Jabiru elevator tape

[Jabiru Phil]

Hi all,

 

Any info on replacing the tape covering the elevator hinge would be appreciated. What to buy and method of removing old glue?

 

Phil.

 

 

[Harthy]

To remove the goo on the elevator, petrol and a rag work very well. Soak it on a bit, then it will still take a bit of rubbing to get it off. Turps does work but not as good as petrol. Then clean it up with some polish before putting on the new stuff.

 

At the moment I have been using reinforced white duct tape, which looks and seems to work like the original tape.

 

I have been told you can get some good quality medical tape from the chemist that will last longer. Other then that, ring Jabiru for the right stuff.

 

Have to replace mine on Saturday again

 

Harthy

 

 

[Vev]

Hi Phil,

 

 

I have replaced mine twice … first time I used duct tape but it had short life. The second time I went to Whitworth Marine and bought some rip stop sail cloth in a 50mm x 5m roll .. very nice stuff and it’s UV stable too.

 

 

Cheers

 

Jack

 

 

[Ding]

Elevator tape.

 

Hi Phil,

 

A mate of mine uses book binding tape. Seems to work for him.

 

Cheers,

 

Ding.

 

 

[Guest DonC]

I just leave it off - makes no difference

 

 

[Jabiru Phil]

Thanks for the replies

 

I fly from gravel strips and note that gravel could be lodged on elevator at take off.

 

Heard of a incident some time ago

 

Jack, what glue did you use?

 

Regards

 

phil

 

 

[flie43]

Was a pain to get off and we have left it off and cannot pick any difference

 

Terry

 

 

[Guest Roger]

This should do it I reckon...

 

3M POLYURETHANE PROTECTIVE TAPE 8672 from Aircraft Spruce

 

3M Tape available from most aviation shops - Ian may even have it :thumb_up:

 

 

[Vev]

Hi Phil,

 

 

The sail cloth was self adhesive … it comes in a roll and has a paper backing over the glue side which you just peel off before you use it.

 

 

Cheers

 

Jack

 

 

[Jabiru Phil]

Many thanks

 

phil

 

 

[Guest watto]

I left mine off after it self destructed and just used a little acrylic laquer thinners which had the glue off in a jiffy, and also no discerable performance difference without it.

 

 

[sseeker]

Hi,

 

Our school uses this bright silver tape with a rough surface, I'll ask about it tomorrow for you.

 

-Andrew

 

 

[nong]

Phil.

 

The actual factory stuff is WOTAN brand Cloth Tape. I bought some at the local newsagent and the familiar OLYMPIC stationery brand is also marked, together with WOTAN, inside the cardboard inner roll.

 

I use metho, a rag and a little elbow grease but some other solvent may well work better for all I know.

 

You will need to unscrew the hinge retention pieces for a quality job.

 

Prior to applying tape the elevator should be trimmed full NOSE DOWN.

 

You can apply the tape TAUGHT with the elevator in this position and you will find that the tape slackens as the elevator is raised.

 

When applying tape you will find that the hinge wire that sticks up will fairly easily pearce the tape as needed.

 

Do each side, leaving the section behind the fuselage until last. Use three short lengths of tape to cover this section because of the curvature you are working with.

 

Replace the hinge retention pieces, double checking that the retaining screws are firm.

 

Cheers

 

 

[zodiac3813]

Does it make any difference if it's there or not?

 

 

[Thx1137]

What I would like to know is "what is it for?"! Ours tends to look a bit ragged.

 

Any ideas? Smoothing out airflow? Heaven forbid it is to help fix it to the aircraft!

 

Steven.

 

 

[Jabiru Phil]

What I would like to know is "what is it for?"! Ours tends to look a bit ragged.Any ideas? Smoothing out airflow? Heaven forbid it is to help fix it to the aircraft!

 

Steven.

Nong covered the subject pretty well.

 

I ended up purchasing from a boat shop, they use it for joining sails, pretty strong stuff and should last a lot longer in sunlight than the original product.

 

The reason it is used; is imagine small pebbles being lodged in the groove if it was absent, a long shot on bitumen surfaces but not so on gravel.

 

The joining tape from the boat shop was a fair bit wider than the original and needed trimming. Cost about $10

 

Phil.

 

 

[Relfy]

Update to an old thread I know but after 65 hours and landing yesterday it looked like I'd flown through a toilet paper storm so I rang Jab and they said that it serves no purpose other than cosmetic. Advice received was a bit of acetone to remove the glue and just put some new tape on or just leave it off if you don't mind the appearance.

 

 

[Guest trevoratbay]

Phil I can recommend the tape they use on gliders you can get it from the chemist, leukosilk 50mm this is the real deal there is quite a lot on a roll and its under $20 dont tell the chemist what its for he may charge more,

 

 

[jetjr]

I tried the proper mylar strip setup - hard sort of stuff one side only stuck down

 

It vibrated at high speeds and came to bits, very noisy humm, took a while to work out what it was