: Have you SOF builders looked at the different fabrics available for fabric
: covered aircraft?

The price is probably up there, . . .

Gee, Sky high prices for aviation parts, who ever woulda thunk it

The problem with fabrics for aviation is that they meet some, but not all of the requirements for boats.

Fabric skins for boats regularly need to withstand physical abuses that aircaft rarely encounter. An airplane is not likely to get impaled on a snag from some submerged river log. You don't drag the fabric parts of an airplane along a rocky beach for your landings. Etc.

For the types of abuse that the coverings MUST endure for aviation, a realtively thin fabric sems to work fine. For a boat you want to use a thicker one -- and that means that it will weigh more, which is a detriment to aviation use.

Very light weight fabrics can be used, and indeed are used, for ultalight canoes and kayaks. If these are handled with great care they'll last a long time. However, the thinner fabrics may also be spoiled after just one rough landing.

If you absolutely, positively gotta have a lightweight boat, then you absolutely, positively, gotta take good care of it. If you want something that requires less maintenance, then you pursue heavier fabrics. I'll point again to Klepper. Their hulls are built automotive tires, with strong synthetic-fiber fabrics covered with durable synthetic rubber compounds. They say the things will last 25 to 50 years. I want something that durable for my foldable boat, and making it from scratch is possible, but the materials are not commonly available, nor are they cheap.

PGJ