Dave,

Thank you for the nice comments!

The Oratex can be a little difficult, and there is a learning curve. I've tried to be careful with tape placement, doilies, cut fabric edges, etc. What you see is what you get, & there is no nice layer(s) of paint to sort of "meld" everything together & hide minor issues. All in all I'm happy with what I've got. My samples hanging up outside in the Colorado sun are still looking fine.

The cable fairings are the black ABS plastic ones sold by Aircraft Spruce. I cut them way down, gave them a coat of paint, & just glued them to the fabric with some clear 5 minute epoxy. I thought of putting a doily around the perimeter, but I already had a couple of layers in that "busy" little area, & it looked just fine to me.

Behind the header tank is an antenna mounting plate from the factory. That hole is for my transponder antenna. It seemed like the right spot for it.

You may have noticed that I did a little welding on the fuselage. I added a second handle, and I also added a plate for my com antenna - my fuselage was made before they started welding on the plate & the extended razorback tube. Mine's kind of half way between what they do now & the original design. My com antenna is not as close to the baggage compartment, & my razorback tube doesn't extend as far forward. Guess I had to be different.