Removing & Adding a Painted Contest ID

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to remove the old
painted contest id from under the wing?


I am planning on having a local sign store make me a template for my
contest ID - SA so I can spray a new ID on under the wing. Anybody
have a suggestion on what type of paint would work best?

Thanks!

On Apr 5, 7:55*am, Scott Alexander
wrote:
Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to remove the old
painted contest id from under the wing?

Sawzall.

On Apr 5, 7:55*am, Scott Alexander
wrote:
Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to remove the old
painted contest id from under the wing?

I am planning on having a local sign store make me a template for my
contest ID - SA so I can spray a new ID on under the wing. *Anybody
have a suggestion on what type of paint would work best?

Thanks!

Sorry no help on removing your painted letters (what type of paint, on
what type of surface?), but why on earth would you not just use
plotted (or hand cut, it's your time...) vinyl letter/numbers for your
new ones once you have the old 'painted-on nightmare' off?

-Paul

ps. putting on new vinyl to look PERFECT is very easy. Tip- don't be
cheap with the soap water (10drops non-citrus detergent in 1pt of
water, spayed generously on your surface and the sticker back after
paper is pulled. Apply decal and slide it around till it's where you
want it, and then credit card 'squeegee' excess, from center
outwards). To be fancy, you run hose over your target surface first to
de-static it (you get about 5-10min of static free after rinsing)

On Apr 5, 9:17*am, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
On Apr 5, 7:55*am, Scott Alexander
wrote:

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to remove the old
painted contest id from under the wing?

Start with a search of this group with words "contest numbers remove"
You will get lots of help.

Basically you get two options, solvent if it will work or sandpaper.
It depends on if your glider is gel-coat or painted and the type of
paint used for the numbers currently on your glider.

I would recommend getting vinyl letters rather than painting again
(you will save money and time in the long run, but if you paint use
Automotive Lacquerer not enamel or polyurethane.

Tim (been there done that too many times)

On Apr 5, 12:07*pm, Tim Taylor wrote:

Tim (been there done that too many times)

Which is why I'm 'T8'. I liked my old number better, but I just
couldn't see screwing with a good paint job.

Stencils: use self adhesive plastic single use stencils. There are
companies that do this specifically for airplanes. They work great.
I would not even consider using anything else.

Heard once that the stencils on many gliders applied at the factory
are painted on with butyrate.

-Evan Ludeman, the glider pilot formerly known as 3Z.

On Apr 5, 11:17*am, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
On Apr 5, 7:55*am, Scott Alexander
wrote:

Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to remove the old
painted contest id from under the wing?

Sawzall.

Scott:

Hate to see it go, but you might call M&H Soaring. Heinz may have an
answer.

Moe Acee (AC)

On Apr 5, 12:45*pm, wrote:

Scott:

Hate to see it go, but you might call M&H Soaring. *Heinz may have an
answer.

Moe Acee (AC)

There's the solution -- leave it alone!

-T8

I removed the large registration numbers and painted small ones on XF
this winter. I also removed the competition numbers and repainted
them. My Cirrus has gelcoat and I used 600/800/1200 grit wet
sandpaper to remove the numbers. The gelcoat shined up so nice I did
the entire airplane! I then had my local sign shop cut me some vinyl
stencils for $50 (using old turquoise vinyl that they did not want).
Tape the top of your stencil in place with masking tape hinges. Spray
a soapy solution on the surface. Lift stencil from the bottom and
bending at the hinges. Remove transfer paper. Apply stencil and use
squeegee to remove water. Wait a while to remove top paper as the
vinyl will lift until the surface dries out. Then rough up the
surface to be painted with 360 grit dry sand paper and sprayed
polyurethane. It looks pretty darn good.

XF

On Apr 5, 9:07*am, Tim Taylor wrote:

I would recommend getting vinyl letters rather than painting again

I think the big argument against vinyl numbers is that they're thick
enough to trip the boundary layer and mess up the laminar flow.
Moffat mentions this a couple of times in "Winning II", for example.

--Noel
(who _does_ agree that paint is a pretty big commitment!)

On Apr 5, 11:41*am, "noel.wade" wrote:
On Apr 5, 9:07*am, Tim Taylor wrote:

I would recommend getting vinyl letters rather than painting again

I think the big argument against vinyl numbers is that they're thick
enough to trip the boundary layer and mess up the laminar flow.
Moffat mentions this a couple of times in "Winning II", for example.

--Noel
(who _does_ agree that paint is a pretty big commitment!)

Actually I think you will find that in theory that sounds good, but
most people will not be able to paint the numbers any thinner that you
can get vinyl and have the numbers look nice at all.

When you are losing contests by 0.01% maybe it is time to paint.