FAQ. What things should we look for in a cover?

Answer: The first requirement of a cover is that it be safe to use on the aircraft. That means that it must be made from materials that won't damage the aircraft. Aircraft are different than Jeeps, trucks and tanks, dent a fender and you can still drive the jeep, bend a plane's aileron and it is quite a bit more serious. Safe covers fit snugly and are made from materials that protect the aircraft, not damage it. Let's talk first about the fabric.

External aircraft covers for the most part must be constructed from breathable fabrics. Trapped moisture will damage acrylic windows and can cause corrosion to the weapons system and in some cases to the airframe. With the exception of winter wing or blade covers you have to insist on covers that breath and quit using covers that don't breath, or at the very least monitor the effect that your non-breathable covers have on the aircraft.

FAQ. How can you tell whether the fabric breaths?

Answer: If it is shinny, or if there are two or more materials laminated together, chances are that it will trap moisture. To be sure, take a glass half filled with water. Take a piece of the fabric in question and with rubber bands, secure it to the top of the glass. Put the glass with the fabric in the microwave and bring the water to a boil.

A breathable fabric will allow the steam to pass from the glass. The steam will blow the non-breathable fabric off the glass.

FAQ. If covers that don't breath and damage aircraft, why do we get them?

Answer: Breathable covering materials are generally higher quality woven materials, they are also more expensive. They're worth every penny because they are safer than extruded or laminated materials. Unless you specify that exterior covers be made only from breathable material, you will likely get what comes from the lowest bidder. The better value is the cover that won't trap moisture because it is safer to use

Try this, go to your local airport and see what private aircraft owners are using on their airplanes. You won't find many aircraft covered with tarp material. General aviation is a real small, tight community. If something isn't right, they won't use it.

We can help you develop specifications for safe covers. Email Us

FAQ What is another indicator of a safe cover.

Answer: You will rarely find a metal fastener on a safe cover. Anything metal will scratch. It is only a matter of time.

FAQ. We have used covers before, and they damaged the canopy or windows.

Answer: After Desert Storm we went around the world and visited many U.S. and allied aviation units. We heard stories of the damage caused by covers and the damage caused by the sun on aircraft that didn't have covers. It was so hot in the desert that fighter canopies were warping. Windows were blowing out of aircraft and in some cases it was so hot inside the cockpit that the circuit breakers were tripping. Often the circuit breakers had to be overridden in order to start the engine, defeating their purpose. You couldn't leave the canopy or window open because of the fine blowing sand.

On the Tornado, a side hinged canopy, the canopy warped to the point where it would not close. Personnel had to file the latch in order to make it close!

Covers with fuzzy linings were used and they collected sand and scratched the transparencies so bad that the acrylic had to be replaced. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damaged was caused by poorly designed covers. Metal hooks of on some of the covers scratched the acrylic during instalation. Nobody had any good things to say about covers back then.

But covers can be designed to be safe. Kennon uses a slippery satin lining as opposed to a fuzzy lining because sand won't stick to satin. We don't use anything metal on a cover that goes on an aircraft. We use a soft breathable fabric that won't trap moisture between the cover and the aircraft.

Kennon builds safe covers for some very particular customers. General aviation aircraft owners are smart shoppers. They talk to each other. The look at various products and compare the quality of materials and workmenship. If a company provides a good product, word gets around fast. If a company provides an inferior product that damages aircraft, the word gets around twice as fast.

FAQ. How come the sun shields that we received from the supply system were so different from the set that your company loaned to us as a demonstration set? We ordered by the NSN number that you gave us.

The Defense Supply Center Richmond recently approved an alternate product, thinking that it was equivalent to the shield that Kennon produces. Sorry to say it is not like the Kennon Sun Shield at all. Not even close! The the alternate shields are made from completely different materials. They are about half the thickness and we feel that Richmond made a mistake, and we have told them so.

Kennon Sun Shields were developed in conjunction with Windshield Program Office, Wright Patterson AFB. They were rigoursly tested there before approved for use. The alternate product is so disimilar that we believe it should be offered as a seperate product after it has been tested.

Our advice to you is the same advice that we give of our customers. If what you receive something that doesn't meet your expectations, return it. Secondly, let the buyer beware! For a free demonstration of a Kennon Sun Shield for your aircraft Email Us

FAQ. Funds are hard to come by, how can we justify the purchase of covers?

Answer: When funds are tight it even more important to preserve the property you have. The USAF Windshield Program Office estimates that "hot cockpits" costs the DOD aproximately $15,000 annually in repair and replacement costs of cockpit related equipment. Then you add in the human element. Does anyone work inside the cockpit when it is outside a hangar? Has anyone ever gotten burned? You can fry an egg on the glareshield of a hot aircraft at the same time the heat is frying the avionics and electronics.

There are covers that are used in the winter to keep the flying surfaces free from snow, ice and frost. Deicing is expensive and environmentally unfriendly and unnecessary if you prevent precipitation to collect in the first place.

Do you ever have leaks where water gets in where it shouldn't? Do you have any long term storage needs and no hangars?

Got A Question? We would love to here it! Email Us