Speed tape, much?
It’s not so much the thickness of the tape, it’s the roughness of the application. Looking at the pic, there are lots of protruding ridges, which I would suggest are not helping the boundary layer to stay attached, plus there are at least two layers of the stuff that’s coming unstuck in places.
Maybe it has the full blessing of the design authority but it doesn’t look very good.
Maybe it has the full blessing of the design authority but it doesn’t look very good.
No allowance from Boeing to do such a thing. Although I am led to believe something might be in the offing as they just can't get them through the paint facility.
Am surprised its getting everyone's knickers in a twist so much tbh. Has it been applied well? No. But it's just a protective uv screen it's doing nothing else. Granted it looks horrendous and maybe they could come up with a white alternative but The reinspection intervals are long. That shows how concerned Boeing are about it.
I'd imagine there aren't many 787s flying that dont have any speed tape either on the wings or on other paint blemishes or lightning strikes. The biggest problem is you can't just touch them up like an alloy structure, and generally can't be done on the line due to cure times and temperature requirements.
Am surprised its getting everyone's knickers in a twist so much tbh. Has it been applied well? No. But it's just a protective uv screen it's doing nothing else. Granted it looks horrendous and maybe they could come up with a white alternative but The reinspection intervals are long. That shows how concerned Boeing are about it.
I'd imagine there aren't many 787s flying that dont have any speed tape either on the wings or on other paint blemishes or lightning strikes. The biggest problem is you can't just touch them up like an alloy structure, and generally can't be done on the line due to cure times and temperature requirements.
There is a Boeing Directive out covering this. I've seen de-icing treatment literally tearing sheets of paint off the wing. It ain't pretty, but as has been said, the application in this case is poor. I could tell a few tails about that particular airline and its maintenance standards but let me retire gracefully first.
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When my Cessna went for new paint in 1992, some of the wingstrut fairings were cracked. I did not put adequate thought into buying new ones before paint. The paint shop people were better thinkers, and obviously wanted a job they could be proud of. They taped up the cracks in my fairings with aluminum tape, and did a really good job! The tape was properly painted, and lasted very well with the rest of the paint job. Not that I'm advocating for the apparent 787 wing tape job, but I find myself wondering, had a really good job been done of applying it smoothly, maybe the tape could then have been temporarily painted with a decent, easy to apply paint, and the tape job would probably would have gone un noticed by passengers....
While working for deHavilland back in the '80's and traveling on business with another DHC staffer, we were passengers on a commercial airline Dash 7 for a leg. As we approached the airplane to board, he commented to me: "they've repainted it with a roller!". I think that they had! Far from good, but good from far!
While working for deHavilland back in the '80's and traveling on business with another DHC staffer, we were passengers on a commercial airline Dash 7 for a leg. As we approached the airplane to board, he commented to me: "they've repainted it with a roller!". I think that they had! Far from good, but good from far!
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If the wing is that sensitive to minor imperfections, god help them if they get a goose thru the leading edge.
Messy - Yes
Risky - Probably not
Messy - Yes
Risky - Probably not
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No allowance from Boeing to do such a thing. Although I am led to believe something might be in the offing as they just can't get them through the paint facility.
Am surprised its getting everyone's knickers in a twist so much tbh. Has it been applied well? No. But it's just a protective uv screen it's doing nothing else. Granted it looks horrendous and maybe they could come up with a white alternative but The reinspection intervals are long. That shows how concerned Boeing are about it.
I'd imagine there aren't many 787s flying that dont have any speed tape either on the wings or on other paint blemishes or lightning strikes. The biggest problem is you can't just touch them up like an alloy structure, and generally can't be done on the line due to cure times and temperature requirements.
Am surprised its getting everyone's knickers in a twist so much tbh. Has it been applied well? No. But it's just a protective uv screen it's doing nothing else. Granted it looks horrendous and maybe they could come up with a white alternative but The reinspection intervals are long. That shows how concerned Boeing are about it.
I'd imagine there aren't many 787s flying that dont have any speed tape either on the wings or on other paint blemishes or lightning strikes. The biggest problem is you can't just touch them up like an alloy structure, and generally can't be done on the line due to cure times and temperature requirements.
As I said previously, it would be interesting to learn what the SRM says about the maximum permitted area, cumulative or localised, that can be covered with speed tape and what effect it has on the performance given, as has been mentioned, that useful term, laminar flow, is well and truly compromised.
There is a Boeing Directive out covering this. I've seen de-icing treatment literally tearing sheets of paint off the wing. It ain't pretty, but as has been said, the application in this case is poor. I could tell a few tails about that particular airline and its maintenance standards but let me retire gracefully first.
Qantas 787 wing a few months ago.
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Maybe the next step could be to apply speedtape in the factory instead of paint as it is clearly doing a better job sticking to the carbon fibre than the paint. 
Seriously though makes me wonder if the aircraft manufacturers should be looking at a totally different technology since the issue with paint bonding to flexible carbon fibre are not easily resolved.
Seriously though makes me wonder if the aircraft manufacturers should be looking at a totally different technology since the issue with paint bonding to flexible carbon fibre are not easily resolved.
I was going to say I have flown gliders with worse but I haven't even come close to that!
We used to use tape in wind tunnels to stop the plastic pipes that connected to the pressure ports from blowing about in the breeze. The tape would stand up to airspeeds above Mach 1 but eventually the sticky would soften owing to temperature increase at high speed.
We used to use tape in wind tunnels to stop the plastic pipes that connected to the pressure ports from blowing about in the breeze. The tape would stand up to airspeeds above Mach 1 but eventually the sticky would soften owing to temperature increase at high speed.
