Wing Walk upgrade

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eHotAir
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Wing Walk upgrade

Post by eHotAir »

I've been unhappy with the color and degradation of my wing walk. I just changed it out the other day. Hardest part was getting the old stuff off. It's 3M like our other, I just went with strips instead of a panel. I used a heat gun to get it loose and Goo Gone to clean up the excess adhesive. I went with a clear type to blend with my wing and a medium grit. It actually works better than the old grey stuff. Always looking for ways to brighten up my airplane. I'm happy to let you know where I got this, I'm just trying not to promote anything. Mostly, just sharing an idea :-D
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Re: Wing Walk upgrade

Post by Rick »

Wow, Doug - that looks really nice! I'm struggling with what to do on mine, too - I really like your idea, though. It looks like, on the pilot side, there is a sheet of something under the strips? Or is that just an illusion? If so, this is similar to what I have currently done on mine, except the original walk was built on top of a sheet of gray plastic. So I added gray strips over the base plastic layer (hence eliminating the hardest part - removing the old adhesive!). I'm not completely thrilled with the look of it, but it is very functional. I can still remove the plastic sheet one day and be back to bare wings. Which I might just do, now that I see yours...

No problems posting a link to the strips you used - as long as you are not selling them!
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eHotAir
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Re: Wing Walk upgrade

Post by eHotAir »

Hey Rick,
I took the old wing walk down to the airplane. Then I got all the adhesive cleared. I went over the entire area with alchohol to purify the surface. There is nothing under the strips-- just airplane wing. The website is http://www.safetydirectamerica.com. You can go to the site an order samples of their wares for free. After you get the samples, you can choose what you want and order online. There are many colors to choose from. You can buy additional glue to put around the edges if they start to come up. The entire upgrade is about $50. I bought a 60 foot roll of the 2" and the glue.
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Re: Wing Walk upgrade

Post by Gasser »

I really love your solution except my anal retentive nature hates that the pilots side goes front to back and your co pilots side goes side to side :).
Nice job. I may have to copy that on my new plane.

Keep us updated on how it holds up.
Jeff

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Re: Wing Walk upgrade

Post by eHotAir »

:oops: :oops: :oops: Ok Jeff (Mr. Anal Retentive) I agree, it looks a little different but since I rarely see that side of the airplane, I was hoping it wouldn't bother me. I think shorter lengths of wing walk matching the other side would look great. To be honest, I just didn't think of it during install. Now that you bought it to my attention, I will probably change it. I still have plenty left from the roll I bought. Thanks for the thought.
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Re: Wing Walk upgrade

Post by Gasser »

eHotAir wrote::oops: :oops: :oops: Ok Jeff (Mr. Anal Retentive) I agree, it looks a little different but since I rarely see that side of the airplane, I was hoping it wouldn't bother me. I think shorter lengths of wing walk matching the other side would look great. To be honest, I just didn't think of it during install. Now that you bought it to my attention, I will probably change it. I still have plenty left from the roll I bought. Thanks for the thought.
:D I just can't help it. I do love the strips though. Looks very nice and clean.

I still can't get over how your decals change the overall look of the DA40. Diamond should really consider using it for a stock decal option.
Jeff

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2006 SR22, A/C, TKS, AVIDYINE PFD/MFD, IFD 540/440, AXP322 remote ADS-B TRANSPONDER, AMX240 AUDIO PANEL, MLB100 ADS B in.
168 KTAS 9,000' msl @ 13.6 gph LOP. 1005 pound useful load.
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Re: Wing Walk upgrade

Post by Gasser »

Hey Doug, did you look at samples of the white compared to the clear you went with? Did you feel the clear blended better than the white?

Second you said medium grit but I'm only seeing standard, course and extra course. Seems clear is only available in standard. Don't see a medium. I just want to get the right stuff.

Any thoughts to how it will hold up in rain/ water? They mention water several times in the add in relation to it coming up. How thick is the tape? Does the adhesive seem pretty aggressive?

Thanks

Jeff
Jeff

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2005 DA40 SOLD
2006 SR22, A/C, TKS, AVIDYINE PFD/MFD, IFD 540/440, AXP322 remote ADS-B TRANSPONDER, AMX240 AUDIO PANEL, MLB100 ADS B in.
168 KTAS 9,000' msl @ 13.6 gph LOP. 1005 pound useful load.
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Re: Wing Walk upgrade

Post by eHotAir »

Hey Jeff,

The tape is very aggressive. I cannot get my finger under the leading edge. But in case it begins to comes up, you also get a packet of EDGE adhesive.

I am fairly sure I used the standard grit. I may have gotten the "medium" term from talking to him directly on the phone. I liked the clear compared to the white because the white of the wing shows through very nicely. As a matter of fact, when I removed the old wing walk, I pulled up a chip of paint. When I was putting the new tape down, I noticed I could see the chipped area underneath. So I had to touch up before I finished applying the wing walk.

Whites never match and I figured it would get dingy.

I have washed my airplane with the new tape on it and I used an old tooth brush to get any dirt out the grit in the tape.

Best news, if any of the tapes get loose, you will have plenty from that roll to lay another line. This is a great cheap alternative to a very nice looking wing walk.

***TIP*** Clean the entire application area with rubbing alcohol before applying. It really dries the surface completely and gets rid of all the solvent residue you used to get the old stuff off. Post pics when you are done.
Doug Robertson
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Re: Wing Walk upgrade

Post by Gasser »

Cool thanks. I ordered the same clear roll and the tube of extra adhesive.
I'll take before and after pics. The wing walks on my cirrus are kinda beat up on the pilots side and always look dirty. This should give it a clean look. Hopefully it will hold up to 180 knots. I'm betting it will be just fine.
I'm also replacing all the stripes on it as well and puttng on some new Lopresti wheel pants. Should look new when done.
Even though I now have a Cirrus I still like hanging out here as there are a lot more DIY types here than on COPA. it's a great board but most there just pay someone else to do things like this.

I did a refurb job on my Diamond when I had it as well. Amazing what a little TLC does.

Thanks for the info!

Jeff
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2005 DA40 SOLD
2006 SR22, A/C, TKS, AVIDYINE PFD/MFD, IFD 540/440, AXP322 remote ADS-B TRANSPONDER, AMX240 AUDIO PANEL, MLB100 ADS B in.
168 KTAS 9,000' msl @ 13.6 gph LOP. 1005 pound useful load.
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Re: Wing Walk upgrade

Post by carym »

To Jeff and others,
This is just a be aware post. On the DA42, the wing walk is part of the type certificate. I don't know if that is true for the DA40 (or the Cirrus). Therefore, when replacing you need to have an A&P sign off that it meets the type certificate standards. If this isn't in the logs, and you go to sell the plane, an astute pre-buy inspector can ding you and (if really mean) can label the plane unairworthy. I replaced my wing walk with the new one (the one with stripes) sold by Diamond. Most of the effort required was in removing the old wing walk and cleaning up the surface. My wife and I did it while the plane was in annual and that took the 2 of us several hours of hard labor :(

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