Vinyl Wrap anyone?

AV8RDOUG

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Sep 11, 2019
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Location
Beavercreek, OH
I'm interested in Vinyl wrapping ideas for an Air Command Elite with a Tall Tail. Any pics of cool ideas welcome. Also... Has anyone ever wrapped the tips of DW rotors? Is such a thing possible/safe?
 
Barry has been doing some wrapping of his AR-1. He did some sort of space theme. I’ll see if he will share some photos when done.

I wouldn’t put anything on rotor tips since what would happen if it peeled off causing imbalance while flying? Even having bugs on rotors makes a difference. Can you imagine if a wrap peeled off on one rotor and not the other?
 
I've seen vinyl wraps stay in place on jets racing at Reno at 500+ mph. Pretty durable stuff.
 
I have had vinyl wrap on my AR-1 Averso rotors since day one. Black/yellow staggered
in 2' sections. Can be easily be seen from way above or below. Hundreds of hours on
them and not a hole or a separation. Plus, the bugs wipe off easier than the aluminum
surfaces. Also have 'wrap' designs for my tail art which is directly in the prop stream and
not even a scratch. They stay put if properly applied.
The surface has to be cleaned with denatured alcohol, then, the adhesive undersurface is
sprayed with a liquid dish soap/water solution and applied. Once on, wet the outer surface
as well and use a 'brayer' to smooth out the air bubbles. A hair dryer will heat shrink it on securely.
Dry 24 hrs & wah-la!!
good luck.
 
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Have a picture?

smiles,
Charles
 
I have had vinyl wrap on my AR-1 Averso rotors since day one. Black/yellow staggered
in 2' sections. Can be easily be seen from way above or below. Hundreds of hours on
them and not a hole or a separation. Plus, the bugs wipe off easier than the aluminum
surfaces. Also have 'wrap' designs for my tail art which is directly in the prop stream and
not even a scratch. They stay put if properly applied.
The surface has to be cleaned with denatured alcohol, then, the adhesive undersurface is
sprayed with a liquid dish soap/water solution and applied. Once on, wet the outer surface
as well and use a 'brayer' to smooth out the air bubbles. Dry 24 hrs & wah-la!!
good luck.
My worry about wrapping the blades would be propagation of delamination in high-speed air after a scratch near the blade tip. How easy is the wrap to peel off by hand? Does it cling like strong tape or release freely once it's split from itself? I've never worked with wraps before and am curious. Sounds cool though.
 
tail_art__1617136780_19380__1617136780_23048.jpgblades__1617137025_23308.jpg

Ok guys, Best I could do after several tries. Hope this helps.
Brian, It is high strength (quality) vinyl, not the 'thin stuff'.
Once it's applied & cured, you have to take it off with a heat gun (like a peel).
It sticks like gorilla tape. Even if you get a pin hole in the leading edge, it will
not enlarge. We started the blades on the top side rear and wrapped over the
front, finishing/razor cut to fit/ at the trailing edge. The measurement/placement of
the wrap must be identical on each blade (for equal balance/weight).
 
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Hi Mark, how would a Magni M-22 with Rotax 914 handle out here in Denver area and around Rocky's with the higher elevation?

Thanks for posting on the wrap since I wouldn't have thought it would stay on the rotors.
 
Dave,
I have no first hand knowledge re; the M-22 but would say it's probably comparable
to mine. Solo, I'm very happy with the way mine performs. However, two up, on the hot days, it's marginal and knowing what I know now, I would have elected to go with a 915 if one had been available at the time mine was built.
One of my hangar mates has an older M-24 with/914 but it has a inflight
adjustable prop. He claims it made a notable difference when he installed it.
It also added about $8K to the ticket!
 
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Eh, note the adjustable prop means it can't be flown as a sport pilot - there is talk of MOSAIC changing that though, with a selectable (ie "take off", "cruise") pitch prop.
 
View attachment 1152179View attachment 1152178

Ok guys, Best I could do after several tries. Hope this helps.
Brian, It is high strength (quality) vinyl, not the 'thin stuff'.
Once it's applied & cured, you have to take it off with a heat gun (like a peel).
It sticks like gorilla tape. Even if you get a pin hole in the leading edge, it will
not enlarge. We started the blades on the top side rear and wrapped over the
front, finishing/razor cut to fit/ at the trailing edge. The measurement/placement of
the wrap must be identical on each blade (for equal balance/weight).
Do you have a picture with rotors at flight RPM?
smiles,
Charles
 
Sorry, I do not have video of them. I can say however, they make 3 distinctive and highly recognizable
circles in flight and can be seen from a considerable distance from both above and below.
I did this strictly for visibility and safety, not for decoration. Anything to make a larger
footprint in busy sky's.
 
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Has anybody tried super bright LED lights on the blade tips? It would make gyros un-missable 1/2hr before and after sunset.
 
1617290340620.pngvideo image
 
Another shot we fitted lights into a end cap complete with battery and driver for LED All units have to be Exactly the same weight we made new CNC cut end caps with all bits housed in it.
It was an idea used to make tracking simple it worked reasonably well but required a much smaller focus on led to be really accurate if your blades are all in track you only see one colour
 

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