Kitfox Aircraft Stick and Rudder Stein Air Grove Aircraft TCW Technologies Dynon Avionics AeroLED MGL Avionics Leading Edge Airfoils Desser EarthX Batteries Garmin G3X Touch
Page 11 of 11 FirstFirst ... 7891011
Results 101 to 104 of 104

Thread: Oratex Fabric Covering Revisited

  1. #101
    Senior Member Cherrybark's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2015
    Location
    Near Tyler, TX
    Posts
    509

    Default Re: Oratex Fabric Covering Revisited

    I used Google Sketchup to layout the cutting plan for my project. Laying out the wing panels this way "wastes" a lot of fabric and others may have cut some of the smaller pieces from this fabric. Lars cautioned against cutting close to the finished dimension and, as you have seen, the fabric is slightly shrinking while you heat activate the glue. I ordered 30 meters of fabric. As you may have already learned, when you order several yards (er, meters) of Oratex, the factory is likely to offer you various combinations of roll lengths to complete your order. One of my selections, shown in the cutting plan, was three rolls totaling 35 meters. Oratex is very generous with their fabric. Each of the rolls had more fabric than shown on the label - up to two extra meters in one roll. Of course, you can't count on this. I had plenty of fabric left over. You might roll out all of the fabric and measure before you start cutting.

    Unless Lars has finally convince the factory to stage product in Alaska, you will be paying FedEx a lot of money if you have to buy additional covering supplies. I originally ordered 3 liters of adhesive and had to order an extra liter towards the end. Three liters will probably do the job and some of my pre-glue paint job ended up using more glue than necessary.

    Hopefully you can get an estimate of the required fabric by looking at the drawing. I'm happy to send you the SketchUp (free software) file if you like. Please, please, please double check these measurements against your plane.

    After completing the tail feathers, you'll enjoy covering the wings.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Carl Strange
    Flying
    SS7, 912iS, Oratex, G3X

  2. #102
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Harvard, IL
    Posts
    337

    Default Re: Oratex Fabric Covering Revisited

    Thank you very much Carl!!

    Rick

  3. #103

    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Crawford, CO
    Posts
    165

    Default Re: Oratex Fabric Covering Revisited

    I am new to the covering scene, either Polyfiber or Oratex. I took an EAA Polyfiber workshop but then decided to cover my SuperSTOL with Oratex. Anyway, I've been helping a friend cover his Kitfox with silver Oratex and we did not achieve the results in your pics. You did an incredible job covering the rudder and elevator! It shows me it can be done correctly. I wish you would share some of your techniques for getting the smooth edges on the top of the rudder and the tight curves of the elevator? How did you cut/lap the fabric and tapes and get them to lay down so smooth? Thanks for sharing!

    Again, excellent job!

    Clark

    Quote Originally Posted by jrevens View Post
    As promised, here are some pictures of my initial foray into Oratex land. I haven't had much time to work on it, but I started with the rudder (which is now complete & ready for flight), and am now working on the elevator. I'm getting more comfortable with the process, & I like the look.

  4. #104
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    308

    Default Re: Oratex Fabric Covering Revisited

    I'm nearly done my oratex now. Only edge tapes on the elevators and rudder... which I've taken off about 3 times now. I just can't get things to sit nice on the curves. The rest mostly turned out great. I've got a lot I'd like to add to this thread, but I'm not prepared to write it all down tonight.

    But IMO the biggest help is a second set of hands. Second biggest help, don't be scared about screwing up - otherwise you won't learn. You can do it on your own as others have shown, but it's far easier with help, especially on the smaller bits and curves. I actually started on the wings and fuselage as they were less complex IMO.

    One thing I noticed when doing the tight curves which require lots of heat.... make sure you hold the fabric in place after heating it up otherwise your perfectly nice material on that curve will slip and wrinkle. It needs to cool to keep the grip. This will make you very upset.
    912 IS
    Airmaster Prop
    Garmin Stack
    C-FKLO

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •