Oratex

[Cameron Ramsey]

Does anyone know how the Oratex has been holding up? I know its of a few Bearhawks.

[m.mooney]

I covered my Rans S-7 with Oratex and put 175 hours and 2 years on it before I sold it to buy my Patrol. I had zero problems with anything, anywhere. Tapes all stayed down, no edges coming up. It does tend to attract contaminants more than a painted fabric. That’s logical though. It was easy to clean. As for serious longevity, I’m not qualified to make that observation based on a short 2 years. I fully expect it to be a winner in the long run, the stuff is tough as nails.
Mike

[Bcone1381]

Last year I went to Oshkosh planning to cover with Oratex. I know of a red aircraft that I've seen several years on display. My impression last years was that the fabric's appearance had degraded rather significantly. I don't know if the aircraft had been angered or tied down outside. The Oratex booth told me they were aware that specific aircraft and that it was a warrantee issue. We'll see if it shows up with new fabric this year. I'm cautious, but I have no experience.

I do like what I've seen of Stewarts. Stewarts looks doable, they have hours of good youtube video training, and offer weekend training sessions. I think Stewarts has less risk and unknowns/uncertainties than Oratex.

I've considered trying Oratex by covering the interior to see how things turn out, but that won't test the UV color & fabric durability.

[Cameron Ramsey]

I too like the stewards system and I have been studying thier manual but Im Im looking at building an LSA and weight is everything of course. I still have some time. I just like doing my research and talking to people with more experience than me on the subject. Longevity is my major concern.

[zkelley2]

Oratex is amazingly simple to repair. I did a larger repair job last winter that would have taken days to do the fabric with the superflite that was on it. We did it all in an afternoon.
Rock dings and tears are a 30 minute job. 3 minutes if you're not concerned about how it looks haha.

[Cameron Ramsey]

Thats awesome. Thanks for the post

[svyolo]

I haven't used mine yet, but I chose it because it is a huge labor savings to install, and repair. As an added bonus it is a lighter, and it even allowed me to use lighter balance weights in the elevators and ailerons (I haven't done the ailerons yet).

If it fades one day, maybe one day I will put a one thin coat of paint on it.

[Mark Goldberg]

I think it is my LSA covered in Oratex that Brooks is referring to. It has faded quite a bit. Everyone tells me that red is the worst color over all for fading. The Oratex guys have told me that the batch of red I put on my LSA was one of the first batches of red they made. And now they are doing red better where it will not fade as badly as mine has. And they have offered to give me all now fuselage fabric if I want to recover it. I think they have been very reasonable. For me - it is not a big deal. But most builders are more concerned with appearance than I am. Mark

[tailwind]

Even more important is the question of whether the fabric has degraded and lost some of its useful life. Has the factory given any indication of a shortened useful life. I like many of the benefits of the system. But the jury is still out.

[Cameron Ramsey]

Thanks for the reply's guys. Fading over time doesn’t concern me really. Im more interested in the longevity of the material.

[JimParker256]

In Europe, there are planes covered in Oratex more than 10 years ago that are holding up just fine. The oldest red ones are a bit faded (like Mark's) but other than that, they seem fine. Lars has been running a test with a bunch of panels sitting outdoors in Alaska for about 5 years now, and they're still like new, despite the fact that every time someone comes to see them, Lars throws rocks at them, and hits them with hammers, and jumps up and down on them. After a quick hot-air gun pass, they look just like they did when he started. I'm pretty sold on it. Even thinking about trying to get approval to use Oratex when I have to recover the Citabria.

[m.mooney]

18C19761-BB4F-4644-A211-9CC8596A84A4.jpegMost are aware of the translucent look that many of the Oratex colors have. Some like it, some don’t. I used silver which has a black backing thus not translucent at all. Corsair blue and olive drab are also not translucent. I think the silver looks amazing. I will definitely use it again. The ease of application, weight savings, and ease of repair are huge advantages in my opinion. I estimate a weight savings of 20-25 pounds on my S7. If you want to add color, it’s simply a matter of vinyl stripes. The Oratex vinyl is phenomenal. Very light and very strong. I hired a guy that does auto wraps to apply my vinyl. He was very impressed with the quality and strength of it.

[Cameron Ramsey]

Wow, thats a sharp looking plane!