One Lucky Fox

[yocum137]

See and be seen! 😂

Besides, planes fly better when they’re Cub Yellow!

[rv9ralph]

Wow... Oratex comes in colors other than silver and cream?

[bbs428]

Well, first wing is covered with Oratex. "Mistakes were made" but just cosmetics - nothing structural. I don't have any experience with Polyfiber, but I do like the fact that once Oratex is on, it's done.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SDhpqy8sSFG9zc6e8

That looks great and just like that you're done! I am envious!
You'll get better as you go. Don't be afraid to recover as it's only $$ and you will have to live with any mistakes for a long time! Easy for me to say...Lol!
Hopefully, if there are any recovers, will be on a small surface! All the best!

[yocum137]

Nobody tells you about the process to put on Oratex reinforcing tapes. Lots of masking tape to get the glue in the right places. Area to be glued should be 1mm smaller than the size of the tapes on each edge.

IMG_3481.jpg
IMG_3487.jpg
IMG_3490.jpg
IMG_3489.jpg

[Geek]

Wow - that tape job is attention to detail!! Couple questions. Are you going to do the rib lacing or going without? (I am still on the fence for this. Some do - some don't) I was under the impression that reinforcing tape and finishing tape were the same and the finishing tape came with glue on it. Are you cutting your own tapes?

Again - really nice work!!!

Gary

[yocum137]

Hi Gary,

I’m not going to do rib lacing. The adhesive is OMG strong. Once it’s on, it does not come off without the application of extreme heat - 200C. It’s not like Polytack which, apparently, pulls off really easily.

Reinforcing and finishing tapes are the same thing and yes, they’ve got an adhesive pre-applied. It’s not the same adhesive as the stuff you get in the bottles from Oratex, however. It’s designed to be heat released for ease of placement - or so the application manual says. The liquid stuff is not: once it’s on, it’s on.

So for reinforcement on sharp edges (per AC43.13 2-13c) you apply the liquid stuff and lay the adhesive backed tape into it and heat it to stick it down. One note - I said 1mm between adhesive and edge. Now that I’ve done a few, I wish I had made it 2.5mm. The 600 finish tapes shrink up a lot more than the 6000 fabric. Live and learn. At least acetone takes the adhesive off without stripping the latex paint from the skin.

Speaking of the Oratex manual… it’s a hard read. Stuff is willy-nilly, everywhere, so I made up a summary of the temps, times, underlying surfaces and materials. I’ll send that in another post.

Dan

[alexM]

Are you talking about the factory manual being a bit scattered or the Tips and Tricks manual that Lars created? He has nothing nice to say about the factory manual and I tend to agree. His is much better.

[yocum137]

Factory manual.

Lars wrote a hints and tips manual?? Where’s that?

[yocum137]

Alex,

Are you talking about this?

https://betteraircraftfabric.com/instructions.html

Dan

[Kitfox Pilot]

This one, BAF Oratex Tips & Tricks Reference Guide July 2020.pdf
file:///C:/Users/3/Downloads/BAF%20Oratex%20Tips%20&%20Tricks%20Reference%20Gui de%20July%202020.pdf
I got mine after I was almost done covering. They are not real good sending manuals.
Sorry I can't get it to load on here or open. Hopefully someone else can.