Spirit fixing plane with tape before flight. Although it appears to be duct tape, what you’re seeing on aircraft wings is actually an aluminum-based material known in the aviation world as speed tape, and it’s perfectly safe for certain types of repairs, according to aviation experts and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Speed tape is extremely durable, able to withstand up to 600 mph winds and extreme environmental changes if properly applied, according to Nance. 3M says its version of the tape is rated from minus-65 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and is able to withstand moisture, flame, UV rays and chemicals.
“There’s never going to be a piece of garden-variety duct tape used on an airplane,” said John Nance, a veteran pilot and safety consultant. “So if you’re looking at it, it’s called speed tape, and it’s very, very specifically designed to do whatever it is they’re trying to make it do.”
Speed tape is extremely durable, able to withstand up to 600 mph winds and extreme environmental changes if properly applied, according to Nance. 3M says its version of the tape is rated from minus-65 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and is able to withstand moisture, flame, UV rays and chemicals.
The tape is primarily deployed when weathering has caused a part to be exposed to the airstream. The plane is safe to fly, but the airline wants to prevent any further weathering until it can repair the part, Nance said.
“It is not something that would be used to hold together two parts of the airplane,” he said. “This is usually skin, but you don’t want anything peeling back further than it might already have started peeling back.”
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