Qué es más macho, airplane or bear?

Or perhaps Duct Tape!

http://www.armyparatrooper.org/dropzone/showthread.php/22477-The-Many-uses-of-Duct-Tape-in-Alaska

Oh damn thats crazy, a duct tape plane. Its almost like my friends car thats being held together with JB Weld. haha

My dad was in the Army Air corps in North Africa and he told me about planes coming back from patrol all shot up and they would paint on a coat of "airplane dope" something apparently like model airplane glue, then lay some fresh canvas on it and then paint it with another coat and put the plane back in service. Consider how old planes were made, the sheet plastic was probably stronger than plywood, maybe not, it appeared that the planes structure wasn't damaged. I'll bet in the desert in north Africa they stuff probablt hardened in ten minutes or even less.

So did the bear get the food?

Jim

Cesar:

In a jam in the Bahamas, I used JB Weld to hold the endcap of my heat exchanger for the diesel engine together. The boat's still floating and that JB Weld's still holding that endcap -- 9 years later. I love that stuff.

While in high school I worked at a small airport for an FBO (fixed based operator) and we sold/serviced that type of plane. I think it is a Citabria or Decathlon. It wasn't unusual to see one come in from a ranch that had duct tape covering a hole.

The process to repair was much like Jim described: clean the area around the hole, cut away any ragged edges, sand the fabric, put on some goo, lay a piece of fiberglass fabric on it, cover with more goo, smooth it out, let it dry, then sand and paint.

We also sold/serviced the only wood-wing airplane - the Bellanca Viking. One sweet flying, fast single-engine aircraft.

I also worked for a crop-duster where we did similar type repairs on the fabric covered planes.

Was the Ballanca prone to ground looping?

Not at all. It was a low wing plane and sat low to the ground. It was a sports car of the single engines. It was awesome.
I got to fly in one with a turbocharged 300 hp Lycoming engine and we made a fly-by down the runway at about 230 mph.
What a rush! Do a search for Bellanca Viking and you'll see some good pictures.

I have seen a Piper Cub ground loop and also a Scout with oversize bush tires ground loop. Of course, I did live in the Texas Panhandle where a day without wind was a rare occurence and high cross winds were the norm.