My Experience
I have about four applications I can tell you about. They have to do with fuel tank markers and race numbers.
It seems that race numbers are gravitating to 18" high and a proportionally wide and with a 3" width of all line elements. My initial numbers on the Archer were made with plastic tape on the side of the fuselage forward of the wing and aft of the cowl. On almost every race leg they would start to peel off and I had a flopping mess to fix at every stop.
When we finally got the RV-6A painted the painter added white plastic tape like printed labels for the fuel type and capacity. By the time I had flown the plane from Ozark, Arkansas Airport to Drake Field in Fayetteville, Arkansas, one to the corners of a label for the main tank had started to peel off. By the time I got back from a short trip to St. Louis the labels for both mains were gone but the tip tank labels were still attached. I bought a metalic marker tape for my wife's DYMO LetraTag hand held unit. This marker tape has a black adhesive (as opposed to white or clear) and it may be thinner as well. I made new labels for all four tanks and the have all held up perfectly for 10 months. In both cases the labels were located on the forward side of the fuel fill ports, so well ahead of the highest point on the airfoil.
A retired airline pilot and race pilot by the name of Ester Grupenhagen took pitty on me and advised me to use contact paper in the future because it has been race proven to stay on well at speed but come off easily when you want to remove it. In the 2005 AirVenture cup race I used white Contact paper to put the big "71" on both sides of the RV-6A vertical stabilizer and rudder and on the bottom of the left wing forward of the aileron at mid chord. There was no lifting or separation even at the much greater speeds of the RV-6A. This indicates to me that edge height and adhesive are important. It seems likely that edges of stickers location is important but I have no data to indicate what is good and what is bad. In both situations where I had items peel in flight, the leading edge started to peel first and they were on surfaces that were getting wider with respect to the wind.
One other thing I just remembered I have never had a sponsor sticker come off in flight but they have always been on the fuselage. THey have been all over the place.
Bob Axsom
