Aircraft fabric covering often used in the restoration of older types that were originally covered using traditional methods. The purposes of the fabric covering of an aircraft are: Pioneering aviators such as George Cayley and Otto Lilienthal used cotton-covered flying surfaces for their manned glider designs. The Wright brothers also used cotton to cover their Wright Flyer. Other early aircraft used a variety of fabrics, silk and linen being commonly used. Some early aircraft, such as A.V. Roe's first machines, even used paper as a covering material. Until the development of cellulose based dope in 1911 a variety of methods of finishing the
Aircraft fabric covering often cut from downed aircraft and used as war trophies. The German aircraft designer Hugo Junkers is considered one of the pioneers of metal aircraft; his designs started the move away from fabric covering. The highly flammable mixture of fabric, dope and hydrogen gas was a factor in the demise of the Hindenburg airship. By the World War II era many aircraft designs were using metal monocoque structures due to their higher operating airspeeds, although fabric-covered control surfaces were still used on early mark Spitfires and other types. The Hawker Hurricane had a fabric covered fuselage, and they also had