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Flush rivets under the wing walk?

Why bother? IMHO, it is a lot of work for very little effect. If you are worried about the appearance of the pop-rivet heads under the wing-walk material, don't worry. After awhile they blend in with the other 12,500 pop-rivet heads and besides, they add an element of enhanced foot traction on the wing-walk!
 
I did and I'm very happy that I did. I could not get a good seal under the dome of the rivets and I really hated the way it looked. Since I had to take it apart for paint anyway, I went ahead and put some cherry rivets in place of the domed rivets. I also bought new wing walk material and extended it all the way back to the spar. I could never keep my big feet on that small patch either.
 
why bother

I agree with Dheal. I used a Rolley Pro (used to mash the vinyl sign material tightly against the rivets when putting signs on tractor trailers) and there is no air or gap around my rivets under the wing walk. Looks nice. And agree that it probably does add a degree of traction.

OK, I don't sell Rolley Pros...but its just a dense sponge roller that smashes the vinyl securely around the rivet heads.
 
f1rocket said:
I did and I'm very happy that I did. I could not get a good seal under the dome of the rivets and I really hated the way it looked. Since I had to take it apart for paint anyway, I went ahead and put some cherry rivets in place of the domed rivets. I also bought new wing walk material and extended it all the way back to the spar. I could never keep my big feet on that small patch either.
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Thanks guys. This is my second 12 and I never liked the appearance of the lp's under the wing walks. Do you recall the specific cherry you used? I was thinking about some CS4's. Did you machine c/s? I think I will like the look of this. Ditto on the big feet!
 
Don't use the peel and stick wing walk. Get the wing walk paint from AC Spruce. Tape off the area you want with a few layers of blue tape so you can put it on thick. Looks great and lasts.
 
The painter painted the wing walk with non-skid additive from Spies-Hecker:

IMG_4942%2520-%2520versie%25202.jpg
 
Dave12 said:
Thanks guys. This is my second 12 and I never liked the appearance of the lp's under the wing walks. Do you recall the specific cherry you used? I was thinking about some CS4's. Did you machine c/s? I think I will like the look of this. Ditto on the big feet!
Click to expand...

I don't have the part number but I just looked up the Cherry rivets part numbers on ACS and got something pretty strong. They were way more expensive than the CS-4 but they were stronger too. Yes, I machine countersunk them. There's plenty of material available with the doubler to CS these holes.
 
f1rocket said:
Yes, I machine countersunk them. There's plenty of material available with the doubler to CS these holes.
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I strongly recommend builders do not mimic this modification.
Using stronger rivets is of zero value if you compromise the holes that you are installing them in.
The bare minimum thickness for machine countersinking for an 1/8" rivet is .050

If it was dimple countersunk during construction it should be ok (only allowed if building E-AB).
 
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