Rod2 wrote:Aeronca Alan wrote:That's my fear about Oratex Nick - an Aeronca in what looks a bit like sailcloth may look horrible. But it seems to require less expertise (your other point) and fuss than the traditional alternatives. I could probably do an Oratex job in my hangar (no painting) but couldn't possibly do Ceconite or Poly Fiber in there.
But as we're agreed on the probable end result, Oratex seems a no-goer for our aircraft.
I have seen both an Auster and a Cessna 120 covered in Oratex and it certainly doesn't look like sailcloth, it looks like a fabric covered aircraft without 20kg of paint tipped on it. Lars in Alaska has Aeronca's covered in it and he has shared photographs of them and they look sweet
It would be interesting to see them close up. The Oratex a/c I've seen look good, but I just can't imagine the same on an Aeronca or an Auster. I might be converted.
That said, a decent job is a decent job, whichever system is used, of course, and if it was a choice of tatty aeroplane, or Oratex-covered aeroplane, I wonder if I'd be so picky, aesthetically. If a third option was the more traditional covering, taking much longer and costing more, for the sake of the hypothethesis, I'm pretty sure I'd hang on for Ceconite. All being well, it's not a choice I have to make, so I can waffle on uselessly, unenvious of those who are making decisions.