:

Another vote for the Airplane Covers guys, also known as MACS Covers. I received one of their covers with my '76F when I purchased the aircraft in December last year. The cover fits well and works well. It has my tail number embroidered on both front corners which I believe discourages theft. There are no snaps on my cover, just nylon straps and buckles.

I concur!!! Great customer service and is well constructed.

Posted
On 6/17/2018 at 9:39 PM, Sime said:

Another vote for the Airplane Covers guys, also known as MACS Covers. I received one of their covers with my '76F when I purchased the aircraft in December last year. The cover fits well and works well. It has my tail number embroidered on both front corners which I believe discourages theft. There are no snaps on my cover, just nylon straps and buckles.

The snaps are only to pull the cover forward to ensure the avionics access panel is covered. 

-Robert

  • 1 year later...
Posted

The coolest thing about Jim Cancil’s covers... they were well thought out regarding what got covered, and how the cover was going to get used...

Jim was also a great business man... He reworked a cover for my M20C. Then built a new one for my M20R...

 

Bruce has a similar amount of care and customer support...

If you can’t get a hangar, definitely get a cover...

Best regards,

-a-

Posted

I know it sounds crazy, but I am looking for a cover for my plane while it sits the the hangar.  Something that would cover the entire airplane, wings, cowl, everything.  Looking for something light weight since it doesn't need to go on the plane outside.  Something in individual pieces would probably work well. Why am I looking for this?  My hangar seems to collect a lot of dust and debris.  They aren't sealed very well from the outside.  I hate cleaning the plane and then going back a few days later to see it dusty and dirty when I haven't even flown it.  Does anyone know where something like this can be purchased?

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