Fresh wax....man I feel clean!

Unit74

Unit74

Final Approach
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Unit74
Spent all day prepping and waxing my Archer today. Other than looking all shiny, is there any solid evidence of performance gains from a slick fuselage?

I kept telling myself yes all day long but I'm not convincing myself very well.
 
You will gain at least 50 knots. It must be true I read it on the internet !!!.
 
Unit74 said:
Spent all day prepping and waxing my Archer today. Other than looking all shiny, is there any solid evidence of performance gains from a slick fuselage?

I kept telling myself yes all day long but I'm not convincing myself very well.
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I know you took some pics!
 
What's that product that Jay and Henning keep going on about? The one that turns airplane wings into mirrors?
 
Of course you will realize a speed increase,trust me.
 
Used McGuirres polishing compound, then McGuirres NXT wax. Having a 10" orbital sure makes it easier.

No pics. It was already dark and my texts were blowing up with guilty texts about "your food is getting cold and I'm going to bed soon"
 
AggieMike88 said:
What's that product that Jay and Henning keep going on about? The one that turns airplane wings into mirrors?
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Collinite #845 wax. The stuff is phenomenal. I use it on the plane and cars. Use it VERY sparingly. I'm down a third of the bottle and have done the plane twice and 3 cars 3 times over (9 cars).
 
Agreed. collinite is good. Goes on easy, buffs easy. Seems to last as long as the carnabau wax I was using.

Henning touted it, I tried it, and I like it.
 
I used what I had. Seemed to work fine. I did buy the buffer off amazon this week though. I guess it was more of an excuse to go use a new power tool.
 
I did mine this summer. Washed, went over it with 3 different grits of polish, finished with a sealant and then a wax. Took a LOT of swirls out of the paint and it's nice and shiny, bugs clean off easy. It's still 10 year old paint, but for its age it looks nice.

It took me a solid 2-3 days to do it though.

I pretty much exclusively use Chemical Guys products, including their Torq DA polisher which is the shiznit.
 
Unit74 said:
I used what I had. Seemed to work fine. I did buy the buffer off amazon this week though. I guess it was more of an excuse to go use a new power tool.
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Insert some Tim Allen "more power" grunts
 
Yeah, it did need more power. I think it is a .5 hp buffer. Shoulda got the 3/4...
 
6PC claims Zima on the wings gave him 20kts.....

He has a Cirrus....so maybe 10 more with a Piper.;)
 
TEFLONSEAN said:
6PC claims Zima on the wings gave him 20kts.....

He has a Cirrus....so maybe 10 more with a Piper.;)
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Don't tell anyone but Smirnoff Ice works better.

Geez now I feel like an SR20 pilot SMH
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
Don't tell anyone but Smirnoff Ice works better.

Geez now I feel like an SR20 pilot SMH
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Ugh....your so smart.

Smirnoff Ice does have smaller bubbles......less drag.

Don't sell yourself short....your techniques make you at least SR 23 or 24.;)
 
Adam's is my go to line. Arguably the best out there, especially for the money. You won't go faster, but if you're going to go slow, you might as well look good doing it :D
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When I get a Lance, I guess it won't matter. Kinda like washing and waxing my wife's Honda Odyssey. A complete waste of time and effort. No swagger there..... None. But it hauls all this **** she thinks they need daily. Hence, the choice in Aero-swagger wagon.

Otherwise I'd prolly buy a Lancair! Nice one just went up for sale on Beechtalk too..... One knot per horsepower sounds pretty damn good. I'd wax that botch weekly if I had it!
 
Unit74 said:
Otherwise I'd prolly buy a Lancair! Nice one just went up for sale on Beechtalk too..... One knot per horsepower sounds pretty damn good. I'd wax that botch weekly if I had it!
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Yeah, that is a beauty!
 
Unit74 said:
When I get a Lance, I guess it won't matter. Kinda like washing and waxing my wife's Honda Odyssey. A complete waste of time and effort. No swagger there..... None. But it hauls all this **** she thinks they need daily. Hence, the choice in Aero-swagger wagon.

Otherwise I'd prolly buy a Lancair! Nice one just went up for sale on Beechtalk too..... One knot per horsepower sounds pretty damn good. I'd wax that botch weekly if I had it!
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I always liked that as well.
 
Yes, you will probably see a performance gain resulting in more speed which means less elapsed time on future flights until it gets dirty again. However, the total elapsed time saved in flight will be less than the time you spent cleaning and waxing it. So you might have just spent several hours of labor to save several minutes of flight time.

Congratulations.
 
SkyDog58 said:
Yes, you will probably see a performance gain resulting in more speed which means less elapsed time on future flights until it gets dirty again. However, the total elapsed time saved in flight will be less than the time you spent cleaning and waxing it. So you might have just spent several hours of labor to save several minutes of flight time.

Congratulations.
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As a performance gain waxing is worthless, an oxidized surface is probably less drag. However paint jobs are expensive, and buffing is a lot of work to remove a bit of expensive paint. So in the interest of saving work and your paint job, waxing at least twice a year, 4 times for out door storage, is a very good investment.
 
Henning said:
As a performance gain waxing is worthless, an oxidized surface is probably less drag. However paint jobs are expensive, and buffing is a lot of work to remove a bit of expensive paint. So in the interest of saving work and your paint job, waxing at least twice a year, 4 times for out door storage, is a very good investment.
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Yes there are some other good reasons to keep an airplane clean and waxed but the OP was asking about performance gains. Did you not read the OP? Besides my response was obviously a bit tongue in cheek.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Collinite No. 845 Insulator Wax. It is phenomenal stuff.
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You put it on much thicker than necessary. If you keep the applicator damp, and the coat thin, you won't end up with all the white crap in the cracks. Best way to get rid of that BTW is wash it with hot water.
 
Henning said:
You put it on much thicker than necessary. If you keep the applicator damp, and the coat thin, you won't end up with all the white crap in the cracks. Best way to get rid of that BTW is wash it with hot water.
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The white crap is prolly left from the previous paste wax.

Which, BTW, a mushroom brush removes nicely, if you're so inclined.
 
Jay Honeck said:
The white crap is prolly left from the previous paste wax.

Which, BTW, a mushroom brush removes nicely, if you're so inclined.
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Hot water is really the best way, any brush stiff enough to remove it is stiff enough to dull the paint, plus it's a ton more work; hot water is wash down fast. I either hook a hose to a hot water heater, or rent a steam cleaner for a day and go to town on a bunch of stuff. You want to melt it and float it. You want to get rid of it because it collects salt from the atmosphere and creates an electrolyte paste when it's humid.
 
I would swear I saw a knot on the TAS today. Seriously.



Or maybe I was just trimmed up better than normal!!
 
So how many knots do you gain if you put dimples all over your plane
 
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