John Murphy wrote:
I have a 20+ year old trailer for my G102. Presently, its bare sheet
aluminum. I want to paint it white to reduce the amount of heat
absorbed by the trailer skin. A local autobody shop quoted me $1600.00
to cover with a polyurethene paint over an epoxy primer. This is far
more than I wanted to spend. Any suggestions on durable paints or
products that can be applied by a novice to sheet aluminum. I can rent
an airless sprayer if need be. Thanks.

I looked into this when I had an aluminum tube-type trailer. I compared
the air temperatures inside the trailer in several places (ceiling,
floor, inside cockpit) with those in a similar trailer painted white. As
I recall, the air temperatures in the top 6" of the trailer were 10 to
15 F hotter, but below that, the air temperatures were only a few
degrees hotter. Because the _glider_ temperatures were hardly different,
I decided the heat protection gained wasn't worth the cost and effort to
paint the trailer.

I believe the hot air convects to the top of the trailer and insulates
the rest of the air from the heat input. I notice the same effect in my
Cobra trailer, where the air near the top is very hot, but below that
the air is only a few degrees above the outside air temperature.


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Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA

www.motorglider.org - Download "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane
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