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Wondering what products people find most helpful to detail and protect your plane? I find a lot of misinformation out there about what is safe to use, what works, what is cheap and what is not. Wondering if you have a favorite product, how you use it and why? It would also be helpful to know where everyone finds their products (Amazon, Aircraft Spruce, Sporty's, etc). Full disclosure: A partner and I have started an aircraft detail supply company, and this is for our research. Thank you!
Bought some Protect All at OSH in 1988 and have been happy with it ever since. Some Walmarts have it in the RV section. http://www.protectall.com
I use just a regular mild car wash for most of the cleaning. I suspect palmolive would probably work about the same. I use Carbon-X and mineral spirits (not mixed together) for oil/grease and the grime on the belly. Back when my paint was in poorer shape, I used regular automotive compound and a low speed buffer to restore it. For the final finish, I've switched to Collinte 845. This is the standard of the classic car (and some boat) crowd. It's pretty much a straight wax in a liquid carrier. Very easy to apply and looks and works great.
I use Nuvite on the polished metal (and occasionaly simichrome).
Depends on if you fly a metal airplane or a wood and fabric. On my wood and fabric airplane, I use a mild dish soap diluted down and put in a spray bottle. I then spray down the airplane working in small area's wiping everything down. On the plexiglass windscreen and canopy I do the same but after spraying said plexiglass down I use my hand and very lightly spreading the water soap mix around loosing up all bugs and crap on it. This keeps scratching to a minimum. If the windscreen is really dirty I will lay a clean rag on it then soak the rag with the spray bottle. Let it set for about 10 mins then wipe it off. I even do the prop this way.
After everything is clean I then apply a good car wax to everything. I try and do this at least twice a year. My thinking if a rag will not stay on the wing it will go through the air easier then if a rag sticks to a wing when laid on said wing.
How I clean my airplane.
Tony
P.S. I use a plexiglass cleaner from Aircraft spruce or wicks on windscreen and canopy twice a year.
OK, Tony, how is that different from the way I treat my metal airplane?
Don't believe I said it was. ;)
Just how I do it.
But what I do see as " different" I use no power tools. Elbow grease. But I have seen people with metal birds like a 172 hose them down and start a scrubbing away. I would not recommend that on a wooden airplane.
Tony
Why not?Quote:
Originally Posted by 1600vw
Wood rot and a few other reasons. Would it happen over night, no, but keep an airplane 20 years and wash it with a hose every other day, see what happens. Now you will say, the wood is treated or covered to prevent such things from happening. Maybe so, but it only takes a couple places to have fabric rub this off just enough to have a problem. I have also heard the argument that the early airplanes where all wood. Yep and wood rot was an issue.Quote:
Originally Posted by martymayes
I keep water away from my wooden airplane as much as I can. Others do as you please, I will watch and smile.
Tony
I have never washed any car I have ever owned. That's why automatic car washes were invented. But I do wash my plane, I find it gratifying and therapeutic(I'm sure it has something to do with just hangin' out at the airport).
Using common, simple methods works best for me and the plane. Mild dish soap and fresh water with a large soft sponge. And for any grime, oil and grease on the underbelly I use varsol and paper towel. For those hardened bugs on all leading edges and the cowl, it's soap & water with a little elbow grease combined with a slightly coarse side of a 2-sided mini sponge moving in 360's. I use a branded spray product for the windshield and windows but I can't remember the name.
Around here it was fairly hard to find a real car wash (i.e. one that is a long conveyor). Most of the ROBO jobs you find in the gas stations are horrendously notoriously bad at swirling your paint, etc...
Having driven trucks for years, I never actually bother to wash them much. My wife spends a lot of time washing her Audi A4 Quatro Cabriolet by hand though.
I'm still confused about the wood thing though. While you don't want to go spraying water indiscriminately at any aircraft, spraying the fabric of a fabric plane should cause any issues with the wood getting wet unless you have something seriously wrong with your fabric.
Getting wood wet is not what causes rot...wood REMAINING moist is what causes rot. Believe me, I know more than a little about this. I've got an old wooden boat.
Pledge....have used it on all my airplanes (metal and fabric) since the first one in 1973. After each flight mist the leading edge and windshield, immediately wipe. Bugs come off easily. When the tops of the wings get dusty, same deal. Simple Green Aircraft (or GoJo) for stains on the belly. Follow with a good wax job a couple times of year.
FWIW...YMMV!
Jim
Thanks for posting guys! I see a lot of people using dish soap and water, and while that works great, it also will strip any sealant you have on the paint. I agree with the "no water" comments as well. I used to have a Harley back in the day and if you washed it you would have to use a high speed blower to get the water out of the nooks and crannies. I switched to a waterless wash product back then, and now we have developed our own. You just have to be careful when you are using soap and hose because water has a funny way of finding places you wouldn't think, then sitting there and causing trouble. Great stuff - keep it coming!