Oratex

[kenryan]

Just heard of this fabric today. Made in Germany, no painting necessary. Anybody have knowledge? Oratex

http://www.betteraircraftfabric.com/

[jak]

91 dollars a yard X 45 yards =4,095 for covering Jak

[stede52]

Heck, I use stuff just like that on my R/C planes, but its not $91/yard

[kenryan]

I have a little more info now. It cost about $4,000 to cover a RANS. Highlander would be about the same. But given that no painting is required, isn't that a good price? Would supposedly save about 20 pounds over Ceconite. And here's a video showing impact resistance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoI5PEIxtEg

[cmcgeary]

I've also been researching this stuff. It comes in 2 weights (600UL and 6000). Still trying to do a direct strength comparison between it and convention fabrics like Ceconite. Given 90 sq yards of material, plus trim tape costs, etc., I estimate ~$4500 to cover in 600UL and ~$6500 to cover in 6000. Folks on the Supercub site are saying to figure on $5000 in materials to cover a Supercub in Polyfiber.

Finding accurate material weights for conventional fabrics was difficult, but Brian over at Supercub.org did some painting and weighing. According to him, 3.16 oz Polyfiber with PolyTone & PolySpray weighs 6.3 oz/sq yard covered for UV only. Painted white, you're up to 7.6 oz/sq yard. Someone else weighed the same fabric with Stewart Systems Grey at 6.4 oz/sq yard. 600UL weighs between 3 and 3.5 oz/sq yard depending on color. 6000 weighs 4.2 to 4.6 oz/sq yard. So, if you cover the SuperSTOL like the Sun'n'Fun bird (2/3 UV silver, 1/3 Red & black paint, all 2.7 oz Superflite), you end up with about 35 lb of covering. Cover the bird in Oratex 6000, you end up at 26 lb for the heaviest color. If you cover all in the heaviest Oratex 600UL, you end up at 20 lb.

Since my Dad and I want to build the SuperSTOL we have on order in my basement, and we don't want to gas ourselves, our wives or the cat, the Oratex sounds great! It's a 35 minute drive to the airport (my alternate build site). I'll save the difference in cost in gas alone. Now, I just have to figure out how much of the plane we can safely cover in 600UL.....

[kenryan]

Here's a link to a thread on supercub.org that details one guy's experience.

http://www.supercub.org/forum/showthrea ... r+peterson

[planecrazzzy]

Covering is one thing... UV protection is another...

My first plane was done with the stits process... ( Kolb Firestar II )

It can sit outside for 30 years....

It doesn't.... I hanger it... But it's nothing to compare to an ultra light covering...
.
My Buttercup will be flown "off Airport" like your Highlander...

I'll need a tough fabric...
.
Just my two cents...
Gotta Fly...
Mike & "Jaz" the Flying Dogz
.
PS Buttercup is in the " Wittman Section "

[kenryan]

I'm not trying to sell the stuff--I'm still deciding whether or not I will use it. But ...

The claim is that UV protection is excellent. Lars (the N. American distributor) admitted that it hasn't been around long enough to say that it will definitely last 30 years, but it has been flying in Europe for about 10 years and laboratory testing indicates it should outperform Stits, Ceconite, Stewarts, etc. At least that's the claim.

As for being tough, there are videos online of it being shot with a slingshot at minus 15 degrees F, and being beat with a hammer, and abraded with a plastic bottle. Looks pretty tough to me.

I heard a rumor that Just Aircraft got some to try out. Anybody else hear anything on that?

[Rick Moss]

In February I recovered the wings on my Escapade in orated UL600.

It took 3 days to cover the wings and surfaces, and cost me around £1200 ($1900?).

What would you like to know?

[kenryan]

Hi Rick,

Were you pleased with the product/process? Did you have previous experience in aircraft covering, or was this your first projects?

[danerazz]

I will admit, when the OP originally put the link up, I almost passed it off as "interesting but not on my plane."

Since then, I have been searching for reactions online, I read through the linked supercub.org thread, and visited the betteraircraftfabric.com site (though I have had all kinds of problems with the site, perhaps this crappy internet connection I have...). I will say I have upgraded my opinion to "intrigued" and perhaps even "considering." It does look easy to work with, seems tough and light, and adding trim colors with vinyl or other colors of oratex seems to be pretty easy. I would love to hear what Troy thinks of it (I really do value his opinion) and what anybody else thinks of it. One of the big draws for me is not having to buy $2000 worth of painting equipment/compressors and building a paint booth with respirator.

Rick, please post any thoughts you have on the product, process, etc. How did the composite tanks handle the iron heat? How does it compare to the fabric you pulled off of the wings?

[cmcgeary]

My dad and I decided to go with Oratex on our SuperSTOL, and I'm collecting as much information as I can on strength and longevity. My dad has many (many) years of experience building R/C and free flight model aircraft, and I have a feel this will come in handy. I'm currently scheduled to pick up our kit on May 24th. Gettin' excited here.

We're trying to decide what parts to cover in 6000 and what to do in the lighter 600UL. Rick, I, too, would appreciate any feedback on strength, especially compared to what was on the plane.

Can you tell us what fabric was on the wings before? Did you weigh the old material (maybe put a square foot of it on a postage scale)? Did you run comparative puncture tests and tensile strength tests? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Rick Moss]

Ok....

The original fabric was polyfibre (doped and painted.... Very heavily painted in fact) and whilst in good condition, it had been badly and thickly painted. Then both my fuel tanks started leaking. The quality of the build was not great (I bought used); so I wanted to inspect the interiors of the wings and replace the tanks without that patched-up look. I didn't want to mess about with paint, as I have neither the skills or the equipment.

I spoke to the UK oratex importer (TLAC), did loads of online research and found few negatives to the oratex system. I asked TLAC to supply me with a kit of parts to recover the wings and surfaces in gloss white; which they did for £1465.... After completing the job, I have 6m of the 16m of fabric I bought left over... It may be worth working out quantities yourselves, as I probably have enough left over to cover the fuselage.

Strength; monumentally tough. If you start from a scissor snip, you will struggle to tear it in one direction; at 90* from that, it can be torn with considerable difficulty (warp stronger than weft). Massively stronger than the polyfibre that was removed with surprising ease.
Weight: I used the UL600; my wings were 8kg lighter after recovering...20lbs. We did replace tanks, which seemed a little lighter but most of that saving was paint, I'm sure.

Application experience: a total novice would not struggle. If you have experience covering model planes you can already to it.

Finish: even the gloss is slightly matt; it is also slightly translucent. I forgive it for this as its so easy to apply, easy to clean, easy to repair...

Things I learnt:

Be careful where you apply the glue, it's hard to clean off.
You need to use lots of heat when ironing over structure, especially leading edge tube and (surprisingly) the fuel tanks... 180*C got it tight there.
Don't be shy heating/pulling it on application; it will not tear.
Household iron is much better for shrinking than heat gun.


Would I use it again? In a heartbeat, but I'd specify quantities myself so as not to be left with $500 of unused materials.

[Syd]

There seems to be a bit of variation in the cost estimates for Oratex on a Superstol, and most of this seems to be in the areas estimated .. can we get a clearer idea?

In the posts above we have figures of 45 sq yards, 90 sq yards and in the Escapade wings above 10 out of 16 meters were used. (I assume that would be the 1.8m wide = so therefore 10m x 1.8m = 18 sq meter) This doesn't really compute for me.

When I look at the published specs for the Escapade we have a wing span of 28'6" approx 9 meters say, and I am guessing at 1 meter in width, less the cabin area at say 1.2 m, leaving say 7.8m x 1m = 7.8 sq m. Doubling that and we end up with an estimated 15.6 square meters.... So a question, was 16m of the 1.8m wide fabric ordered instead of 16 sq meters?

I have guesstimated a total requirement of around 40 sq meters for a Superstol and because I don't know the measurements of the new wing, using the highlander specs of 31' 6", say 9.5m x 1.4m = 13.3 sq m less our 1.2 cabin area giving us around 12 sq m x 2 = 24 sq m for the wing?

If 24 sq m for the wing and 16-18 squ meters for the fuse and control surfaces, then we get to 40-42 in total.
If this realistic, does anyone have accurate figures on the area for the fuse and SS wing?

If we are 40 sq m, then you would need 22.2 meters of the 1.8m fabric and if that is US$90 per linear meter, don't we get to US$2000 for the fabric....

Obviously we need tape and glue etc... but help me out here, there is a major difference in suggested costs above in $4000-$6000?

[cmcgeary]

I think some of the confusion comes from the fact that Ceconite and other traditional fabrics come in 72" widths that are sold by the yard, so 1 yd of cloth is actually 2 square yards. Oratex is sold in either 900mm (35.4") or 1.8M (70.8") widths and is priced by the meter. For either one, you're going to have lots of wasted material. Ain't it fun?