Bruce's or Kennon's covers???

Guest Discussion
1

I have seen on this site numerous mentions of owners buying/using Bruce’s covers for their aircraft. I am wondering if this is because they are located near Bruce - South Bay (San Francisco peninnsula) or have they found Bruce’s covers to be better than the Kennon covers.

I when I looked for a cover for my DAKOTA (PA 28-236) last year I believe I found several articles rating Kennon as the best maker of aircraft covers.

Does any one have a definitive answer to this question? Or a strong opinion?

Thanks

Bob

2

I when I looked for a cover for my DAKOTA (PA 28-236) last year I believe I found several articles rating Kennon as the best maker of aircraft covers.

I have never owned a cover, but a few things convinced me to use heatshields over covers:

  1. Added weight of covers (up to 35 lbs or 6 gals of fuel), raising the question which cover weighs more than the other if you insist on covers. The fully-loaded Cirrus can ill-afford a big bag of weight – that’s 1/3 of the proposed gross weight increase!

  2. The convenience of repeated installs of heatshields compared to covers;

  3. Maintenance of covers and straps (don’t tell me grease doesn’t get all over those straps on the belly and get all over your hands and clothes);

  4. Although covers protect windows and prevent leakage, how often do I leave the plane outside? Very little compared to the 300+ days of the year that I don’t. Of course, if I didn’t have a hangar or the plane leaked, I certainly would buy one; and

  5. Price + maintenance costs.

Perhaps, some cover proponents can enlighten me.

3

I believe I found the recommendation for Kennon in Aviation Consummer

Bob

I have seen on this site numerous mentions of owners buying/using Bruce’s covers for their aircraft. I am wondering if this is because they are located near Bruce - South Bay (San Francisco peninnsula) or have they found Bruce’s covers to be better than the Kennon covers.

I when I looked for a cover for my DAKOTA (PA 28-236) last year I believe I found several articles rating Kennon as the best maker of aircraft covers.

Does any one have a definitive answer to this question? Or a strong opinion?

Thanks

Bob

4

Gary,

You make some good points. Without “voting” one way or the other, I’ll add this:

  • I bought Bruce’s cover. I was very happy with the service, value and quality of the product. Mine weighs 17 lbs.

  • Other pros and cons:

  • Internal heat shields are easier and quicker to put in place

  • Internal heat shields are arguably more secure - they prevent seeing inside; those Garmins have got to be tempting. With internal shields, you’d have to break in before you’d know whether it was worth the effort. Of course, an educated burglar would know what’s likely to be in an SR2x, anyway.

  • Some internal heat shields eventually scratch the windows

  • The cover can cause scratches, too; especially if dirt/dust/sand gets involved. The action of the cover rubbing on the skin of the airplane is turns the foreign matter into an abrasive.

For me, the answer is to use both, as needed. I keep my cover in the trunk of my car (my hangar is communal), and take it along if I know I’ll need it. I don’t have the heat shields yet - if anyone has a recommendation for these, I’d appreciate it.

I have never owned a cover, but a few things convinced me to use heatshields over covers:

  1. Added weight of covers (up to 35 lbs or 6 gals of fuel), raising the question which cover weighs more than the other if you insist on covers. The fully-loaded Cirrus can ill-afford a big bag of weight – that’s 1/3 of the proposed gross weight increase!
  2. The convenience of repeated installs of heatshields compared to covers;
  3. Maintenance of covers and straps (don’t tell me grease doesn’t get all over those straps on the belly and get all over your hands and clothes);
  4. Although covers protect windows and prevent leakage, how often do I leave the plane outside? Very little compared to the 300+ days of the year that I don’t. Of course, if I didn’t have a hangar or the plane leaked, I certainly would buy one; and
  1. Price + maintenance costs.

Perhaps, some cover proponents can enlighten me.

5

From what I understand Kennons has never made a srxx cover for the lack of templates. Bruce has been using our SR as a way to measure and in my opinoin makes a great cover. The wing covers were measured and then sent over seas so I can not comment on them, but the canopy cover works great. We have yet to have oil on the belly so that has not been a problem for us…Ed

6

I don’t have the heat shields yet - if anyone has a recommendation for these, I’d appreciate it.

Here’s an email I received from Kennon, the only one I could find with templates for heat shields . . .

"Thank you for your interest in Kennon Aircraft Covers. We do still have the template for the Cirrus SR20 aircraft windows and a set of the sun shields for this plane are priced at $169. These can be ready for shipment in one day. If you wish to order, you can email me back with your shipping and payment information or you can order right on our web site if you prefer. Phone and fax orders are welcome as well.

Thanks again for inquiring about our products. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance to you."

Sincerely,

Dawn Schuerman

Manager

ph 800-356-0809

fx 307-674-7481

7
  • I bought Bruce’s cover. I was very happy with the service, value and quality of the product. Mine weighs 17 lbs.

Me too.

8

Here’s an email I received from Kennon, the only one I could find with templates for heat shields . . .

Thanks, Gary!

  • Mike.
9
  • I bought Bruce’s cover. I was very happy with the service, value and quality of the product. Mine weighs 17 lbs.

Me too.

Same here. good quality and speedy service to get them to me.

HK

10
  • I bought Bruce’s cover. I was very happy with the service, value and quality of the product. Mine weighs 17 lbs.

Me too.

Same here. good quality and speedy service to get them to me.

HK

I agree. It is a quality cover. It has a flap that allows you to access the cockpit without having to take to cover off. It is very well made. Excellent service.

11
  • I bought Bruce’s cover. I was very happy with the service, value and quality of the product. Mine weighs 17 lbs.

Me too.

Same here. good quality and speedy service to get them to me.

HK

I agree. It is a quality cover. It has a flap that allows you to access the cockpit without having to take to cover off. It is very well made. Excellent service.

So, that’s great that you are all happy with Bruce’s covers. But I think the original question was, WHY did you choose Bruce over Kennon?

Of course, another question would be, where did the original poster find these ratings that rated Kennon the best (over Bruce?). I’ll bet if it was in the trade rags, that Kennon spends more on advertising than Bruce, perhaps because Bruce doesn’t have to advertise.

Tom

12

So, that’s great that you are all happy with Bruce’s covers. But I think the original question was, WHY did you choose Bruce over Kennon?

Tom,

I called both Bruce and Kennon when I wanted to order a cover (shortly before Christmas). At that time, Bruce could make SR20 covers and Kennon could not since they did not have an SR20 there to take measurements from. So it was a pretty simple choice. :slight_smile: I’m sure eventually Kennon will have a local SR20 that they can use to design a cover for, but at least when I called they were not an option.

I bet Kennon has been able to make sunshields for the SR20 because someone traced the window shapes and sent templates to them; that’s a little harder to do for a full aircraft cover.

Steve