In short, the following is proposed: 1.Foil that covers a radome 2.Foil can have customer-specific design/color 3.Foil is qualified for this application once; afterwards, no further qualification is required if foil is placed on an already qualified radome (airworthiness and RF performance) 4.Foil material (composition), color (dyes) and attachment method are used which avoid detrimental effects on radome performance such as absorption in Ku and Ka band or cross-polarization 5.Foil material (composition), color (dyes) and attachment method are used which ensure compliance to requirements such as (according to RTCA-DO160F and ARINC 791 P1 S2) 5.1.Temperature/pressure requirement 5.2.Temperature variation requirement 5.3.Humidity requirement: six temperature/humidity cycles between 55 °C/95 RH and 38 °C/(85-95) RH 5.4.Vibration requirement 6.Waterproofness requirement: subject foil to continuous stream of water (water temperature 50 °C) for 5 minutes on each side 6.1.Fluid susceptibility requirement 6.2.Sand and dust requirement 6.3.Fungus requirement 6.4.Salt spray requirement 6.5.Icing requirement 6.6.Noise sound level requirement 6.7.Possible further requirements, application specific, such as 6.7.1.Rain erosion requirement 6.7.2.Hail requirement 6.7.3.Birdstrike requirement 6.7.4.Surface temperature requirement 6.7.5.Static charging requirement 6.7.6.RF attenuation and reflection requirement 6.7.7.RF polarization effects requirement 6.7.8.RF frequency dependency of attributes 6.8.Requirements for External decoration adhesive film according to 6.8.1.AIMS10-13-008 Foil material can e.g. be PU (polyurethane). Foil material can e.g. be ADHECAL 13880 or material with similar properties. Foil material can e.g. be a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film, the thickness can be below 200 μm, it can even be below 50 μm. Its front side can be colored. It can be colored by applying dyes (ink). This can be done e.g. by using a screen printing process or digital printing. The dyes (inks) can be PU (polyurethane) of different color. The back side of the PET can be covered by an adhesive. This can be an acrylic glue (e.g. 50 μm thick). This can be a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA). Overcoating can be applied during foil fabrication or afterwards to provide further protection of the foil. It's important to note, that the effect of the foil has to be acceptable on system level. The decorative foil effect on system performance can be anywhere between 0-100 % (e.g. metallic foil would shield, polarizing foil would reject half of the RF signal).
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