Does paint really make a plane faster?

[FORANE]

Can't say for an RV as I only flew our RV9A with paint but can say definitely that our Lancair gained between 5 - 10 kts after the repaint.

[Caveman]

After you polish it, put on a coat of wax.

After selecting the link below, scroll to the article "wax effects on drag"

https://cafe.foundation/v2/research_reports.php

[FORANE]

Look up REJEX on this site and amazon for reviews.

[Rupester]

Not sure about speed impact, but Rejex is the greatest stuff ever for making easy bug removal. I use it on leading edges and all the "buggy" surfaces on the RV, and all my cars. GREAT stuff!

[BobTurner]

Originally Posted by FORANE

Can't say for an RV as I only flew our RV9A with paint but can say definitely that our Lancair gained between 5 - 10 kts AFTER THE REPAINT.

My interpretation of this data: the original paint slowed you down.

[dtw_rv6]

I have to pull back on the throttle and take fewer flights in order to afford getting mine painted.

[flyboy1963]

So I would expect almost no measurable difference on a flush-riveted polished vs painted surface....surely there are 1932 NACA tests for this?????

my new ride has lots of domed rivets, and I wonder if putting a vinyl wrap over those surfaces wouldn't 'smooth' out the airflow over those heads. yes, they'd all be .002" higher, so not 'hiding' the bump, but perhaps bridging the transitions. ( Yes, it's painted, so can't quantify that effect).

....ok you guys with little wind tunnels in your hangars.....let us know how this all plays out??!?

[RV Jerry]

Many years ago I had built a canard style airplane with a very slick paint job my hanger partner had a paint job with heavy orange peel and he had a fast airplane so to make it faster he decided to give it a slick paint job. Well his stall speed went up and top speed went down, he was not happy.

[bret]

I wonder about this....on a off shore race boat they have what they call a stepped hull, it allows air to enter under the bottom to introduce air bubbles between the boat and water surface, to release the suction of the water and go faster. Would micro vortex generators in the paint imperfections do the same?

[N941WR]

My thinking is that most of the weight of the paint is aft of the CG and as everyone knows, tail heavy planes tend to fly faster.

Just a guess on my part and I could be way off base.