See and be seen! 😂
Besides, planes fly better when they’re Cub Yellow!
See and be seen! 😂
Besides, planes fly better when they’re Cub Yellow!
Building N137DF
STi, Rotax 915is, Airmaster
Wow... Oratex comes in colors other than silver and cream?
Ralph
Kitfox 3 flying
Building Kitfox SS7 (RockFox)
915iS Engine
Building Partner Victor V
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!
"Somebody said that carrier pilots were the best in the world, and they must be or there wouldn't be any of them left alive." Ernie Pyle
Brett Butler
Flying: N46KF, 1998 Model 5 Outback, 912ul 110hp, G3x with 2 axis a/p, Beringer wheels & brakes, SS7 firewall forward, NR prop, Custom paint
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.
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Building N137DF
STi, Rotax 915is, Airmaster
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
Gary (Geek) Phenning
Leavenworth (Not the Prison), WA
Kitfox STi N68SG
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
Building N137DF
STi, Rotax 915is, Airmaster
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.
Kitfox 5 (under construction)
Commercial SE/ME, CFII
Factory manual.
Lars wrote a hints and tips manual?? Where’s that?
Building N137DF
STi, Rotax 915is, Airmaster
Alex,
Are you talking about this?
https://betteraircraftfabric.com/instructions.html
Dan
Building N137DF
STi, Rotax 915is, Airmaster
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.
Last edited by Kitfox Pilot; 01-28-2023 at 04:42 PM.
Harlan and Susan Payne
Flying FarmFox STI Kitfox N61HP
Rotax 915is, Airmaster prop.
https://www.youtube.com/@KitfoxPilot/videos