Negative Recommendation on Wing Walks

[Bob Axsom]

You know those wing walk strips with the model identification cut out? I knew better but I bought them for my RV-6A anyway. I had them installed by the painter after the paint was complete and long before any waxing took place. I watched him install them very carefully and he made no mistakes. I have approximately 250 hours on the plane now and forward facing isolated edges are coming loose and curling back in the 200 mph slipstream. I think these are a bad idea and they should be avoided. I'm going to have to try to peel mine off without damaging the paint and replace them with the basic uncut rectangles I should have used in the first place.

Bob Axsom

[KTM520guy]

Rounding the corners helps a lot. Also, try some edge sealer on the leading edges. If your intent on removing the old wing walk, a heat gun will help. It should come off no problem but it will leave glue behind. You'll have to clean it off before applying a new wing walk. I've installed a lot of those and never had any customers mention anything about peelage problems.

[Bob Axsom]

The centers of letters/numbers and the flap between the legs of the "R" are the biggest problem. I will take them off and replace them with uncut wing walks even though I dread it. I have a couple of heat guns. What do you recommend for cleaning the glue off of clear coated Imron?

Bob Axsom

[KTM520guy]

You can try acetone or mineral spirits from your local home center. Get yourself a nice pair of gloves while your at it. At work I use MEK. It's really bad for you but gets the job done.

[yakdriver]

Use some 3M Adhesive remover. It will not attack the paint. Don

[szicree]

I would not use acetone on paint that you care about, Imron or otherwise. Imron will hold up to it pretty well, but with rubbing it will degrade the finish. Find something safer.

[jim]

Bob,

I have used 'goo gone' to remove glue and tape residue and it worked well. I don't think it would cause any problems with the paint but would test on a practice piece first.

Dang, you seem to be having a bad run with this and the vacuum pump taking a dump! Hope things improve for you real soon. I certainly appreciate all your hard work on the baffle mods you have been trying, and look forward to reading your posts. Thanks.

Good luck,

[gmcjetpilot]

Here is a million dollar suggestion. Paint your wing walk areas on, and color match it to your paint.

Tape the area off that you would like. Prep the surface, in this case I guess it is already painted, so sand it for accept another coat. Paint it with a heavy coat and sprinkle the anti-slip aggregate on evenly. This is a paint additive for use as an anti-skid. Usually it is a silica or I think better a light micronized polymeric low profile aggregate. It is light weight and clear. I suppose could mix with paint and spray it on(?), but I recall my painter applied it manually with a heavy "peppering" over a fresh coat he sprayed on the wing walk area. Than with very low air pressure you can blow the excess off and spread it around. It is not hard to get a nice even spread of the grannular anti-skid. Than you put a final coat or coats of paint over the top of the rough stuff. You may want a few coats on top. Also by sealing it with the top coat of paint you keep the little grains from getting into you shoes, which can transfer to the cockpit or other surfaces. I am no paint expert but pretty sure if you are using a base/clear coat system, you can clear coat over it as well.

Usually you do the wing walk after the plane is painted and trimmed.

You can google anti slip paint additives and find a bunch of product. You will have to do a little research. Mine was painted 8 years ago and forgot what brand anti slip we used. I sold that plane fairly recently, but when I did after 1000 hours (post paint job) it looked as good as new. BTW I was using high end Jet Glow paint, a single stage paint and big bucks. The paint has more to do with the longevity than the anti skid materal. Trust me it looked nice and stayed nice. It makes a nice non-slip surface.

Of course when you paint the anti-slip on, you will need to completely cover and protect the whole plane for overspray, to keep this stuff only on the wing walk area. You can practice and try in on scrap metal.

You will have a nice color matched rough surface, looks good and lasts. Enjoy.

Obviously the more paint you pile on top, the thicker the edge will be and the the more mellow you will likely may the surface. However if too thin and the paint wears off, you loose the anti-skid there. Because you used the planes base color paint it will not look bad; You'll just have a smooth spot in the wing walk area of the same color. Like I said mine looked great 8 years later and did not absorbed dirt or oil. It would get dirty but could wash it off with soap and water.

It will not peal and it does not wear off, at least for me. You can always touch up the paint if needed. Even if it did wear, you have the same color in and below as I said. Decal anti skid patches just don't last as you have seen.

There also commercial all in one anti-skid paints. They come in common colors, black, white, gray and so on, however they will not likely match you paint color. Also you paint them on with a brush or roller! That may be OK for you? Some like the wing walk to stick out or be a different color.

[AlexPeterson]

I have the wing walks with the model type cut-outs as initially described in this thread. I would agree that there are some issues with them, but my experience is a little different. Mine have been on a bit over five years with no issues with peeling off. However, they have shrunk an amazing amount. Each year I clean a little more goo off around the perimeter as they shrink down.

Another weakness is when the OAT is below maybe 10F, they sound quite crunchy when stepped on. I mean really crunchy.

I like George's method just posted prior, and would likely do that next time.

[Bob Axsom]

THinking more about the situation I'm considering gluing down the curled ends. I do not want to create more problems down the road but something like Plio-Bond might do the job and be removable later on. Any thoughts?

Bob Axsom