Split from "Backcountry Boss SQ-4"-Z
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If I pull the trigger on a Boss/SQ4 kit, I was thinking of using a new material out of Leipzig, Germany called Oratex6000 for covering wings and fuse.

http://www.betteraircraftfabric.com/oratex.html oratex6000

These "fabrics" are far lighter, come pre-colored, and appear to be much easier to handle. I may choose "Cub Yellow" which is one of their standard colors.

Has anyone worked with this stuff, and if so do you think it would be something you'd slap onto an SQ4 ?

The availability of this new covering material pushes me even more towards choosing the SQ4. The stuff is amazing, and they have a US distributor as well.

What's next..?? a velcro firewall kit so I can more easily attach the IO-375

For more Oratex info, check out these links (and more with search function) at Supercub.org:

http://www.supercub.org/forum/showthrea ... ght=oratex

http://www.supercub.org/forum/showthrea ... ght=oratex

http://www.supercub.org/forum/showthrea ... ght=oratex

Mark J

Denali wrote:If I pull the trigger on a Boss/SQ4 kit, I was thinking of using a new material out of Leipzig, Germany called Oratex6000 for covering wings and fuse.

http://www.betteraircraftfabric.com/oratex.html oratex6000

These "fabrics" are far lighter, come pre-colored, and appear to be much easier to handle. I may choose "Cub Yellow" which is one of their standard colors.

Has anyone worked with this stuff, and if so do you think it would be something you'd slap onto an SQ4 ?

The availability of this new covering material pushes me even more towards choosing the SQ4. The stuff is amazing, and they have a US distributor as well.

What's next..?? a velcro firewall kit so I can more easily attach the IO-375

I know a fellow here in NZ who is using that system on his Bearhawk, I will ask him how it's going. He is covering at the moment, in fact I need to call him today to talk about rib lacing materials.

Edit - just spoke with him - he's into the tailplane and some other small parts, so far he thinks it's a great system, but he doesn't have much under his belt yet. I can provide more info in a few weeks if you like.

Battson wrote:

Denali wrote:If I pull the trigger on a Boss/SQ4 kit, I was thinking of using a new material out of Leipzig, Germany called Oratex6000 for covering wings and fuse.

http://www.betteraircraftfabric.com/oratex.html oratex6000

These "fabrics" are far lighter, come pre-colored, and appear to be much easier to handle. I may choose "Cub Yellow" which is one of their standard colors.

Has anyone worked with this stuff, and if so do you think it would be something you'd slap onto an SQ4 ?

The availability of this new covering material pushes me even more towards choosing the SQ4. The stuff is amazing, and they have a US distributor as well.

What's next..?? a velcro firewall kit so I can more easily attach the IO-375

I know a fellow here in NZ who is using that system on his Bearhawk, I will ask him how it's going. He is covering at the moment, in fact I need to call him today to talk about rib lacing materials.

Edit - just spoke with him - he's into the tailplane and some other small parts, so far he thinks it's a great system, but he doesn't have much under his belt yet. I can provide more info in a few weeks if you like.

Keep us posted on his progress if you please Battson. The only "bad" things I have heard so far about the Oratex is the air frame showing through a little if up against strong light (I don't care, in fact that sounds kinda cool) and price (I gave up on that long ago when it comes to flying things). Ease of repair sounds fantastic, but mostly dropping the weight would be the big attraction for me, maybe 20 lbs for a plane the size of a S-7? The Cub guys seem to think 25 to 30 for their birds, but not really enough numbers out there yet for sure but all say for sure significant weight savings.

You can see through the dacron on my plane too. Doesn't bother me a bit. In fact, if I ever recover it's going to be with Oratex. Now that I know Oratex is slightly translucent I'm going to string some battery powered Christmas lights in the wings and fuse. Makes for a fun glow in the dark airplane.

Imagine what that translucency means for weight savings... Ha.

I'd be tempted by the Oratex if I didn't want 2 tone and striping.

For a Bearhawk I think Oratex on the fuselage and a vinyl wrap that covers the bottom of the wing and wraps around to the top of the leading edge; no painting period.

whee wrote:For a Bearhawk I think Oratex on the fuselage and a vinyl wrap that covers the bottom of the wing and wraps around to the top of the leading edge; no painting period.

I'm considering Oratex on my Bearhawk, especially since I'll be light on the nose. No way would I put vinyl on the bottom of the wing, holding moisture at the 2024 seams and rivets for corrosion.

Mark J

Having been around an Oratex A/C a fair amount I am probably going to use it on my next cub. My personal thoughts on it are that if you want that 'show car shine' you better look somewhere else, it just doesn't do that. OTOH it can be very beautiful if the install job is done similarly. No covering system is going to be a show winner with a poor application, and with Oratex at least you don't have to worry about consistent paint issues over multiple parts sprayed over a long duration.

You can paint or put vinyl on Oratex, but if it was going to be more than just a few stripes, I'd probably lean to another system. Doing two tone would leave you with a translucent main color, and heavy secondary color. The transparency of lighter Oratex colors is not 'slight' it is very translucent. Not a bad thing, just different. Similarly, If I was covering a B/H, I'd probably use another system. Unlike a cub type the fabric job on a B/H doesn't represent enough available area (read; weight savings) to be worth the difference in color your going to see in comparison to the wings. But then again... the say beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.

Take care, Rob

Your bit about consistent spray issues over a long duration is a mouthful. It is 40 and raining one week, 4 and clear the next. Not being a pro and all, it can be a real challenge.

Oratex for me next time. Painting stripes is easy.

Zzz wrote:Imagine what that translucency means for weight savings... Ha.

I'd be tempted by the Oratex if I didn't want 2 tone and striping.

You can paint stripes on oratex. To be really weight conscious, sew two different colors of oratex together for your two base colors and then add vinyl striping.

Having used Poly-Tone paint on all my builds (super easy to patch, spray, and inexpensive compared to the shinier Aero-thane), it's somewhat mat finish, definitely not high gloss anyway, is what I am used to. I doubt the Oratex sheen or lack of would bother me at all. Frankly, as long as it's long lasting and light, like the Poly-Tone finish has been, I could care less about a shiny paint job. I prefer a more old timey. utilitarian look.

I have a buddy with a sign business, and he has a vinyl decal machine. I'd go with with one or two small trim lines running from the nose to the rear and call it good. And...let him install them. Bottom line is when I'm flying I can't see much except the cowling top so lightness, ease of repair (unfortunate fact of life, at least for my birds ) and durability come first for me. I would use it even if there was only a small amount of fabric (like a metal wing) as any weight savings is a good thing .

courierguy wrote:Having used Poly-Tone paint on all my builds (super easy to patch, spray, and inexpensive compared to the shinier Aero-thane), it's somewhat mat finish, definitely not high gloss anyway, is what I am used to. I doubt the Oratex sheen or lack of would bother me at all. Frankly, as long as it's long lasting and light, like the Poly-Tone finish has been, I could care less about a shiny paint job. I prefer a more old timey. utilitarian look.

Apologies in advance - I have to say I've developed a distaste for the Polytone paint...
The long grass has rubbed it off my landing gear in places after just a few dozen landings! it soaks up fuel dye like a mop, "fuel resistant" is generous, and remains a green gelatinous goo ever-after.
Yes it's easy to fix, yes it's very easy to apply, but I'd also be doing a lot less fixing and applying with a 2-pot like Ranthane, so I guess that balances out. I just think the stuff isn't really a true paint as you think of on a car / boat / plane, it's more of a "temporary coating system" designed for fabric colouring... but easily worn off.
Sorry - rant over.

Copy that Battson.... though my experience hasn't been quite that bad. Where I regularly lean up against the hor stab LE for dragging it in and out of the hangar, my green trim is slightly rubbing off after 7 years, still there just a lighter green now. Everywhere else, where not subjected to heavy mechanical pressure and rubbing, it holds up great, it isn't going anywhere. At some point I'll touchup the hor stab, simple enough with that one part paint.

But, back to the subject, how much better would be to have nothing to discuss paint wise? Just being able to say "I didn't have to paint my fabric, the color is built in? That would seem to be the ultimate, for those of us who are not real particular as to the cosmetics but want super practical and light as possible.

I wish I would have known about this fabric when I covered my plane. I too hate painting, I don't have the patience for it, and I care more about functionality over appearances.

I painted mine using stewerts paint in the back yard with a graco power house paint sprayer. I went very light on the paint and only put on half of the recommended coats since it was a silver primer and silver paint. It looks great from 10 ft away but when you get close you can see my lack of painting skills. It's not that bad though. Even with my crude paint job it seems to be holding up well and don't have the problems that other people have had with blisters or peeling paint.

courierguy wrote:Copy that Battson.... though my experience hasn't been quite that bad. Where I regularly lean up against the hor stab LE for dragging it in and out of the hangar, my green trim is slightly rubbing off after 7 years, still there just a lighter green now. Everywhere else, where not subjected to heavy mechanical pressure and rubbing, it holds up great, it isn't going anywhere. At some point I'll touchup the hor stab, simple enough with that one part paint.

But, back to the subject, how much better would be to have nothing to discuss paint wise? Just being able to say "I didn't have to paint my fabric, the color is built in? That would seem to be the ultimate, for those of us who are not real particular as to the cosmetics but want super practical and light as possible.

^^^^ THIS is one of the big reasons I went with the pre-sewn dacron on my S6. I didn't want to paint. I'm a lousy painter and I don't want to learn!

Has anyone ordered the Oratex 6000 fabric in Cub Yellow, red, or blue ?

How do you like it ?

Does the degree of translucency affect the esthetics ?

Are you planning to complement the existing translucency and color with additional official Oratex paint ?

This friend of mine is doing the traditional Bearhawk sunburst, but in deep blue. So he will be using either white or blue Oratex depending. Hmmm, or maybe it's called Oracover when you buy from Europe...?

I need to fly up and see him asap, for several other reasons, I will take some photos and post them here.

@ Battson :

Thanks ! I'd love to see Oratex in action. I spoke with Lars in Alaska ( The USA Distributor ) and he was going to try and send me a couple of very small swatches for evaluation. I'll post some picture as well when they arrive. It's waaay cold in Anchorage at the moment ( February 2014) ...why almost as cold as Chicago.

The only one your airplane has to please is you. If you don't mind the translucency (as I don't mind it) then who cares what others think?