No doubt you’ve been following our rather casual yet Pulitzer-worthy series on “adding value to your aircraft.” So far, we’ve looked at the positive profit impacts of things like engine maintenance programs, avionics upgrades and cabin refurbishment when it comes time to sell your beloved airplane. But, none of them come cheap.
So, what if I could offer up a virtually guaranteed way to up the selling price and, in many cases, won’t cost much more than a bit of elbow grease. Interested? Sure, you are. Well, that one little secret is to wash your airplane. Yep, that’s it. This simple act can go a long, long way to saving you money now and making you more money later on. The question is, why don’t more owners do it?
“Aircraft owners spend time and money cleaning their cars and boats, but you’d be amazed at the number of them that don’t wash the exterior of their aircraft on any regular basis,” said Brian Elmer, regional sales manager at Stevens Aerospace and Defense Systems. “We see airplanes come in all the time with five- or six-year-old paint and it already looks terrible. You can tell from 20 feet away that the owner put no effort into taking care of that airplane.”
(Leaving everyone who sees that airplane wondering, “If the exterior looks like that, what other maintenance items are the owner skipping on?” I’m just saying.)
“On the other side are customers we have who clean and care for their paint religiously,” he added. “Even seven, eight and more years after the airplane leaves our paint shop, it still looks virtually brand new. There’s real value in that level of care.”
Just like with the previously mentioned car or boat, or anything that sits outside for that matter, Elmer said that the two biggest enemies of paint are moisture/pollutants in the air and the sun.
Along with those things, Jon
Kennedy, director of operations for Hillaero Modification Center, added, “Aircraft are subject to extremes in hot and cold temperature cycles within minutes. They also have the stresses from flying, turbulence, pressurization cycles, and the removal of various inspection panels,” he said. “These will all damage an aircraft’s paint. You have to say on top of it because it can degrade quickly.”
So, what does washing your airplane have to do with staying ahead of paint damage from ongoing airframe stresses and maintenance? More than you think.
The Benefits of a Good Scrub
The number one benefit to routinely hand-washing your airplane is the obvious removal of all the dirt, oil, pollutants, bug guts and other particulates that find their way onto the airframe. Accomplishing that in itself is worth the time and effort.
Another benefit is that hand cleaning gives you the opportunity to do an extremely detailed inspection of the aircraft and all of its various components. Because you’re going to be on top, underneath, and all around the airplane, you’re going to see things on that airframe that you’ll never spot during your typical pre- or post-flight inspection. You do a thorough post-flight, don’t you?
“We have customers who clean their aircraft after every flight,” stated Billy Brown, paint shop supervisor, Stevens Aerospace. “That doesn’t mean they wash it, but they take the time to wipe it down to get all the bugs, dirt, exhaust soot and foreign materials off of the surface of the paint.”
“When you do wipe it off, don’t just use a dry cloth – the surface needs to be dampened with either an approved hard-surface cleaner or a 50/50 mix of denatured alcohol and water,” explained Stevens Aerospace paint manager, Mike Royals. “And you really don’t need to wipe down the entire airplane every time. Just doing all the exposed leading surfaces is a great start.”
“It’s a good way to inspect the airplane and is part of ongoing preventative maintenance,” Brown added. “You get to see any new paint damage or wear that you won’t usually see during the preflight.”
“Flight controls are very susceptible to sudden damage and wear along the edges. The more you look, the more you will find,” Elmer said. “But you have to start. And again, it’s the first line of defense against the onset of corrosion on exposed surfaces. That can be a real issue in many environments.”
“Coastal areas with a lot of heat, moisture and salt are highly corrosive environments to exposed metal. For example, we can tell when an aircraft has spent time in Florida,” he continued. “Corrosion happens very fast, and owners in those environments need to be especially vigilant. A good way to do that is to wash or clean the aircraft more frequently. Corrosion damage is preventable if you spot it soon enough.”
Okay, so you’re sold on the value of cleaning/washing your airplane. Excellent. But, before you grab your mop, bucket and soap, take a minute to consider just what kind of soap and detergent you are using. There’s a chance that you may be doing more harm than good.
Bubble, Bubble, Toil, and Trouble
First off, much like cleaning a motorcycle or classic car, you should never use any kind of power or pressure washer on your airplane. That will just force water and some contaminants deeper inside areas where you really don’t want them to be.
In fact, there is a growing number of professional aircraft cleaners who strongly recommend dry-washing your airplane. You just spray the cleaner on the paint and wipe it off with a high-quality microfiber towel. Besides eliminating added water into your aircraft’s copious nooks and crannies, it’s also more environmentally friendly. For any number of reasons, many airports today are eliminating the wash racks we all grew up with.
But let’s say you can still wet wash your airplane. The question is, what’s the right way to do it?
“The practices we recommend are hand washing routinely with a mild soap and water in the shade or hangar,” said Carol Swigart, president of Hillaero Modification Center. “There are a lot of options for aircraft detergents that are safe for a properly maintained paint job.”
“Remember, though, most detergents like these are concentrated and have to be properly mixed with water. Twice as much isn’t always better,” she added. “What you want to be careful with is using any types of off-the-shelf cleaners. Many are much too abrasive and can actually be corrosive to aircraft metals.”
“You need to do your homework and make sure what you are using is safe for your airplane,” Kennedy said. “The AMM (aircraft maintenance manual) is the best place to start. They’re updated periodically and have the current list of approved cleaning products for your aircraft’s interior and exterior.”
“If you can’t safely use any cleaner on your skin, then don’t ever use it on your airplane,” Royals said. “Nothing caustic or acidic like the green, purple, or orange cleaners – unless they are citrus oil-based. They’re not meant to clean aluminum.”
“It will get down in there and cause all kinds of problems that you can’t even see,” he said. “Then one day you’re replacing parts and sheet metal, and that’s extremely expensive. If any cleaner is not on the approved AMM list, then the risk is too high. Just don’t use it.”
No matter what you use, just make sure you rinse all of the detergent residues off and out of any areas where they can accumulate. Even if they don’t promote corrosion, their build-up will capture dirt and other materials that won’t do the underlying metals any good.
Okay, now that you know what not to do regarding soaps or detergents, what about choosing the cleaning tools themselves? Again, it’s mostly a matter of common sense.
As Brown explained, along with the pressure washer, you also never want to use stiff-bristled brushes or abrasive pads on the airframe. They’ll cause thousands of tiny micro-scratches in the paint surface, which in the short term will look pretty bad, and in the long-turn, promote moisture incursion into and under the paint.
That’s an especially important point if your paint is older and is already under sun-induced distress. And another warning (no matter how old the paint) is to be extremely careful when washing around antennas, static ports, hinges, doors, corrugated metal surfaces, brightwork and most of all, the windows (more on how to clean those later on).
In fact, it’s just a good idea to cover or tape off things like engine cowl inlets, cowl flaps, static ports, pitot tubes, etc., any time you are doing anything but a cursory wipe-down. AND please don’t forget to remove them all when you are finished!
Keeping that “See Yourself Shine”
Now that your pride and joy is looking its best, you’re going to want to keep it that way for as long as possible. The best way to do that is to apply some kind of top coating, which had always been some type of wax – until now.
Waxing an airplane is hard work, and unfortunately, even the best of them only last a couple of months at best. That’s a lot of effort for little return in my book. Today, modern chemistry is offering up some new products that look great and last a lot longer than wax.
“New paint sealers will actually get down into the pores of the paint surface and bond with the paint, and that creates a sort of thin-film clearcoat that will form a much harder surface that will protect the paint longer,” Brown said. “It’ll last five or six times that of regular wax.”
He explained that today you have two choices regarding these new sealants: the professionally applied ceramic coatings and the DYI types like Xzilon exterior paint protectant.
“The pure ceramic sealers cure to produce a ‘diamond’ hard finish. They’re very good but rather expensive to put on an airplane,” Brown added. “For a lot of owners, it’s a lot more than they want to spend – even though it will do a great job of protecting the paint and adding years to the paint’s life.”
“An off-the-shelf sealer like Xzilon
is relatively inexpensive for an airplane. It has ceramic-like protection properties but is easy enough to apply so an owner (or their kids) can do it,” he said. “It’s also one of those products that you can reapply to leading edges and other surfaces to provide optimum coverage.”
Let’s Make This Perfectly Clear
I’ve saved the care and cleaning of your aircraft’s clear parts for last. Any mistakes or damage here will be there for you to see for a long time. So be careful.
First off, our experts couldn’t overemphasize the importance of using only aviation-approved cleaning products. Don’t just grab a bottle of whatever window cleaner and start spraying the Plexi. Many glass cleaners use ammonia, which can be harmful to the acrylics in the windows and windscreen. And if you have a heated windshield, best to just follow the manufacturer’s directions. Any deviation can be detrimental to its performance and longevity.
Also, never use paper towels or shop rags on clear parts; they can easily scratch the clear Lexan and Plexiglas. Better to use high-quality, ultra-soft microfiber towels and aviation-grade clear parts cleaners. If you want to make it really easy, DuPont’s “Sontara” aircraft wipes are excellent for use on all types of aircraft surfaces. Most aviation parts suppliers carry them.
Lastly, when it comes to removing insect remains off of the windscreen, don’t use any strong cleaners. The correct way is to use water and a mild cleaner to slowly hydrate the remains until they become unstuck. Then clean the area with a clean microfiber cloth.
