I'm covering my first plane, but don't know where to start. When doing things like the vertical stabilizer of the tail, do I cut a single piece of Monokote to cover the entire piece (both sides), or do I cut one piece for each side and have a seam somewhere down the middle? Any advice would be really helpful.

I did my tail feathers with a single piece folded over the leading edge and overlapped at the trailing edge. 2 pieces on the horizontal stab overlapped in the middle and trailing egde.
I had to use 2 pieces on the wing because of the width, 17", overlapped at the leading and trailing edges.
If you overlapp at the leading edge cover the bottom first so the top overlaps the bottom.
That is how I do it, your mileage may vary.

You migh want to check [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=67]this[/link] out.

Here are most of the covering resources on RCU:

RCU member MinnFlyer has done some great how-to articles and videos on covering. check them out as they will go a long way to getting you started.

[link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=67]Minnflyer Covering how-to[/link]
[link=http://67.18.81.100/rcuvideos/magazine/reviews/352/cov1.wmv]Minnflyer Covering video, part 1[/link]
[link=http://67.18.81.100/rcuvideos/magazine/reviews/352/cov2.wmv]Minnflyer Covering video. part 2[/link]
[link=http://67.18.81.100/rcuvideos/magazine/reviews/352/cov3.wmv]Minnflyer Covering video, part 3[/link]

newest covering videos
[link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/magazine/article_display.cfm?article_id=726[/link]

Ken

You can alos pick up a book by Harry Higley called "There Are No Secrets". It's a good book on covering and finishing techniques.

Dr.1