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I have found that if I clean the bugs and dust of the leading edge of my AK"s there is a noticeable difference in how well they fly. The underside can be spattered with mud and cow poop and the top with bird poop but as long as the leading edge is clean they fly well. I usually get a rag or a scotch brite, wrap my hand around the leading edge and clean that area. Cleaning the rest of the blade makes no noticeable difference.I have been playing with an airfoil design program. When looking at the 8h12 airfoil I found that the area I clean is laminar flow and the rest of the blade that I dont clean is in turbulent flow.I have heard its important to keep the patroney"s clean and am wondering if this is the same. Has anyone flying on pats found that just cleaning the front section gets them flying well or does the full blade need cleaning?
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peter,
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well, anyone who saw the gyro trailer that I arrived with at Burren Junction would agree that I would have to clean my rotors when I returned home.I know people will say that you should not use an abrasive polish on rotor blades. However, I had some autosol (a very fine auto metal polish) and a polishing machine from Supercrap (about $40) and spent about 20 minutes on em. They are now very pretty and the halo on the ground shadow is really bright, but best of all they fly really, really smooooth.cleaning is also really really easy. Should have done it ages agoMark.
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I got 4 sets of AKs, and never cleaned any of um.Oh, did i mention they are still smoooth.
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sorry actually it was "taipan traders".
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I never cleaned my 26ft AK"s much because it did not make a lot of difference to how they flew, but I found that the 28footers, after a few days of bugs and dust get a bit doughy so I clean them. Did a bit of research to find the difference.What I found was, there is very little change in drag at low angle of attack but more drag at high angles of attack if the leading edge is rough.The 26footers have 1 degree pitch and I think standard setting for AKs over 26ft is about 3/4 degree.I have 1.5 degree pitch on the 28"s so I guess thats why I clean them?
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Birdy,Down here we got two cows to the square foot. When I goes down the strip, I normally Smoooth out the cow pats, I then have to Smoooth the cow **** off me blades otherwise they feel like a dog with a hangover.......Ruff.Horanicus ;D
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I clean my rotors, both Patroneys and AK"s, specially if they have cow dung or mud splattered all over them.I know the Patroneys are a bit more fussy that the alloys to muck on the blades. I reckon its a good practice to have them clean.
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Thems small cows you got there Hoorang.
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ASRA Members: Greetings from Charleston, SC, USA the home of AeroLIFE Industries. A year or so ago I advertised my AeroLIFE product in the Gyro News ref Vol.22 NO3 on page three.The ad represented my AeroKreme, Premium Rotor Cleaner, AeroShine, Rotor Blade Premium Polish and AeroWAX Premium Rotor Blade Past Wax.The products have been tested on Fiberglass Rotor Blades in South Florida, with the results of 30 Hours duration and recoating the Rotor Blades after 33 Hours of flight time. Yes, that’s right, no “BUGS†for over 30 Hours.On another note, my product AeroLIFE Release Adhesive and Sealant Remover easily removes Loctite #5910 The ad also inquired for sales agents for the AeroLIFE product line. Any one interested in the product line or the sales agent position contact me at aerolife13@yahoo.com / adlerflug1@yahoo.com (Ref. subject line AeroLIFE) or call my cell @ 843-860-4216Sincerely,John T. Schmidt, CFIAeroLIFE Factory Sales Team.
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I prefer to fly glass blades ie Patrony"s and use one of the worlds most high tech kitchen cleaners.Known as Mr Sheen
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Just a tip on cleaning alloy rotor blades,I get a lot of salt air with coastal flights which doesn"t really bother the blades. I was cleaning them with Mr sheene. I found a rag stain when i was doing pre flight inspection.I figure it was maybe the oily residue mixed with salt,So back to good old truck wash followed by rinsed shammy no probs.
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toilet duck and a scour pad works for me now. so it should move cow **** as well.
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Yeah I found I can loose performance and speed if mine are not clean.If they don"t make the shh shhh shhh sound I know they are dirty.Loose about 3 to 4knotts at 4100rph
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Autosol ceame cleaner is very good and will get your rotors looking brand new but for best results they need to come off the gyro & be prepared to give them plenty of elbow grease.Mr Sheen is really for a quick clean of your rotors & wont do any harm.I would discourage using harsh abrasives like
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