EAA Experimenter 21
grit sandpaper just to make sure they were really nice and
smooth. I spent a weekend doing that. Then the installers
came to my hangar after I got off work, and we'd work for
two or three hours in the early evenings. We did that over
five sessions. If I could have gotten off work, it would have
taken maybe two-and-a-half to three days to do the whole
project. So the fact that the whole vinyl wrap installation
was basically done in less than a week was really cool; I
liked that a lot."
Pete specifically selected Satin White (I080-S10) for the
wings to eliminate the problem of glare, which he experi-
enced while flying with the RV-9A's shiny aluminum wings
in sunny southern California. He chose Gloss Bright Yellow
(I080- G215) for the fuselage and completed the overall
scheme with a combination of the two and an accent stripe
of Gloss Black Metallic (I080- G212).
The 3M Scotchprint vinyl came in a 60-inch-wide
roll, and Pete described the material as having "some
micro-channels in the glue that's on the backside, which
facilitates placing and repositioning it as necessary when
first starting the process. A large sheet of vinyl is 'tacked'
down in places overlapping a metal seam (which was
trimmed later), and the installer positioned and pulled it
up four or five times to get it in good position. Then it's
rubbed onto the metal with a plastic applicator and just
fingertip pressure to get the air bubbles out through the
micro-channels. That kind of sets the glue and makes it
nice and sticky. The vinyl is trimmed at the metal seams of
the airplane."
The method is a little different when it comes to com-
pound curves. For example, Pete said the area around the
windshield was done with one piece of vinyl. First, a piece
of wire tape was applied to the entire edge of the wind-
shield, which was later used to neatly cut away the overlay
of vinyl. (This same wire-tape method was used to make
the sweeping curve of yellow on the side of the fuselage.)
VINYL WRAP ALTERNATIVES
An Internet search revealed hundreds of imaginative applications
for vinyl, and two of the major manufacturers of vinyl wrap are 3M
(www.3M.com) and Avery Dennison (www.AveryDennison.com).
Several companies advertise vinyl wrap installation for airplanes,
including Gatorwraps of Ontario, California (www.Gatorwraps.com),
AircraftWraps of North Palm Beach, Florida (www.AircraftWraps.com),
and Plane Vinyl of Woodstock, Georgia (www.PlaneVinyl.com).
Looks like paint, doesn't it?