Hi Stan, et. al.

I am continuing my research on acoustic blankets for light planes, specifically I am working with Dave Morss on his Legacy to quantify how much noise can be reduced and at what weight, (you may have seen my posting awhile back asking for anyone in the San Francisco Bay area if they were interested in working with me on this).

Anyway, I have almost completed the various blanket combinations for testing in the aircraft and have just a few hours ago, finished the laboratory acoustic test chamber testing (measuring the noise spectra at 1/3 octaves).  I am even testing leather and fabric as interior upholstery finishes in terms of transmission loss and absorbance.

What I am missing is how the interiors are upholstered.  For Dave's plane, I have bagged the blankets in our fire resistant aircraft grade films we make (at Orcon Corp.)  This is OK for the tests but most would want a more finished looking interior.  How are the interiors done?  Does the interior upholstery shops glue fabric or leather on to foam that is then attached to the interior of the plane?  I limited the research I am doing to foams which due to their semi-rigidity, can support itself and the upholstery over it.  It would be very easy to spray glue the leather or fabric to the foam and be done in very short order but as I said, I am woefully ign'ant as to how the inside is completed.

By the way, one of the best noise solutions I THINK should work well will only weigh in at about 5-7 pounds.  That will probably be somewhat less effective than the massive barrier blankets but at a fraction of the weight, be a lot more palatable.

I will keep the LML posted on the results (I have to get Dave when he's not busy...try that some time!) and I will also plan on lecturing at the sessions at OSH next year.

Dan Newland

Super ES