RE: Dwindling kit suppliers
I think that we are going to see a great many new airplanes at the flying field when the weather warms up. At least that is the sense I get from the run on products here at Sig.
Yes, a few things like Ultra Light glass cloth, dope, and some sizes of balsa wood have been tough to keep in stock simply because of unusually high demand. Those who think kit building or scratch building is a lost art should come work at Sig for a while. Someone is using all this stuff! I personally haven't applied a dope finish in a few decades so I am amazed at how much we ship out. I'm expecting to see a lot of Cubs this year with scale fabric covering jobs.
Most peoples lightweight fiberglass cloth is 3/4 oz. If you can use this weight of cloth, we have it in stock now which is called Sig Light Weight cloth. (It costs less too.) The Sig Ultra Light glass cloth is .56 oz. and it is much harder to get. If you need this lightest cloth, hang in there. We are tracking this down but it has been tough recently to obtain this lightest weight cloth.
David Redden
Sig Manufacturing