wrapping airplane

[gabe]

Greetings,

We will be wrapping a small single engine airplane - anyone have any experience or tips on this type of wrap?

[Chad.]

i am getting ready to do the same thing to ours ... a cirrus SR22 GTS ... im just going over anything and everything to make sure it wont void any warranty, or in any way harm the structure.

I also may have to score for the parachute system. Last thing i want to do is pull the chute/rocket and the straps not be able to pull through the outer wall...

Other than that, gear up for more compound curves than you have ever seen in your life ...

[txsurfer]

When I was at The SGIA Show last year, I was at one of the booths where they were doing a NASCAR, and they talked about Airplanes needing FAA Aproval Materials. I am sure this was for Passenger Airlines, but you may want to check for Sinle Engine as well.

[GK]

I can tell you this from past experience...all FAA regulated aircrafts need approval for this. We have been down this road and there are guidelines to follow and people that need to be called before you do this. Commercial airliners have their own installers and won't even let you touch them, private planes are diff but still require approval.

[Techman]

You will need to have a FFA approved mechanic check your work. Call him before you wrap.. There are ports and orifices that must not be covered and they are hard to see.

[JimJenson]

When I was at The SGIA Show last year, I was at one of the booths where they were doing a NASCAR, and they talked about Airplanes needing FAA Aproval Materials. I am sure this was for Passenger Airlines, but you may want to check for Sinle Engine as well.


FAR 43 appendix A Paragraph C
9. Refinishing decorative coating of fuselage, balloon baskets, wing tail group surfaces (excluding balanced control surfaces), fairings, cowlings, landing gear, cabin, or cockpit interior when removal or disassembly of any primary structure or operating system is not required.

As long as you dont wrap flight control surfaces, you should be good to go. I would recommend calling your local FSDO to verify.

[dswanson]

our company has done graphics on a few alaska airlines planes, I would imagine that we were subject to more inspection than a private plane. But we needed to supply material specifications from the manufacturer including any and all materials used in the application. After that we had a inspection not sure if it was by their insurance carrier, faa, or who but they wanted to make sure that there were no obvious issues and that was it.

[JimJenson]

If it was an FAA inspection, it would be called a Field approval. And if it was, it was required, would never fly without an STC, PMA, or approved data necessary for a form 337 (major alteration). You dont have this info for wrap materials to my kowledge. An insurance company , unless it is a commercial operation, could care less. They worry about airworthiness after the fact, and simply deny a claim if the records are out of order.

From the Regulations I posted above, it could be argued that a wrap is within the scope of preventive maintence which the owner of a private aircraft is allowed to do on his own aircraft. As an aircraft owner, you can refinish the exterior, or reupholster the interior. A wrap job is debatable. Again, a call to the FSDO will clarify. A pilot is taught in flight training what not to cover on the exterior of a aircraft.

I can say without doubt that new Diamond aircraft roll out of the factory white with shade shifting vinyl for the striping and N-numbering. Cessna made planes in the late 90's with vinyl decaling, and some N-numbering is vinyl.

i will assure you that without an Airframe license, you will not br able to wrap control surfaces, which would look strange, since a large portion of the tail, elevator, and wings are control surfaces.

[Jetmech]

I assume this "wrap" is on the airframe, not flight controls. Even then, Techman is right, someone could wrap the static ports air tight. Get an A&P to observe and sign it off. Debatable is never a good argument when it comes to the Feds, and never, ever an option to safety.

[JimJenson]

Jetmec - First, you would need to be an aircraft owner operating under PM on your own aircraft, -OR- an AP -OR- an AP/IA -OR- a DER to do this. I suppose you could be wrapping under the supervison on one of the above, but that is somewhat a gray area.

If you are either of the above, you had better know what a static port is.
You had better know how the stall horn works too. If you are a pilot, you had better know how to fly a plane with a plugged static port and what instruments it effects.

Above is the REG, straignt from the FAR's. Every single reg is subject to interpretation, which is why I suggested to contact the FSDO, who is ultimatly the ones who will be interpreting.