Covering with Oratex

[Utah-Jay]

Oratex scares a lot of people, so I am gonna tell my story.

It is expensive to purchase the fabric, but doing the math with a buddy covering a Kitfox with legacy fabric and paint, it is a complete wash in total cost. So cost is not an issue. Your time is much less, as in a few hundred hours less with Oratex.

Time? Oratex wins every time in the time it takes to complete compared to the legacy with fabric application, primer, paint and then don’t forget the sanding in between stages.

There are two compound curves on each side of the Bearhawk fuselage that gave me problems, but knowing how to deal with them now it would be a total non-issue.

The tail feathers took a lot of time and patience due to the curved shapes, but once I got the hang of it it was easy. I am guessing any covering system for a first timer like me is going to be very challenging in the beginning. I did start on a horizontal stabilizer and it was terrible. I stripped it off and I hired a covering expert for two days of lessons, she does a lot of work for the Patey’s, and the lessons I learn were invaluable!!! Best money I could have ever spent.

I would highly recommend Oratex with a caveat, Oratex is not a show plane finish. If you want the wet look, go legacy. If you want a super durable fabric that is easy to patch? Go oratex!

So would I use Oratex again? You bet I would.

If anyone is on the fence about which system to use, I will be happy to help as much as possible.

[sherrre]

Do you have contact information for the covering expert that you can share? Does she only help with Oratex or any covering system?

[Utah-Jay]

Pm me for details on her contact. She prefers legacy. I will say she is an absolute artist as she “helped” with my buddies Carbon Cub and it is perfect

[sherrre]

Thanks. I’ma few years away from covering but happy to know that help is available.

[rodsmith]

Your detailed photos of the process should help others that want to use Oratex. Great that you could get some professional covering help. The fuselage to tail transition is tricky no matter what process you are using. I used one piece each side for the side of the fuselage and tail. Thought I had cut leaving plenty of margin, just barely was able to pull enough fabric to get around the leading edge of the vertical tail. I have used Polyfiber for one project and Stewarts for the Bearhawk. I prefer Stewarts for its superior glue and ease of taping tight curves, and especially the advantages of not needing breathing air for the primers/topcoats. If I was to do another project (doubtful) I wouldn't hesitate to use Oratex, like you said, it is a huge time saver.

[David Swartzendruber]

It is expensive to purchase the fabric, but doing the math with a buddy covering a Kitfox with legacy fabric and paint, it is a complete wash in total cost. So cost is not an issue.

Could you give a few more details about your cost analysis? Was this a cost of materials comparison or did the legacy numbers include paying a professional to paint the airplane?

[David Swartzendruber]

For those who may be interested, I received a materials quote for Oratex at Oshkosh 2022 for a Bearhawk LSA and the total came to $5898. $4805 of that was fabric.

[Utah-Jay]

David

I planned 34 meters of the wide fabric, I also opted for the backing so my fabric was not translucent when backlit

I think your numbers are pretty close

I was very frugal with my fabric usage and will likely have a lot of excess fabric after doing the flaps and ailerons

[Bissetg]

I agree with your comments here but I’d like to add another consideration.

Repairs. I’ve had a couple of holes in my Oratex from FOD. Also I’ve had to do the aft fuselage gusset mod on my own Bearhawk and helped repair another, also covered in Oratex.

The ease and speed that the fabric is repaired and aircraft is returned to service (within a day) is just brilliant. By comparison another Bearhawk that requires the mod but has a legacy system is faced with painting etc prolonging the repair time dramatically.

Your point about gloss finish is absolutely right, but I built my aircraft for functionality in the back country, not ramp appeal.

I too would use Oratex again next time around.

[svyolo]

I like the product, the dealer was very good. The only negative, and this is a big one, is technical and training documentation.

You can also buy a piece of Oratex trim tape up to 5 or 6 inches wide, and use it to repair traditional fabric just as quickly as you can Oratex. You can then paint it at your leisure. It is pre-impregnated with glue. Scissors, and iron, and some trim tape is all you need.

[Utah-Jay]

Repairs. I’ve had a couple of holes in my Oratex from FOD. Also I’ve had to do the aft fuselage gusset mod on my own Bearhawk and helped repair another, also covered in Oratex.

The ease and speed that the fabric is repaired and aircraft is returned to service (within a day) is just brilliant. By comparison another Bearhawk that requires the mod but has a legacy system is faced with painting etc prolonging the repair time dramatically.

This is one of the big reasons besides speed of completion that I chose Oratex

My whole mission is backcountry flying, not building a show plane. That being said, the finished product is far better than I expected prior to starting my covering.

[Chewie]

I haven't chosen a fabric system yet, but weight and keeping the cg forward is my primary consideration in favor of oratex.
The big unknown for me is longevity. I told Mark Goldberg that I'd ask him in 15 years how his oratex is holding up.

[Brett795]

We have also chosen to go with Oratex on our BH5 build. At AirVenture we sat in on the forum but unfortunately did not learn a lot that we did not already know by checking out their videos on the website (which were helpful). I have very limited experience with helping my dad with a Skybolt when I was a teenager back in the late 90’s, we just talked about fabric when I was in college getting my A&P, and the 4 planes I have previously built were all fiberglass.

My main reason for going to Oratex was the limited time I have these days (between annual inspections, over seeing other’s homebuilt projects & own a funeral home) and the weight savings. Up front I know the purchase of the fabric is higher, but once you figure out the cost of everything else your putting on with a legacy process, I felt like it was a wash especially adding in the time savings. We are fortunate to own our hanger so my planes never sit outside much more than flying or 7 or 8 days a year going on vacations.
Thank you Jay for sharing your progress and to those who creat great YouTube videos of their projects & experience.

[predragvasic]

One of the Bearhawk 5 builders, Colby Osborn, has a great YouTube channel where he is documenting his build in short, well-produced videos.

He has three separate videos showing how they covered the plane in Oratex:

Covering interior: youtube.com/watch?v=-qdnYWUDogg
Covering the control surfaces: youtube.com/watch?v=jaS74s7-VNU
Covering the fuselage: youtube.com/watch?v=tDILJ7ZlzAw

His channel, youtube.com/c/ColbyOsborn/videos, has some 16 videos so far, posted about once a month. According to a few testimonies on this forum, it was his monthly videos that motivated several of his subscribers to buy and start building a Bearhawk.

He hasn't posted anything in about four months (presumably, busy summer season on their Nebraska farm), but baring any unforeseen events (childbirth?), they will likely resume work on the plane during the winter, and share some more videos.

[Utah-Jay]

Colby’s video’s helped me believe I could build a BH.

I spoke to Colby a few days ago, all is good, he has just been busy.

[Brett795]

Didn’t his dad say building airplanes is a winter project? Lol looking forward to his next video

[Tyler]

I'll add a few thoughts here on Oratex and Poly-fiber because I used BOTH. I haven't heard of anyone else doing this but I covered the entire fuselage and rudder with Poly-Fiber, then the remaining control surfaces, horizontal and gear legs are Oratex. I really like the Poly-fiber process, was already used to it and felt I could get a better result on my interior and fuselage with it. I like being able to really fine tune the results with tapes, Poly-Brush and lots of heat smoothing, until you get to a really nice end point and love how it came out. I'm having the final spray and color coat completed by a Pro nearby that does really nice work and has a better paint booth than I felt like building in among my kid's stuff and my tools in the garage.

While the fuselage is out of the garage I covered the Oratex pieces. I chose that system for these remaining pieces because I'm sure I'll take a few stones to the gear legs and horizontal and love the idea of fast repair. I also figured it would be a nice bonus to save a little weight in the elevator and ailerons, since that will allow less counterbalance weight too. It minimal but every bit counts.
So far I'm happy with both choices. We'll see how that holds up after 1,000 hrs in service, but the work process with both has been good. I'm still glad I did not cover the fuselage and interior with Oratex. The Poly-fiber was easier to work around little corners, protrusions and contours since the tapes and doilies lay so nicely when you paint them in with Poly-Brush and then heat smooth everything. I'm also excited about a nice paint professional paint job. The Oratex was frustrating for the first few days but only because it was new and immediately threw me out of my comfort zone again. Nothing learned from the legacy system applies to it, so it took some mental discipline to just start the learning process instead of cursing the different methods. I stuck with it and after relearning how to cover and getting used to how to pull, stretch and hold a part with one arm while using a heat gun in the other it started going really well and I like the results. Super satisfying to cover a part, tape it and BOOM! it's done.

The main thing that got frustrating at first was all the waiting time between steps with parts laying around occupying shop space, while the glue drys. To keep from feeling like I'm bleeding away hours waiting before I can proceed started planning a few other projects to have running at the same time. I'd do a coat of glue, then work on wiring up PTT switches. Later, do another coat of glue and then work on some nutplates, etc. etc. There are so many little things that need to get done and many of them do not create any contaminating dust and debris. So, I could stay productive in between Oratex steps.

Obviously this is from a beginner's perspective and none of this is groundbreaking to read. But most of what I read about Oratex is love or hate. So I thought I'd offer something in between and a different way of using the systems to maybe squeeze the best out of each one. Also, possible that I have no idea what I'm talking about...classic first timer here

[svyolo]

I tried to summarize some of what you said before. I like the product, I like the weight savings a lot. Depending on your shop setup and local weather, it might not only be slower, but maybe a lot slower. Or you need to learn to be a better project manager, which I admit to being bad at. Oratex to me is a mixed bag.