Polishing

[Mike Davis]

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Hi Folks

Just a minor question. My brother got it into his head to polish the main
struts last night. They look great but how do you keep this shiny or it is
a
lifetime job?

Wax or clear coat of something?

Thanks

Brian #328R



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[Mike Davis]

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Brian:

Could you provide details on how your brother polished the struts?

-----Original Message-----
From: RebelAir@aol.com <RebelAir@aol.com>
To: murphy-rebel@dcsol.com <murphy-rebel@dcsol.com>
Date: Sunday, February 07, 1999 2:48 PM
Subject: Re: Polishing

Hi Folks

Just a minor question. My brother got it into his head to polish the main
struts last night. They look great but how do you keep this shiny or it is

a

lifetime job?

Wax or clear coat of something?

Thanks

Brian #328R

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[Mike Davis]

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To: <murphy-rebel@dcsol.com> (Murphy Rebel)
From: Bob Patterson <bob.patterson@canrem.com>
Subject: Re: Polishing
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Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 20:47:30 -0500


Over the 23 odd years I owned my HP-11A all-aluminum glider, I think
I tried every polish & wax known to man !! The best thing I found was
a marine polish called Star-Brite - but after a couple of years, they
changed the formula, and it wasn't much better than ...

Canadian Tire sells something like it in an orange plastic bottle
- will check the name. It was judged the best automotive polish by
Consumer Reports ...

The ideal is something with a few drops of silicone in it
(that was the Star-Brite secret). A little bit goes a LONG way ...
If you coat the polished surface with a silicone wax/polish, you will
only have to polish twice a year !!

BEWARE !!! If you EVER use silicone on aluminum, don't even THINK
about ever painting it !!! It can be done, but only after heavy-duty,
very careful etching !! The silicone gets into the pores of the metal !

Forget about carnauba or other waxes - they are porous. Just watch
what happens when rain drops sit on top of this surface for a while -
you get spots of aluminum oxide ! Check out Tobey Riley's Rebel -
they used pure beeswax .... (several times)

As far as polishes, I settled on something called "Met-All", a
combination of jewellers rouge & silicone that is available from
Leavens, and many other aviation houses, in a 2 or 3 lb can. The trick
is to put it on thin, polish like mad, until it turns black & stiff,
the dust on some ordinary baking flour to soak it up, and wipe it
off easily - it took me several years to discover the flour trick !
(They now print it right on the cans !)

You will hear a lot about Flitz, Rolite, etc., etc. - these
are basically the same stuff, but in smaller tubes, at much higher
prices !! Rolite has a slightly finer grind, and a bit better lubricant
in the mix, but it was hard to justify the difference in cost.

I spoke to the paint wizard at Sky Harbour about what they did
for Mustangs & other warbirds, a few years ago. He said they had
tried clearcoats, but they didn't stand up too well, and made an
awfull mess when they started to hairline crack, letting corrosion
form underneath. What they finally did was formulate a special metallic
polyurethane paint !! They strip & etch the aluminum, then prime it
just like before any paint, then spray the metallic silver. Apparently,
this is now standard procedure for warbirds - looks great, and very
easy to maintain !!

An aside on polishing - when I first got the HP & started polishing
it, I was warned NOT to polish the tops of the wings, by an older HP
pilot. Naturally, I went ahead and polished anyway - and scared myself
thoroughly when I flew it !! The stall speed had increased by over
5 knots, and the warning buffets were gone - it just dropped a wing &
spun !! It seems that that airfoil liked a certain amount of surface
roughness to maintain laminar flow, and polishing removed this !!
Forever after, I polished everything else, but just washed down the
tops of the wings ....

From observing the flow of raindrops over the struts on many
occasions flying in storms (!!) - the taper on the Rebel wing struts,
although seemingly gentle, is not long enough to keep the air flow
attached now - the rain drops leave a good inch & a half before the
trailing edge of the strut. I keep this in mind when making gear leg
fairings - the longer and more gentle the slope, the better the fairing !
Particularly important on the long fairings over the bungee legs ....

.....bobp



---------------------------orig.-------------------------------------
At 02:45 PM 2/7/99 EST, you wrote:

Hi Folks

Just a minor question. My brother got it into his head to polish the main
struts last night. They look great but how do you keep this shiny or it is

a

lifetime job?

Wax or clear coat of something?

Thanks

Brian #328R

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[Mike Davis]

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RebelAir@aol.com wrote:

Hi Folks

Just a minor question. My brother got it into his head to polish the main
struts last night. They look great but how do you keep this shiny or it

is a

lifetime job?

Wax or clear coat of something?

Thanks

Brian #328R

Take it from an old motorcycle rider, it's a lifetime.

Mickey #534

[Mike Davis]

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Hi Bob

Thanks very much for the exhaustive discussion. That is very complete! My
brother asked me to put a note on the WEB after spending 2 hours just
polishing the portion of the main struts which will be exposed past the
fairings. He used Rolite for this. It looks nice but for how long.

Somehow, I think that he does not want aluminium aircraft polishing to be
his
life's work. Cannot understand that?! Can you?

Thanks again


Brian #328R

[Mike Davis]

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To: <murphy-rebel@dcsol.com> (Murphy Rebel)
From: Bob Patterson <bob.patterson@canrem.com>
Subject: Re: Polishing
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Date: Sun, 7 Feb 1999 22:49:41 -0500


UUuuuuhhhh ........ YEP !! Having spent all those years
polishing 40 acres of aluminum, I can relate !!! Enough is too much,
already !!!

Aluminum airplane FLYING, I can see, but not polishing !!!

Just like I say I'll never own another WHITE airplane again
(had 2 - impossible to get the frost off !!), I'll probably never have
another bare aluminum airplane again !!!

At least, not for long !! It's not a bad idea to fly the Rebel
bare for a season - it helps to wash away any left-over oil, and the
acid rain does a good job of pre-etching to help the paint stick !!
(Besides - it means you can fly NOW, and paint later - enjoy the FUN
sooner !!! :-) )

....bobp

-----------------------------orig.----------------------------------------
At 09:39 PM 2/7/99 EST, you wrote:

Hi Bob

Thanks very much for the exhaustive discussion. That is very complete! My
brother asked me to put a note on the WEB after spending 2 hours just
polishing the portion of the main struts which will be exposed past the
fairings. He used Rolite for this. It looks nice but for how long.

Somehow, I think that he does not want aluminium aircraft polishing to be

his

life's work. Cannot understand that?! Can you?

Thanks again


Brian #328R

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