Color on Leading Edge?

I’m in the process of designing the paint job for our RV in progress. One design idea has red along the entire leading edge of the wing.

The questions for anyone else who has some or all of leading edge painted:

1. Do you find it easier or harder to clean than plain white?

2. Do you have any issues with paint chips or other damage which would stand out more on a non-white leading edge?

Mine is red. It cleans fine but probably no different than white. The one think I notice is if I am working on it in my hangar with the door open and sun, I can get fuel expansion to the point it starts coming out the vent. I don’t know if white would make a difference. The problem is easily solved by not filling the tank to the brim!

If you do a colored leading edge and sometime in the future you have little chips and dings that you would like to have fixed, the repair is easier since you only have to paint back to the edge of the color. On a plain white wing, at the very least I would paint back to the seam.

Leading edge

Not sure if you're aware of this? Text is from Vans construction manual for -6 and probably applies also to -10:

"Spanwise trim stripes should be avoided very near the wing leading edge.
Much is being written about the effects of spanwise surface irregularities on the boundary layer
control on airfoils, particularly those on canard configuration airplanes. The concern is that any surface irregularity
near the wing leading edge, particularly spanwise ones, can disrupt the boundary layer airflow, upset laminar flow,
and cause an increase in drag and a decrease in lift. On canard airplanes this can seriously affect not only
performance, but also stability and control. On an RV, with its conventional configuration and non-laminar flow
airfoil, the effects of surface irregularities are relatively minor. However, a rough paint trim line within the first few
inches of the wing leading edge would probably cause a measurable effect on stall and top seeds. Trim lines more
than 8-9 inches from the leading edge have a minimal effect, but even then should be rubbed out as smoothly as
possible."

Thanks

I hadn’t seen the note from Vans. I think my design would be further from the leading edge and it sounds like then a minor effect. Good to know as I decide where to place the lines.

I appreciate the other comments on cleaning, chips, and ease of paint repair!

We’ve got airplanes with both white leading edges and red leading edges (and blue, and multicolored…..). They all collect bugs. The bugs show up much better on the white leading edges!

They all clean up fine - whenever we get the chance to clean them up…..

Paul

rockwoodrv9 said:

Mine is red. It cleans fine but probably no different than white. The one think I notice is if I am working on it in my hangar with the door open and sun, I can get fuel expansion to the point it starts coming out the vent. I don’t know if white would make a difference. The problem is easily solved by not filling the tank to the brim!

Click to expand...

A white tank will do the same, but it'll take a little longer for the fuel in the tank to heat up and expand. I left the RV-10 out on the ramp in front of my hangar one day this summer right after I'd topped it off. Looked over in 5-10 minutes and both vents were streaming fuel. My tanks are white.

My plane, see pic.
The process was PPG basecoat / clearcoat, the transitions between colors is smooth as a baby's b*** so no issue there.

Here's the thing: I wash my whole plane about once a year. The rest of the time I only clean off the bugs on the leading edges after flight (wet rag, occasionally Turtle Wax spray and wax, makes it easier to clean the bugs off). The rest of the plane just collects dirt and dust. Yet, time and again people comment on how clean it looks. I then swipe my finger on the white to show how dirty it actually is. No one seems to notice that, the clean red leading edge is all they see. I have a few very small chips in the leading edges and scrapes etc. elsewhere - I call them battle scars. I suppose the amazing paint job my painter did has a lot do do with it too. 22 year old plane and paint, and I don't baby it. Well I do keep it in a hangar when I'm not out travelling

rv6n6r said:

My plane, see pic.
The process was PPG basecoat / clearcoat, the transitions between colors is smooth as a baby's b*** so no issue there.

Here's the thing: I wash my whole plane about once a year. The rest of the time I only clean off the bugs on the leading edges after flight (wet rag, occasionally Turtle Wax spray and wax, makes it easier to clean the bugs off). The rest of the plane just collects dirt and dust. Yet, time and again people comment on how clean it looks. I then swipe my finger on the white to show how dirty it actually is. No one seems to notice that, the clean red leading edge is all they see. I have a few very small chips in the leading edges and scrapes etc. elsewhere - I call them battle scars. I suppose the amazing paint job my painter did has a lot do do with it too. 22 year old plane and paint, and I don't baby it. Well I do keep it in a hangar when I'm not out travelling

Click to expand...

RV6N6R: Good looking airplane! White and red in a similar format (red on top of fuselage and leading edges) is what I'm thinking, so yours is a good apple-to-apples comparison. We're planning a professional paint job, so making the transition smooth can certainly happen. Thanks for the feedback!

DavidP2020 said:

RV6N6R: Good looking airplane! White and red in a similar format (red on top of fuselage and leading edges) is what I'm thinking, so yours is a good apple-to-apples comparison. We're planning a professional paint job, so making the transition smooth can certainly happen. Thanks for the feedback!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the compliment.
To be clear - professional painter or no, the smooth transitions are also going to depend on which process the painter uses e.g. something with a clearcoat. So definitely quiz him on that.

I have RED leading edges. I have a friend that has a painted RV-4 BUT the leading edges are polished. It was his opinion that the shiny aluminum would make the airplane more visible.

It all boils down to a personal preference. There really no right or wrong way.

I can warn you in advance that you will get chips on leading edges as the airplane gets older. Flying in the rain will increase the chips and wear in the paint. One thing that I can say is that the horizontal stabilizer leading edge has more chips / paint erosion where water coming off the prop has increased chipping.

For most RVs, having a paint stripe along the leading edge would not be a big deal. You would have to have a horrible step/edge to be noticeable. The NACA 23000 series airfoil is just not sensitive to stuff like that.

But,

For the RV-10 and RV-14, that airfoil is capable of sustaining a nice run of laminar flow if the wing is built well. (well-built means smooth, well-set rivets).

ANY paint stripe along the leading edge is likely going to prematurely trip the laminar boundary layer and show up as a loss of cruise speed and a slight increase in stall speed. Only if you can block-sand a clear coat to be perfectly smooth across the edge of the stripe would it be aerodynamically smooth enough to not degrade performance.

One advantage of a dark colored leading edge is that if you encounter icing you would notice it easier. Best idea is never get there!!