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stainless steel flap tape...

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Well Known Member
It's all been done before ;)

Stainless steel flap tape!

Paint wear had begun to become aluminum wear from the flap wing gap seal.

Although I have a strip of UHMW tape under the gap seal it has not kept scuffs from developing. This setup worked fine for the first 500 hours or so but has not prevented wear since then.

Here are a few shots of the wear along with finished fix using 3" tape from McMaster Carr.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/121/3475/=yb9g5b

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It looks really slick, but watch your fingers while installing... That tape is like a razor.
 
Consequences

Looks great. I'd add just to improve appearance.

Are there any unintended consequences, thus far?
 
Looks great. I'd add just to improve appearance.

Are there any unintended consequences, thus far?

Hi Chaz,
I put SS tape on a year or two ago. It still looks great. Another RV in our hangar has had it on flaps much longer and looks brand new. One roll from McMaster Carr will do about 3-4 RVs.
Mark
 
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One thing to be careful about when using the stainless tape is to be sure the formed, curved leading edge of the flap is symmetrical the entire length of the flap. Otherwise, the inflexible stainless tape may not lie down properly without slightly creasing. (I had to tweak mine a little...)
 
Our RV-6 (Kit #0004) has had the stain;ess tape on it since (I think) the beginning - still looks great. We have it on the -3, and the next time I have to change the tape on the -8's flaps, it is going to be stainless.

As Stephen pointed out, putting the tape under the wing skin just captures the direct grains so that they can scratch the paint on the flaps themselves - the very thing you are trying to prevent.
 
That is the stuff... I ordered the 18 yard roll though...


That is the stuff... I ordered the 18 yard roll though. Way more than needed but the 3 yard rolls are a bit short to do both flaps. Plan on using a small test piece at a minimum.

Here is a summary of how I did it:

You only have to drop the flap.

Carefull? it is thin stainless steel and will cut you.

A pair of scissors will cut the tape just fine.

Clean the flap thoroughly.

Use a small piece as a test first? this will be removed and tossed after.

Remove the backing from the tape? the tape and backing are VERY thin? to help get it started gently work the corner of the foil curling it towards itself about 90 degrees and pick at the backing with a fingernail.

With the backing removed? re-set the backing on the tape about an inch back so that you can handle the pice without touching the adhesive.

Start at the leading edge of the flap and position the tape just aft of the turndown? massage the tape and work it around the bend.

Remove the backing.

Reset the backing about two inches down.

Begin to slowly work the tape down with a massaging type motion and take special care if a crease develops? you can work it a bit but the tape is stainless steel and it will pretty much go dead nuts straight and has limited flow.

Remove the backing.

Finish.

Use a rag and work it on the edges to ensure that you have it fully attached.

Now, remove the test piece.

Clean the flap again.

Measure your piece.

Cut the end to match (the fuselage side has a small back cut)

You will not be able to adjust the cut easily so make sure that it is the right length.

Remove the backing and use the test scrap backing to grab the top.

Cut the removed backing into several smaller pieces and reapply to the long strip.

With a helper holding the free end line up one end and apply to the leading edge turn as in the test strip.

Go slow? if you have to remove and reposition this is the only time that you can without compromising the tape or making a mess.


Good Luck!
 
Got by with the 3 yard roll

Stephen, you're right about needing a little more than 3 yards of tape, but I ordered the small roll before measuring my flaps. I decided to go ahead and do one, and found out there was enough lagniappe on the roll to do both flaps and have a foot of tape left over. John
 
Stephen, you're right about needing a little more than 3 yards of tape, but I ordered the small roll before measuring my flaps. I decided to go ahead and do one, and found out there was enough lagniappe on the roll to do both flaps and have a foot of tape left over. John

lagniappe

a small gift given a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase; broadly : something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure.

Am I the only one who didn't know what this was...:)

Ahhh... found out why...Chiefly Southern Louisiana and Southeast Texas.
 
Stainless Steel Is ABRASIVE

Remember drilling the firewall? Having to use Boelube, and even then, the slightest slip-up in technique lead to a useless drill point.
For all of its good properties, one of the tradeoffs with stainless is abrasiveness.
While SS tape will look real good on the top side of your flap, it's really as if you've added a strip of very fine emery paper to the top surface. It will lead to unnecessary/excessive wear to the underside of the wing skin it comes in contact with. I would expect that over time, it might help to eliminate the thin alcald layer on the under surface of the wing skin. It'll be hard to tell visually because the surface gets polished with every flap cycle, but from a wear and corrosion standpoint, it can't be good.
The plastic tape wears, yellows, and even turns brittle over time (just now going for the 3rd application on my 9A). Choices/alternatives/tradeoffs.

Terry, CFI (and part time metallurgist)
RV9A N323TP
 
wing skin wear

Remember drilling the firewall? Having to use Boelube, and even then, the slightest slip-up in technique lead to a useless drill point.
For all of its good properties, one of the tradeoffs with stainless is abrasiveness.
While SS tape will look real good on the top side of your flap, it's really as if you've added a strip of very fine emery paper to the top surface. It will lead to unnecessary/excessive wear to the underside of the wing skin it comes in contact with. I would expect that over time, it might help to eliminate the thin alcald layer on the under surface of the wing skin. It'll be hard to tell visually because the surface gets polished with every flap cycle, but from a wear and corrosion standpoint, it can't be good.
The plastic tape wears, yellows, and even turns brittle over time (just now going for the 3rd application on my 9A). Choices/alternatives/tradeoffs.

Terry, CFI (and part time metallurgist)
RV9A N323TP

How about UHMW tape under the wing skin if you think that would be a problrem. Here is a link to many widths, lengths and thicknesses:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#uhmw-polyethylene-tape/=11lkkna
As noted above others used stainless tape and had great success.
Jerry
 
Just a data point on wear from stainless tape - we have one of the earliest customer-built RV-6's, 25 years old and close to 4,000 hours - the first 800 of which was training new pilots, so the flaps went up and down a lot. There doesn't appear to be any more wear underneath the skin than on my 1800 hour RV-8 that has UHMW tape (on its third application). Neither really shows any appreciable wear.

Just two plane's worth of experience.
 
Is there an alternate source for the SS tape. I have tried McMaster-Carr before and they don't ship to Australia.
 
I too was ordering from McMaster-Carr without success. They don?t ship to foreigners advising to contact one of their contractor abroad. They wouldn?t even ship to a hotel in the US when your billing address is not in the US. I ended up asking a friend to order for me.
 
RV-8 flap removal to replace SS tape

Dragging this thread out as it is one of many on VAF that is timeless.

My RV-8 has this stainless tape and an edge has come loose. Efforts to reattach it were unsuccessful, so I am OK with replacing it.

I have purchased a roll of the SS tape, but am not clear on how to remove the flap to clean off old tape and install new tape.

As I didn't build this plane, I am not sure where the flap mechanism is shown in the plans.

I also don't know the best way to disconnect the flap rod.

Thanks.
 
Paint protection film is my preference. Won't cut you, won't hide your paint color, and won't yellow, crack, or leave any residue if you need to remove it.

The only drawback I've ever heard was that if your top skin fits really tight against the flap, it is possible that it can drag on the tape. I never experienced anything like that on my Rocket though.

Works great for MANY other areas too. Like under fairings...

https://www.flyboyaccessories.com/Paint-Trim-and-Finish-s/8.htm

YMMV.
 
Thanks, Vince, but my Rocket has moved on.....years ago.

As I am trying to replace the SS tape on one flap, I am afraid your suggestion doesn't apply.

Hopefully someone will answer my first post.
 
Hi George - To disconnect the flap rods remove the rear seat cushions and then remove the side panels next the rear seat. This will expose the flap rod connections, just unbolt and gently let the flap down, the flap rod should smoothly exit the fuselage. The flaps themselves are held on by piano hinges, a couple of different ways to do this but should be evident once the flap rod is disconnected.

Lyle
 
You can also disconnect the flap by lowering flaps and unscrewing the -3 bolt in the rod end. There should be a nutplate inside so no problem with access.
 
I agree with what Lyle says about flap removal. Disconnect the flap drive rod and let the flap drop down out of the trailing edge wing top skin. Remove the hinge pin, but make sure you have ahold of the flap first. Removing the SS tape may also remove some of the underlying paint, which will require you to use SS tape again (not a bad choice). Clear tape will show the unpainted underlying flap leading edge. If peeling the old tape didn't sacrifice the painted leading edge, then you have a choice. If that choice is clear friction tape, then you have another choice. You can apply that friction tape to the under side of the wing top skin where is contacts the flap leading edge. A 1" wide strip is fine - just make sure you clean that area with a solvent (like alcohol) so that is sticks well. That's what I have on mine and it works well. You may have to replace it once in a while, but you can't see it and it works. To remove any adhesive tape, apply some heat, with a strong hair dryer, or a heat gun. Don't hit it too hard with the heat gun, or it will melt the tape, or possibly bubble the paint ...?.
 
Thank you so much for this help.

As I stated previously, I am just replacing the SS tape that has been on the plane since new.
 
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