Vinyl Wrap

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DwayneSmithUSMC

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DwayneSmithUSMC
Does anyone know where I can get a vinyl wrap done on my aircraft on the east coast of the US?

I plan to paint the plane myself and have a vinyl wrap for the stripes and detail work.
 
Talk to your local sign shop.
 
Companies that specialize in wraps are becoming ubiquitous everywhere. Just do an internet search for one in your area.

They use laser scanners to map the shape of the object being wrapped, so doing an aircraft shouldn't be difficult.

Don't worry about it peeling off. NASCAR and IndyCar teams use wrap now instead of paint, it's really durable.
 
Does the product used have to be specifically designed for aircraft use or can a company that normally wraps vehicles provide the service for an aircraft without any issues?
 
JD318 said:
Does the product used have to be specifically designed for aircraft use or can a company that normally wraps vehicles provide the service for an aircraft without any issues?
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FAR 21, and 23, see if you can find any certification methods for paint or other methods of protection?

next question,,,,,, if paint is a certified product or if it is part of the aircraft design, would we be able to re-paint our aircraft with out doing a 337 field approval?
 
I had vinyl stripes on my Cherokee. The one thing I didn't like is they did wear over time and chip a little. Were it paint I could have done a touch up, not so much with vinyl. The Experimental folks are starting to get lots of use out of the stuff, but I don't know how it'll hold up in the long run, or how well it will stand up to weather.
 
Ambulance service I work for part time is using full body vinyl wraps on some of our vehicles.

They seem to hold up pretty well to road dirt, grime and salt from the winter. Though they seem to fade pretty noticeably after a few years.

But if its cheaper than painting an aircraft, re-wrapping every so often could be the way to go.
 
What would the 'average' price be to wrap a single engine 4 seater?
 
BrianNC said:
What would the 'average' price be to wrap a single engine 4 seater?
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If you are talking about wraping the entire airplane, it will cost as much or more as getting the plane painted for something like a Cherokee or 172. Actually the vinyl price quote I got for my Cherokee was higher than my paint job. If your airplane is painted white and you just want to add a stripping scheme, vinyl cost would probably not be too bad. It's has been at least three years ago that I got the quote, but the vinyl was well over $10,000. I don't remember the exact amount now, but it was a shocker to me. I felt like I was better off repainting instead of covering up the old paint with the vinyl. The vinyl will also add more weight. When you repaint, they take off the old paint, inspect for corrosion, then primer and paint. So weight wise it pretty much balances out.
 
Anymouse said:
For the record, the vinyl stripes/numbers I put on my Tango 12 years ago are holding up just fine.
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Same for the vinyl stripes and checkerboard on my RV-6, except they have been on the aircraft for 17 years.
 
steingar said:
I had vinyl stripes on my Cherokee. The one thing I didn't like is they did wear over time and chip a little. Were it paint I could have done a touch up, not so much with vinyl. The Experimental folks are starting to get lots of use out of the stuff, but I don't know how it'll hold up in the long run, or how well it will stand up to weather.
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It's a great question. I've been watching one RV-9A that was wrapped a few years ago. I see it every year parked at Oshkosh, so I have a chance to take a close look and see how the vinyl is holding up. What I have noticed is that there are a few wear areas, where paint would be rubbing through too -- places where a canopy skirt meets the fuse, etc. He's also had some grass and gravel damage to the vinyl on the wheel pants, but it's easily patched and invisible unless you're really looking for it. The color and overall finish is holding up very well, and I know from the parts of my own plane that I've already wrapped that repairs are trivial. This is not the old striping vinyl you're used to seeing on cars and airplanes -- completely different stuff.

We've got an RV-12 with an abysmally poor paint job. At some point I really would like to get the entire thing stripped, and if that happens it's getting a vinyl wrap. Most of it we could do ourselves. There's a guy who runs a sign shop not far from the airport who wraps trucks. He's willing to do the plane, and he's an ultralight flyer so knows at least the basics of what not to do to an airplane - plus we'd be there to assist, of course. He figures between $2K and $3K for a simple wrap job - a couple of colors, no fancy printing or complicated trim.
 
DaleB said:
It's a great question. I've been watching one RV-9A that was wrapped a few years ago. I see it every year parked at Oshkosh, so I have a chance to take a close look and see how the vinyl is holding up. What I have noticed is that there are a few wear areas, where paint would be rubbing through too -- places where a canopy skirt meets the fuse, etc. He's also had some grass and gravel damage to the vinyl on the wheel pants, but it's easily patched and invisible unless you're really looking for it. The color and overall finish is holding up very well, and I know from the parts of my own plane that I've already wrapped that repairs are trivial. This is not the old striping vinyl you're used to seeing on cars and airplanes -- completely different stuff.

We've got an RV-12 with an abysmally poor paint job. At some point I really would like to get the entire thing stripped, and if that happens it's getting a vinyl wrap. Most of it we could do ourselves. There's a guy who runs a sign shop not far from the airport who wraps trucks. He's willing to do the plane, and he's an ultralight flyer so knows at least the basics of what not to do to an airplane - plus we'd be there to assist, of course. He figures between $2K and $3K for a simple wrap job - a couple of colors, no fancy printing or complicated trim.
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Wrap it in chrome.
 
Tom-D said:
Wrap it in chrome.
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Don't think for a minute I haven't thought about it. :) We've debated a number of color schemes. I think we'll probably just go with the same shade of yellow, with some black accents. The 3M 1080 bright yellow is a pretty close match -- close enough that people don't notice that several parts of the plane are already wrapped with it. The forward fuse skin, part of the vertical stab and all the inspection covers got wrapped a while back. So far, so good. I have some fiberglass repairs to make to the nosewheel pant, and it will get wrapped when I'm done.
 
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