Oratex Fabric Covering Revisited

[jrevens]

I tend to be very cautious of the latest & greatest too. Being pretty old-fashioned, I really like "steam gauges" & the look of round dials, especially on something like a Kitfox. I'm gonna get a color tv someday also... when they perfect them.

The Oratex is not translucent. It's opaque, very tough, & light. They make color-matching paint, trim material, etc. The glue seems to be similar to Stewart System's, which is really nice. It's a pretty slick idea, & ideally I'd like more "history" also before committing. Esser's got a good point, & technology's advance would be pretty slow if nobody jumped in on the ground floor.

[jamesmil]

saw this covering system on line and was intrigued by the simplicity, sure does cut out a lot of work and need to build a paint booth in the shop. also will save a lot of weight. also I under stand that rans will offer it in the rans 6es kit that uses per finished envelopes. all that being said I think I would give a good look if I were going to cover another airplane and was looking to save time and weight. just my 2 ct.

[Denali]

I think what will be interesting is to see if many of the manufacturers like Just, Rans, Kitfox, Backcountry Super cubs, etc begin to use it. The weight and application time savings are considerable.

This will be something to ask at Oshkosh 2014.

[dholly]

I was unable to get a firm price on materials to recover an Avid/Kitfox size from the manufacturer or US distributor at OSH last year, as they did not have an appropriate plane-specific materials list figured at that time. All I got was "subject to exchange rates" and "approximately 20% less materials cost than competitors".

The attached 2011 Poly Fiber materials and price list says an Avid/Kitfox covering kit cost $2,470 suggesting the Oratex covering cost should come in ~$1,976. Very curious just how accurate that figure might be.

Has anyone even got definitive info regarding a materials list and total cost for a Kitfox yet or, better yet, actually purchased the product?

Thanks.

[txskybolt]

Reading their website, believe they say the fabric is more expensive but in the long run, it will be less counting not having to buy equipment, chemicals, etc. The polyfiber quote is minus paint. The new covering is paint free (but can be painted). If I were covering a light, slow aircraft, I'd seriously consider using their product. You could dress it up with decals.

[Timberwolf]

Doing some reading the cost of materials to do a super cub is $6000 for everything but the wings-$9000 total including the wings. They claim the labor and painting costs offset that. Would probably worth it to not have to paint it then have chipping and cracking issues down the road. But they admit on their site no real long term testing has been done to see how it fares with the elements. They do mention having good luck with it on cubs in the extremes of Alaska.

[jiott]

I would have 3 concerns about the Oratex:

1. Does it have enough silver UV protection built into it? In my Polyfiber process 3 cross coats (6 total coats) of silver were used.
2. If you were using it unpainted, and had a color scheme where you need to change color along a structurally unsupported line, you would have to make an unsupported seam along that line. How durable is that seam?
3. All the finish tapes would only be held down by one application of glue. Again I think of all the layers of Polybrush holding my finish tapes in place.

[LSaupe]

Any more feedback on this covering system? Interested to hear from anyone who has experience with the product.

Larry S.

[HighWing]

I saw this covering on an airplane this past weekend. Most of the airplane was Polyfiber. The cover material was white with no design and unless looked at closely it looked just the same as the bulk of the covering. The sun was bright and it was difficult looking at it in the direct sunlight. It was slightly translucent as you could see internal structure as shadows in the overall material. I also noticed what looked like pencil lines around most of the inspection rings, but on closer examination, it appeared to be dust collecting on the edge of the pinked fabric rings. I also noticed that some of the finishing tapes had edges that could be lifted up with a fingernail - not fully glued down. It is a different material and apparently a whole different set of procedures need to be used to make sure all is as it should be.

Example: with the wet glue on the finish tapes, you can see the adhesive through the finish tape as it fills the weave. This gives some hint as to how the tapes are bonded. Then you can attack with the finishing iron those pinked triangles that appear whiter than the others. With the Oratex, every inch has to be heated and inspected to ensure bonding - less saturated with adhesive. You are not using the iron to smooth the edge, but rather applying heat that activates the adhesive. Then since there is no finish coating to radius the edges of the various layers, I suspect the dust lines might remain problematic on the lighter colors though just guessing there.

Please consider that these observation are from a person who has seen one example only and I am not experienced or fully aware of the procedures used in the covering process.

[jrevens]

I've just barely started using the Oratex. I think it's looking good so far, to me. Lowell's right... it is different and does require different techniques than PolyFiber. I'm almost done with the rudder, which I decided to do first as it involves most of the various "tricks" that will be needed. I have heard that some folks who have had problems are those who have a lot of PolyFiber/ceconite experience. You have to follow the directions closely, just like most things.

If edges are able to be lifted with a fingernail then someone probably didn't take enough care in the process. It is not hard to ensure that finish tapes are properly heated, & and if so done, the fabric will tear before the glue bond fails. It seems that most people are using the pinked finishing tapes, and I am using straight edge - they come either way, same price. I believe those using pinked edges are doing it mostly for the traditional look. Honestly, you can't tell the difference from 10 feet away, & I've decided that I like the look close up also. The reason I chose straight is because there is less exposed edge, & I think that is better from an engineering standpoint with this system. There is no need to pink, as the fabric doesn't unravel or fray like unfinished ceconite. Since there is no overcoat of paint, all those little pinked points can be potentially problematic in my opinion. So far I like it... we'll see as time goes on. I'll try to post a few pictures sometime soon.

BTW, the Australian Skyfox was almost surely the lightweight fabric. I've weighed all the over-sized panels that I cut out for the entire airplane, & the weight was less than 14 lbs.(much of that will be cut away). There is a little more fabric on a Series 7 of course also. This is the 6000 material, which is stronger than 2.7 ounce PolyFiber cloth. Add finish tape & glue, & I estimate another +/- 5 lbs. Depending on how much paint you put on a conventional job, I don't think that 20-25# weight savings is too far off.

I'm not trying to sell this stuff to anyone. I'll just try to relay my experiences as I go along.