wing walk

a year and a half ago i posted i would be sticking wing walks on in 6 months and wanted intel on what worked.. well, here we are and now i am really ready. back then the van's supplied material got a pretty good rating. anybody had trouble with it or have a better recommendation? thanks.

sand it

I went through two sets of wing walk before I realized that the problem was the Sherwin Williams paint was too "slick".

Mask the area and rough it up with 400 grit before application.

Vans Wing Walk

I used the Vans supplied wing walk. My painter applied it so I don't know what special prep he may have done if any. Like the previous poster, I have Sherwin Williams paint (it's Acry Glo). The wing walk has been in place for 15 years and it still looks perfect just like the day it was installed.

Chris

I bought some 20 mtr self-sticking blue anti-slip 60mm. It fits nicely between the rivets, and I've got some 18 mtr left.
Want some?

I applied my Van's supplied wing walk myself after I got it back from the painter. No special prep other than cleaning the surface. It's been stepped on quite a bit after 5 years and more than 700 hours. It's holding up great.

Wing walk

I went to the local skateboard/surf shop that had a great selection of self-sticking antislip in their van?s aviation department ( just past their vans shoe dept. . I cut it to size, scraped off the old, rubbed the area lightly with lacquer thinner and it stuck great. Ben

thanks guys,
i have the vans stuff that came with the kit. i think i will go with that. it sounds as reliable as anything out there.

De-natured alcohol

I just wipe down the surface with alcohol, let it dry a minute. Then warm up and apply the wing walk.

My most recent walks are in good shape as far as adhesion goes...showing a little wear in the middle due to use though. I found that the stuff from McMaster-Carr works very well too at a slightly lower cost per foot, albeit you need to cut it length...whoop-dee-doo.

I like the idea of roughing it up a little, but the area that requires the most attention is the edges and I would be concerned about roughing up uncovered surface. I have found the adhesion is very good to paint, just need to ensure no oils or contaminates on the surface to be adhered to. If you warm up the walk with a heat gun before you stick it down, it will be easier to get it well stuck, especially around the rivets.

When my plane was painted they applied a layer of rough nonskid paint. It has held up very well for 8 years.

I think I had read a post from eons ago about someone not applying any wingwalk material at all, and instead, using a yoga mat type material.

I suppose he would just lay it on the wing before embarkation.. and stow it in the cockpit.

I don't know what the benefit of doing this would be other than aesthetics or a 0.2kt increase in speed. Better laminar flow over the wing roots?

But I suppose this is an option.. not one I'd want with a wet wing (literal meaning) though.

rcarsey said:

Better laminar flow over the wing roots?

Click to expand...

Pretty sure RV-12 doesn?t have laminar airfoil (exposed pull rivets is first clue), but we get your point.

Also at wing root there is normally high interference drag where vertical side of fuselage meets wing root. On higher performance aircraft a contour fairing is added to reduce drag. The 12 isn't high performance - hence no fairing.