ETLB Squawk Forums — Archive

I've seen Oratex mentioned maybe twice here, and since I need to recover my Max, I would like to start a thread on this topic for my personal benefit  

Joking aside, it does seem like an interesting system since it comes "pre-painted".

It seems like it would speed up the build of our little planes, and does not require us to invest in paint, paint booth, spray equipment, etc...


For my plane, I was thinking "Natural White" (maybe "Olive Drab"...)
LINK ► https://www.betteraircraftfabric.com/colors.html

LINK ► https://www.betteraircraftfabric.com/

It's neat stuff... but very expensive.

I agree, it is more than Polyfiber. But with PolyFiber comes Poly-Brush, Polt-Spray, Poly-Tone, at about $100/gallon each. So I am curious to see what the price difference is for a finished plane.

And here it is...
"A Team Mini-MAX can be completely covered for between $3309 (using every trick to save as much as possible) to $5168."
LINK ► https://www.betteraircraftfabric.com/cost-comparison.html
I looked everywhere but the Cost Comparison...

My SWAG math shows Stits is 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of Oratex.

consider the long term costs as well. I've spent the last couple days repairing a broken section of plywood on my horizontal stabilizer's leading edge (light tail), that may have,or may not have been caused by a runway light😟.  I wanted to post pics of the repair process, but I don't have a computer, and can't quite figure out posting them with my smart phone.  Anyway, being able to just cut off an area of the fabric, make the repair, and patch in a new piece of cloth made the entire event a completely stress free event for me. I had/always will have a pint or two of chemicals and a few yard of cloth on hand for just such events. (Polyfiber system).  It doesn't apply to the "perfect" pilot, or the person that may never have their kid/grandkids/ nephew, or whom ever accidentally crack a wing rib, or hit the tail with their bicycle...but I think repairablity should also weigh strongly in covering selection.

Oratex seems to repair in a manner similar to Dope-and-Fabric or Stits.

Is Oratex difficult to repair?
Oratex is very easy to repair, even in the field. A patch can easily be glued over a tear, and dents can be removed using a heat gun. [Click Here for a dent removal demonstration.] https://youtu.be/yoI5PEIxtEg

It is often shown to be a lighter final product than the other fabric approaches.

Quoted from LSaupe It is often shown to be a lighter final product than the other fabric approaches.

True... but $$$! Just too much money for such a little plane. On a J-3, it starts to make sense because of the cost of the specialized paints/primers/etc... Almost like aluminum structures start to make sense once you reach a certain size.

It would save me some time, but cost me money...

I dunno that I might not use latex... (shrug).

With everyone talking about how much money it cost. Does anybody know? I reached out and sent for a quote but that was a year ago and lost to the ages. I did get some photos of an olive orotex minimax sent back to me from the oratex guy. Looked good. Weight saving. Time savimg. Ease and speed of repair. All looks like it might be worth it to me. Seems much much lighter.

I think its totally a money issue, If I had the extra money I would definitely go with Oratex simply because your done after the final heating, and all the color is even and of the same tone and shade. Its a great looking product and a great idea but for me it was cost to much so I'm using Polyfiber I got from Dave at Team, its my first time but its coming together.

A few years ago I talked with the Oratex folks at Oshkosh. I was quite weight conscious during my build and was interested in saving even a few pounds. Maybe my memory of the conversation years ago has distorted what they told me, but if I recall correctly it would cost about $3,000 to do a MiniMAX. My square footage or linear footage estimate of material needed might have been off a bit, but at even 50% of $3K Oratex would have still been really expensive in my book. Someone PLEASE correct me if my memory is completely off! Whatever the cost was it caused me to graciously say "Thank you" to them and I walked away....quickly.

Lynn

heres the photo the orotex rep sent me. i reached out again for a fresh quote

OOOOOOOOH, I like that exposed wood look on the sides of the fuse.......is there any reason NOT to do that on mine?

None that i know of. I am considering it myself. Also wondering if i even need to cover the fuselage at all or if the covering provides some strength

The only reason I can think of for not having the exposed wood is that in the plans there is no wood panelling on the sides aft of the cockpit, so adding wood panels may not only add weight, but also adversely affect the C of G. However, I agree that it really does look very good, and if weight weren't an object I'd definitely consider altering mine to look like that.

Quoted from bob.hood The only reason I can think of for not having the exposed wood is that in the plans there is no wood panelling on the sides aft of the cockpit, so adding wood panels may not only add weight, but also adversely affect the C of G. However, I agree that it really does look very good, and if weight weren't an object I'd definitely consider altering mine to look like that.

Well, since I'm not trying to meet ultralight requirements, I wonder how much more it weighs. Assuming one were to  use super thin ply, I wouldn't think it would weigh more than a few lbs more.

i would agree. painted fabric isn't exactly light as a feather either. The lighter weight orotex on the tail must offset any additional weight aft as well. seems to be a nice balance here. buut im still working on the wings so i have some time yet to think about the fuselage.

Streffpilot,

I bought some 0.8mm (1/32") thick ply for panelling in the sides of the tail end of the fuselage on mine recently. I bought 2 sheets, 600mm x 300mm (2ft x 1ft) for I think around £24. The place that sold it also sold 0.4mm (1/64") thick plywood! I would imagine that would be super light, as the 0.8mm stuff was very light.

I've attached some photos below. The first shows how thin the 0.8mm ply is, and the next two show the panels I've put on the sides at the back of my plane. I will be putting fabric over them, and then painting them silver to match the rest of the plane, but I had to cut away the original fabric so that I could get to the tail end of the fuselage to replace the block the tail spring bolts to. The last photo shows the access I gained by taking the fabric off that area.

Rib stitching is not required with "normal" covering systems. With Orotex is rib stitching required?
Just thinking out loud.

No. Use the same as directed. If your plane requires rib stitching they have the option but if not you dont need to add it.

How about using Coverite or Solartex Iron on modeling fabric instead of lite ply on the non lifting surfaces? There have been plenty
of 1/4 and 1/3 scale models that fly just as fast as our little planes.

Quoted from ScottLuckman How about using Coverite or Solartex Iron on modeling fabric instead of lite ply on the non lifting surfaces? There have been plenty
of 1/4 and 1/3 scale models that fly just as fast as our little planes.

Ply used on the Max takes shear loads, so is part of the structure. No fabric has any useful shear strength.

Bruce