Earthstar Forums

Congrats, Ray, and welcome to the family.
Here are a couple photos you may find interesting. The completed wing is
under the tarp.
I used Oratex covering on the airfoils - not cheap, but light, strong, easy
to apply, and no priming, UV coating, painting required.

Good luck!
Martin
Beaverton, OR

In addition, when you do all of the calculations of the covering materials, plus the the paint and primer and aluminum preparations and then a paint job that you would have to do to use another method other than Oratex, you will find that they cost about the same and it is faster, lighter, more durable, can be re-shrunk. Google it and watch the durability videos (throwing rocks, wrenches at it).

Mark Drzymkowski

Hmm. Was planning on using unpainted aluminum to keep weight down, assuming it is something like 6061 that does not need paint. But I would paint the leading edges to better handle inevitable nicks and dings from rocks etc.

I must admit I am prejudiced against fabric. But lightness is especially important to maximize the range from the limited energy available. So I will park my preconceptions and give Oratex a proper consideration.

Thanks for the suggestion.

--Ray

As Alan said Mark did go above and beyond on helping me with my build. I built on-site at Earthstar over a period of 3 years, Mark and I became good friends. I treated the build like being away at college. Mark has extensive reference materials including a series of tapes by Jim Bede on aircraft design. At night I'd read or watch a video and during the next morning's dog walk (he and Leslie have a dog hospice/rescue) I'd ask him about design principles or building techniques I'd learned about the night before and Mark would tell me how they were incorporated into the Odyssey. Learning and then working hands-on is really a great way to learn and and I wouldn't trade that time for anything.


Darren
N882DM
2016 Earthstar Odyssey



Darren Medlin
dmedlin@aol.com

It's 2024 Alclad which has a high purity aluminum plating (unless it has changed). This makes the aluminum much more corrosion resistant. I say polish the leading edge too. If it gets dinged too much you can paint later. Just don't polish past the Alclad.

A lot of people want all aluminum wings, but it's overkill and doesn't make the wing stronger. The "fabric" wings are lighter. The fabric option replaces aluminum on only some of the upper and lower wing, and is entirely aft of the aluminum leading edge D-cell.

Definitely discuss with Mr. Beierle, but listen to what he says. BTW, I'm a Cal Poly Aero Engineer and have known Mark B for 28 years. I continually challenge him and usually end up realizing he is right.

Hoozah for unpainted though!

Mark Drzymkowski

Build it Light.

Since you will be starting with a new airframe, this is a great opportunity to resist adding unnecessary stuff that will add to your total unit weight. As I and many of us have heard over the years, weight is the enemy of good performance, especially in the weight class & power to weight ratios we are operating in.

I say this mostly because I own a heavyish Odyssey that I consider a pretty good single place flying machine only.

Skot Weidemann

Ok, Oratex it is. I was instantly sold when I saw their dent demo. After pounding the fabric with a ball peen hammer caused major puckers, a hot air dryer shrunk them back completely leaving the surface unblemished.

Now that I am a convert, what about using Oratex on the fiberglass pod, and perhaps rest of fuselage, as a paint alternative?

--Ray

They show examples of it being done on a cowl. Don't know how it would look.

I do have a hangar-neighbor that is using automotive type shrink wrap directly on aluminum on his new Zenith. Looks pretty cool. Different product I know but similar concept.

Mark Drzymkowski

I wrapped the horizon. Stab with Oratex to avoid any delamination there,
and found it takes more effort to get a good, wrinkle-free surface - no way
to shrink after the glue sets on top of the aluminum. I did not wrap around
the D-cell (to save weight, and for that polished look) but placed a few
"rip-stop" rivets, per Mark's suggestion. See one of the photos I sent
earlier.

It would be difficult to do a good wrap job on the fiber glass with Oratex,
but foil may work. My paint job cost $1400, including material. Quite happy
with it.
Martin

Martin,

If you did a true 1 piece wrap with only a seam on the TE of the stab, I wonder if you could NOT glue the D-cell part... sorta let it float. Thoughts?

Mark Drzymkowski