Aircraft fabric covering

Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures, the de Havilland Mosquito being an example of this technique, and on the pioneering all-wood monocoque fuselages of certain World War I German aircraft like the LFG Roland C.II, in its wrapped Wickelrumpf plywood strip and fabric covering.

Early aircraft used organic materials such as cotton and cellulose nitrate dope, modern fabric-covered designs usually use synthetic materials such as Dacron and butyrate dope for adhesive, this method is often used in the restoration of older types that were originally covered using traditional methods.

Purpose/requirements

The purposes of the fabric covering of an aircraft are: