Trying to determine aircraft this original fabric came from

[butnermuseum]

Good morning from North Carolina. I am the curator for a small military museum and they flew the L3 and L4 at our former base as artillery observers. We don't have a lot on display in the museum about the aircraft but recently found a piece of aircraft fabric with the on it but the owner doesn't know for certain what aircraft it came from.

I have looked online at manuals in hopes of finding details on insignia dimensions and rib spacing (Since the marks on the back run vertically, I assume it's from a wing) but I can't find the information I need to narrow down what it came from.

It's on the small side so It's not from an aircraft too large. All we know was the person he got it from had found it at an estate sale "20 or 30 years ago" and original owner was a glider pilot during the war but that doesn't necessarily mean it is from a Waco.

The insignia measures 22" tall by 43-1/2" wide and the ribs are spaced 14" apart. it is in remarkably good condition with only cracking paint on the edges.

So what could it be from? The owner said it might have come from a Sikorsky YR-4 too. After looking at images and the insignia, it is certainly a possibility. I just don't know what the frame minus fabric looks like.

Thank you all for your assistance.

Mike

 

[Terry37]

Good morning from North Carolina. I am the curator for a small military museum and they flew the L3 and L4 at our former base as artillery observers. We don't have a lot on display in the museum about the aircraft but recently found a piece of aircraft fabric with the on it but the owner doesn't know for certain what aircraft it came from.

I have looked online at manuals in hopes of finding details on insignia dimensions and rib spacing (Since the marks on the back run vertically, I assume it's from a wing) but I can't find the information I need to narrow down what it came from.

It's on the small side so It's not from an aircraft too large. All we know was the person he got it from had found it at an estate sale "20 or 30 years ago" and original owner was a glider pilot during the war but that doesn't necessarily mean it is from a Waco.

The insignia measures 22" tall by 43-1/2" wide and the ribs are spaced 14" apart. it is in remarkably good condition with only cracking paint on the edges.

So what could it be from? The owner said it might have come from a Sikorsky YR-4 too. After looking at images and the insignia, it is certainly a possibility. I just don't know what the frame minus fabric looks like.

Thank you all for your assistance.

Mike

I collected aircraft fabric for years, and still have quite a bit, including pieces from the last Lancaster shot down in 617 Squadron, pieces from the Spruce Goose, the only Horsa to crash over England en route to Holland for Market Garden, and a tiny piece from the Hindenburg (Mentioned only to share the depth of my collection). The first thing that jumps out at me is that there does not appear to any age showing, and the underside is a nice clean cream-white. Those pieces I have from WW2 show age, which only time and elements can cause, and the inside although protected form the elements is still turned a brownish white. I have some rudder fabric from a WW2 trainer that crashed into a line of trees (also having pictures of the crash), and it show obvious age, and seems much thinner than the piece pictured.

My gut feel without seeing it in person, is that it is probably made up or taken from a current plane that might have needed some repair.

Terry

 

[dick56]

Good morning from North Carolina. I am the curator for a small military museum and they flew the L3 and L4 at our former base as artillery observers. We don't have a lot on display in the museum about the aircraft but recently found a piece of aircraft fabric with the on it but the owner doesn't know for certain what aircraft it came from.

I have looked online at manuals in hopes of finding details on insignia dimensions and rib spacing (Since the marks on the back run vertically, I assume it's from a wing) but I can't find the information I need to narrow down what it came from.

It's on the small side so It's not from an aircraft too large. All we know was the person he got it from had found it at an estate sale "20 or 30 years ago" and original owner was a glider pilot during the war but that doesn't necessarily mean it is from a Waco.

The insignia measures 22" tall by 43-1/2" wide and the ribs are spaced 14" apart. it is in remarkably good condition with only cracking paint on the edges.

So what could it be from? The owner said it might have come from a Sikorsky YR-4 too. After looking at images and the insignia, it is certainly a possibility. I just don't know what the frame minus fabric looks like.

Thank you all for your assistance.

Mike

The pinkish tint of the underside of the fabric reminds me of of a Dacron fabric system developed in the 1960s by Ray Stits. Cotton and linen was used in WWII and before, but in the late 50s the FAA certified Dacron of various weights for all farbic covered airplanes. Dacron will last for decades whereas cotton and linen was good for only a few years depending if it was hangared or not. The Dacron fabric is very tightly woven whereas cotton is more loosely woven. Cotton is soft to the feel. Dacron is very slick and shiny. My guess on your piece is it is from a restored WWII plane and used Dacron for the recovering.