Roger Peterson
Registered User
Sweeny, Texas
Drove over to Austin for a long weekend and got to thinking about the different things that gave me problems with Oratex. Probably the single biggest problem, other than not stretching the fabric tight enough, was preparation of the surface to be covered. First I tried covering bare alum, like a leading edge, and that did not work. You have to prime it.
Second, I tried to attach the fabric to a powder coated surface, that did not work either. You have to rough it up to get it to adhere.
My wings are covered in Stewarts so I did not get any experience on wing covering, but here is how I would go about it if starting a pair of wings.
I would cover the leading edge with quilting blanket first. The reason for this is that the Oratex if a very thin fabric and the leading edge alum joints would show through. You could tape them first, but every plane I have covered with the quilting blanket came out great and you never saw a joint nor did it ever crack at those joints. The Oratex fabric and adhesive is more than strong enough to hole with just being bonded to itself, and then a wide tape applied. This would make a great looking leading edge. Prime the trailing edge before covering also.
Just some thoughts I wanted to list before some of you start your covering.
Second, I tried to attach the fabric to a powder coated surface, that did not work either. You have to rough it up to get it to adhere.
My wings are covered in Stewarts so I did not get any experience on wing covering, but here is how I would go about it if starting a pair of wings.
I would cover the leading edge with quilting blanket first. The reason for this is that the Oratex if a very thin fabric and the leading edge alum joints would show through. You could tape them first, but every plane I have covered with the quilting blanket came out great and you never saw a joint nor did it ever crack at those joints. The Oratex fabric and adhesive is more than strong enough to hole with just being bonded to itself, and then a wide tape applied. This would make a great looking leading edge. Prime the trailing edge before covering also.
Just some thoughts I wanted to list before some of you start your covering.