Top 3 Aviation Museums

4 Steps to Aircraft Dry Wash

Dry Washing aircraft refers to the cleaning of easily noticeable bugs, carbon stains, oil stains etc. off of the exterior.  All blemishes should be removed with relative ease by hand by using our cleaners and clean terry towels. This service will also include wiping down the windshield with Plexi-clear to free it of bugsv etc. 

Materials needed for Aircraft Dry Wash are:

• Ladders & Small Step Stool (Vary Depending on size of aircraft)
• Powerfoam
• 3M Masking Tape

– Terry towels

• Plexi-clear Plexiglass cleaner
• Micro-fiber cloths
• Degreaser Spray Bottle (one oz. Spray Nine Earth Soap and then filled with water.)

Procedure:

Step 1: Setup:

a.) Tape Static Ports:  Cover all static ports with small piece of 3M Tape so no products will enter. The static ports are generally located along the sides of the fuselage. (Ask your crew chief to help you locate them/ check aircraft layout page)

b.) Dust paint before proceeding (Onlly necessary

Step 2:  Dry Wash/ Wipe Down Exterior:

a.) Select a Panel: Look for bugs, dirt, grease, exhaust stains, and any other blemishes that can be easily removed from the surface of aircraft. Be sure to look at belly as this is where most grease and buildup happens. *It’s best to start cleaning at the nose of aircraft and work your way backwards down the fuselage. Polish the wings after you finish the fuselage. You may need to stand on the inner-wing to polish areas on top of the fuselage.

b.) Spray and Clean: Hold Powerfoam 8 inches from surface and spray until foam covers the affected area. Then Take clean terry towel cloth and rub into Powerfoam with fingers to agitate the bugs, grease, dirt, etc off the dirty paint. Once area is cleaned, wipe surface with a clean terry towel to remove streaks etc..

c.) Check and Continue: Check over your now clean paint and check for streaks, more bugs etc. then continue to next area of affected paint. Continue this process over every affected area of the exterior.

Step 3: Wipedown Windows & Brightwork:

a.) Clean Windows/Windshield: Wipe off windshield & windows by spraying them down with Plexi-clear. Completely cover the area of windshield that you’re cleaning. Once covered, take a clean terry towel cloth and swipe the surface clean. Once Plexi-clear is fully cleared off the surface, take a clean micro-fiber and wipe surface down to remove streaks etc. Be sure to look at work once finished to make sure there’s no streaks, especially on the windshield.

1. Wipe Bright Work Clean (if not polishing): The same procedure can be used to clean bugs off the bright work: Spray them with Plexi-clear and wipe clean and dry with a terry towel.

Step 4: Wrap It Up:

a.) Remove Tape: Remove ALL Tape from Static Ports and Edges of Paint that you were working on.

b.) Check work AGAIN: Check over work for streaks, missed areas, etc.

c.) Clean Up: Put dirty rags in correct bins, throw away trash & gloves etc.

**FOR TOUGH BELLY GREASE: 

(USUALLY FOUND ON G.A. AIRCRAFT; NOT USED ON CORPORATE JETS)

Step 1. To remove very tough belly grease sometime Powerfoam doesn’t cut it. Using Spray Nine’s Earth Soap fill the pump spray bottle with 1 oz. Earth Soap and the rest with water. (preferrably warm/hot)

Step 2: Spray Earth Soap mixture onto scrubbing sponge and start to scrub and agitate the grease off of belly one section at a time.

Step 3: Once grease begins to come up, wipe clean with terry or micro fiber  towel.

Step 4: Repeat this process over the tough grease areas.

How to Machine Polish Aircraft Paint

Machine Buffing the Exterior Paint refers to the application and machine polishing of a heavy compounding wax off of the aircraft’s paint. Machine polishing is needed for deeply oxidized and faded paint and will restore its life and Appearance. 

Materials Needed: 

– A Makita 9720 Polishing Machine

– Makita Hook and Loop Velcro back compounding pad

– Supreme Glaze

– Spray Bottle of Water

– A few clean terry towels

– A cleaning spur for buffing pad

Procedure:

Step 1: Setup:

a.) Static Ports: Cover all static ports with small piece of 3M Tape so no products will enter. (Ask your crew chief to help you locate them if you can’t find them)

b.) Other Spots to Tape: If working on aircraft with bright work or de-ice boots you may want to tape of the area of paint that you are about to polish so that no wax gets on the paint during this process.

Step 2: Apply Polish:

a.) Select Panel: Locate a approximately 4×4 ft. area on the paint to work on.

*It’s best to start at the nose of aircraft and work your way backwards down the fuselage. Polish the wings after you finish the fuselage as you may need to stand on the inner- wing to polish areas on top of the aircraft.

b.) Moisten Terry Towel: Using the Water Spray Bottle, spray a small amount of water to moisten the terry towel. (The moisture helps spread the wax more evenly over the surface of the paint.)

c.) Apply Polish: Apply a quarter-sized amount of Supreme Glaze to moist terry towel and apply thinly and evenly your selected section of paint.

Step 3: Machine Polish Paint:

a.) Machine Polish Paint: While Supreme Glaze is still fresh on the surface, turn on your Makita 9720 Polisher and slowly buff up and down the freshly waxed area in a routine fashion.

* BE CAREFUL NOT TO LEAN INTO PAINT TOO MUCH WHEN USING MACHINE BUFFER. THIS CAN RESULT IN BURNING THE PAINT.

b.) Clean Pad: Every 2-3 minutes use the cleaning spur to remove the wax buildup from the pad. Do this by running the spur through the polisher’s pad  while running the buffer.

c.) Check Work: Once section of the paint has been machine polished and wax has been removed check over the panel for streaks or leftover polish. If necessary, Use a clean micro fiber cloth and go over section you just polished looking for streaks and wax left on paint.

Step 4: Repeat Steps 2 &3

Step 5: Wrap Up:

a.) Remove Tape: Remove ALL Tape from Static Ports and Edges of Paint that you were working on.

b.) Check work AGAIN: Check over work for streaks, missed areas, etc.

1. Clean Up: Put dirty rags in correct bins, throw away trash & gloves etc.