The BushCat owned by Mark Butcher was a bit over 5 years old and had spent a lot of time parked outside, exposed to the elements. Prior to Mark purchasing it and relocating it to Tasmania, UV had affected the outer top surface of the TRILAM fabric, and it was showing cracks, similar to what you might find in the gel coat of a glass fibre/composite aircraft.
The fabric was still structurally sound, but it looked very shabby and weather beaten, so Mark made the decision to replace it. I have a BushCat myself, and through this connection Mark and I have become good friends. So, I volunteered to help him re-cover his BushCat. It was a two person job. We believe this was the first BushCat that had been “re-covered” in Australia.
The BushCat is now covered in a fabric called TRILAM, that was created in 2005 by a French engineer named Pascal Rossignol based on his experience from his work on cutting edge projects in aeronautics (Airbus), space (CNES), military (DCN), and nautical competition (America’s Cup). This high-tech material was born from the pursuit of performance and strength in sail making for the America’s Cup racing yachts. The pre-stress techniques applied during the weaving of the cloth and maintained during the manufacturing process (TDI Technology), and the dimensional stability of TRILAM give the material what is believed to be a superior strength and aerodynamic profile.
The process involved removing the fibreglass wing tips, wing ribs, flaps and ailerons and the old fabric, inspecting all the wing attachment points, wing spars, struts, pulleys, and bracing wires. We also replaced fixing hardware where required and then fitted the new wing skins. The wing ribs were re-installed, and the fabric was then laced (a lot) in place with nylon cord which requires tensioning at least 3 times – all by hand, while carefully ensuring that the fabric alignment is correct relative to the wing spars, wing struts and the control surface attach points. The flaps and ailerons were then refitted, and dual inspections completed. The BushCat also features vortex generators (VGs) fitted to the top surface of the wing to reduce the stall speed and improve STOL performance. Attaching these was the final, painstaking task and at a last we had a Bush Aircraft once again!
Mark’s BushCat is now ready for more exciting Bass Strait crossings (I think he has now completed about 9 crossings), and outback/off airport adventures.
