Products To Clean Aircraft

September, 2007 • Volume 24, Number 09
Products to Clean Aircraft
on page 39
Mike Busch discusses
The Dark Side of Maintenance
on page 26
www.cessna.org
Products To Clean Aircraft
By John Frank
I
have been an aircraft owner all of
my adult life. Add that as a teenager
I used to wash aircraft in exchange
for flight lessons and one could say I
have more than a bit of experience in
cleaning aircraft. Over all these years
I have tried just about every cleaning
product there is. Trial and error has
shown me what works and what doesn’t.
I am sharing my list of tried and true
products.
First a little on my philosophy of aircraft care. A general aviation aircraft is
nothing unique as far as keeping clean
and shiny. Products that work well on a
car, boat or kitchen appliances will work
just as well on an aircraft. I will buy
the expensive care product if that is what
does the job best. However I have found
that most of the expensive products are
more hype than performance and there is
usually a common, inexpensive product
that will perform as well as, if not better
than the expensive product. I remain a
dog who can be taught a new trick in that
I will try new products as they are available and if I find something that does a
job better than what I am currently using
I will change to the new product.
Here is what I have found works
best.
Basic Aircraft Cleaning
Back in the days when my aircraft
used to sit outside on tiedown, every
so often it would need a good soap and
water bath. I found that JOY LIQUID
DISHWASHING DETERGENT did
an excellent job. Heck if it will clean
the barbecue grease from your spouse’s
fine china it ought to be able to get your
plane clean. I have heard from others
that they like to use WOOLITE because
it is so gentle though when I tried it I
found I preferred the JOY.
Washing the cars around the house
my family has found that the Mr. Clean
Auto Dry Pro Series is a step up from
rinsing off with just the water from the
hose so if I were washing my aircraft today that is what I would probably use.
My airplane now resides in a hangar
so it rarely needs a bath, rather
an occasional dusting is called
for. For this I use micro-fiber
towels and LEMON PLEDGE.
Windows
The best product to use to
clean Plexiglas windows is
about as hotly a debated subject
among pilots as is lean of peak
operations. I have tried just
about every product there is and
have not found anything that
does any better than what I have
been using for over 45 years,
the afore-mentioned LEMON
PLEDGE. Is there a reason to
use Lemon Pledge as opposed to
the original non-scented Pledge?
Actually there are a couple of
reasons. Using the Lemon Pledge on
the interior side of the windows adds a
pleasant scent to the aircraft. More important is that such products that have a
citrus element to them cut through insect remains better than similar products
without any citrus in them.
One thing that I have changed over
the years in regards to window cleaning
is the cloth I use to wipe the windows
clean. I started with paper towels but
quickly abandoned them. I don’t care
what Rosie says, none of them are soft
enough to not cause some abrasive
damage long term. Cloth diapers are
excellent but my source of those went
away when the kids were no longer infants. For many years I used Terrycloth
Towels and still do in a pinch. They are
soft, clean, cheap and readily available
in quantity from places like Costco and
Sam’s Club.
A couple of years ago I purchased a
Corvette and got introduced to the world
of totally anal Corvette owners. Those
guys and gals swear that the only thing
that can touch their cars are Microfiber
towels. Until I started talking to the car
owners I had never heard of these towels. I purchased some and found them
very soft with an extremely high fiber
count. I thought if they were that great
www.cessna.org
GoJo and Hoppe’s #9
for Corvettes, wouldn’t they work well
on aircraft, especially on the windows?
Well, they do. And that is what I now
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Rear Belts Available
AIRCRAFT JACKS
172RG/177RG/182RG/210/337
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* Locking Safety Collar
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39
Hail Damage is nasty!
Do you need a
STRIKE FINDER?
Before: Cleaning belly oil with GOJO.
STRIKE FINDER Price: $4,500.00
Hail Damage Repair Bill: Oh My!
After: Clean shiny belly.
TSO and STC’d
Detects and analyzes the electrical activity
emanating from thunderstorms within a 25,
50, 100, or 200 nautical mile (nm) radius of
the aircraft.
Call Now
For A Dealer Near You
Tel: 905-871-0733
Fax: 905-871-5460
Web: www.insightavionics.com
Instrument Corporation
use to clean aircraft windows, Microfiber towels and Pledge. Fortunately
Costco carries both.
Belly Crud
The bottom of our aircraft get particularly dirty with stuff that is not easy
to clean. Oil and exhaust are the prime
culprits and each requires something
special.
To clean off the belly oil, or BO as it
is called around the airport, I have found
that a particular hand cleaner works best.
GOJO Without Pumice does a great job.
The Without Pumice is very important
as if you get the product with pumice
it will scratch the paint. The one you
want is the original GOJO in the white
container. This is available at any auto
supply store such as Pep Boys.
Cessna Pilots Association - September 2007
40
#0?&LYER3&INDD
There is no way to make this a pleasant, easy job. Put on your grubbiest
clothes. Now put on some nitrile gloves.
The hand cleaner is fine but the stuff
coming off the aircraft is not something
you want to be working into your skin.
For the same reason I recommend wearing safety goggles as well. With GOJO
and plenty of towels at hand get underneath your aircraft, a creeper can be
useful, and start slathering on the GOJO
to about a 2 square foot area at a time.
Work it around a bit with your hands and
then wipe it off with a towel. Voila, a
clean belly! And a pretty messy you,
but you’ll clean up fine after a shower
and clean clothes. Are you a real detailed person like CPA’s Kim Huntington? Having a little oil residue around
rivet heads that you can’t get at with you
!-
Aviation Oxygen Systems
•Masks and Cannulas
•Portable Systems
•Built-In Systems
•Retrofit Kits
•Emergency Systems
•Filling Stations
•Replacement Cylinders
•Parts and Accessories
Everything
Oxygen
Exhaust stained cowl flap before.
Celebrating
25 YEARS
as the
WORLD LEADER
In High-Duration Oxygen Systems
(800) 237-6902 • www.aerox.com
Same cowl flap after using Hoppe’s #9.
hands will drive you so crazy you can’t
sleep at night? Use a tooth brush and
GOJO to clean around the rivet heads.
The soft bristles will get the crud but not
harm the paint.
It takes me forty minutes to clean the
belly of my 210 but I don’t usually clean
around every rivet head with a toothbrush. Probably takes Kim all day to do
her 210.
You have cleaned the belly with
GOJO but there is still some white residue that won’t come off no matter how
hard you rub? This is exhaust residue and
contains the by-products of combustion
including lead, if you are operating on
av-gas. There actually is a magic potion
to deal with that. It is called HOPPE’S
#9 POWDER SOLVENT and it’s origi-
ORGANIZER
Stop
CONSOLES
By,
& accessories
Call
or
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Custom Colors
nal intended purpose is to remove bullet
and powder residue from gun barrels. It
is available at K-Mart, Walmart and gun
shops. Just pour a little on a cloth and
with some mild rubbing all the exhaust
residue will be gone.
Make It Shine
Now that your bird is nice and clean,
you want to shine. In the old days it
would be time to get out the cheesecloth
and Carnuba paste wax and rub, rub, rub.
Today there are better products that give
a high shine with a lot less effort. One
of the best that I have found is REJEX,
brought to you by the same folks that
make Corrosion X. REJEX is not a wax,
it is a polymer coating. It won’t restore
old faded paint but it will make a finish
www.cessna.org
Accessories include:
Fire Extinguisher &
Oxygen Tank Mounts,
Armrests, Cupholders,
Device Mounting Plates
and many more!
YOKE RECONDITIONING
RUDDER PEDAL
EXTENSIONS
STC/PMA
Call
330-669-9099
Flight Boss Ltd.
INSTRUMENT PANEL FABRICATION Information@saircorp.com
www.saircorp.com
Wayne Co Airport (BJJ)
6020 N Honeytown Rd
Smithville OH 44677
41
LONG RANGE
AUX FUEL
TANKS AND
A GROSS
WEIGHT
INCREASE
Extended tip tanks for the
following Cessnas: 185,
206, 207, 210 and
337 models from $7,939
Internal tip tanks for:
150, 152, 170, 172, 175,
180, 182, 185
and early 210
models from $4,295
gross weight increase available for
many 185, 206
and 337 models
We now have internal kits
available for the 172 R-S and
182S-T and T182T
please contact us for details:
1942 Joe Crosson Drive
Gillespie Field
El Cajon, CA USA 92020
(619) 448-1551 / fax: (619) 448-1571
www.flintaero.com / sales@flintaero.com
42
that is in good condition really shine. It
gives a really slick finish to which bugs
and exhaust do not adhere as readily. It
is applied with a soft cloth, allowed to
dry and then buffed out by hand. One
coat is good enough, two coats is better
and three coats becomes almost blinding. Nothing lasts forever so to maintain
the high level of shine you will have to
reapply the product periodically. How
frequently depends on environment and
how much rain you fly through, I redo
my aircraft about once a year. REJEX is
available from Aircraft Spruce and some
boating supply stores.
Got a polished spinner you want to
keep gleaming? For years the product
of choice was MET-AL. That is still
a good choice. A little of the past on
a cloth, some rubbing and the original
shine returns. Another popular product
is FLITZ which will give similar results.
Sports cars have a lot more shiny things
on them than airplanes and that group
of owners have steered me to another
product that I am very happy with. It
is MOTHERS MAG & ALUMINUM
POLISH. Available at any auto supply
house.
CENTURY
GOTHIC WITH
• JOY DISH WASHING DETERGENT
Source: Supermarket
•
GOJO HAND CLEANER WITHOUT PUMICE
Source: Auto Supply Store
•
HOPPES #9 POWDER RESIDUE
CLEANER
Source: K-Mart, WalMart, Gun
Shop
•
MOTHERS MAG AND ALUMINUM POLISH
Source: Auto Supply Store
•
REJEX
Source: Aircraft Spruce
•
CORROSION X
Source: Aircraft Spruce
•
RUBBING COMPOUND
Source: Auto Supply Store
•
POLISHING COMPOUND
Source: Auto Supply Store
•
TOOTH PASTE
Source: Supermarket
•
NITIRILE GLOVES
Source: Costco
•
TERRY TOWELS – Source:
Costco
•
MICROFIBER TOWELS
Source: Costco
A 2 PT OUTLINE
GEORGIA
Other Useful Cleaning
Supplies
When there is a stain that won’t wash
off or similar blemish, it will have to be
polished out. This will require some
sort of abrasive compound. Of course
you should start with a mild abrasive.
Dennis Wolter of Air Mod taught me
about one of the mildest abrasives to
use – Toothpaste! Since then I have on
a number of occasions used common
household toothpaste to polish out a
blemish. If something stronger is called
for, go to your auto supply store and buy
some polishing compound ( usually in
a green can) and the larger grit rubbing
compound (usually in a red can) and use
these to polish away the defect. Try the
milder polishing compound first. After
the blemish is gone use REJEX to add
some shine and away you go.
And there you have the basic primer
of what 45 years of cleaning aircraft has
taught me.
ENVIRO REGULAR
GAROMOND
ITALIC
GEORGIA
Ed. Note:
To see what other members are using for
bug cleaning, go to From the Forums...
on page 52
COMIC SANS MS
ARIAL
• LEMON PLEDGE
Source:Supermarket
Cessna Pilots Association - September 2007
Renovation Overview
ing levels up with the workload. If a key frequently among ourselves regarding
employee gets sick, quits or retires, a renovation issues. But be careful to
delay in project delivery is inevitable.
avoid those who say they do the required
www.cessna.org
lays and unforeseen issues. ImproveThere is also a new challenge facing work but really don’t, do only part of it,
ments and upgrades can often be quite aircraft renovators. I refer to aging air- or think it is unnecessary to tackle the
time-consuming due to the fact that the plane issues. Since the average age of problems at all. These old airplanes are
companies doing this work are usually the airplanes being renovated today is more than overdue for having the insulasmall firms operating with limited re- 30 to 40 years old, they are often in need tion removed and a licensed person perit is cost
worth,
film thatinspection,
aids in cleaning
the next
I have
very goodcondition
results us-inspection,
sources. Given theFor
highwhat
overhead
of kind
of a of
thorough
clean-up
and form
a thorough
I purchased
a bottle
of batch
Nanowax
Eagle proofing
One.
working in a general
aviation
environrepairof
in bugs.
the cabin area before a new in- ing
clean-up,
andfrom
corrosion
of evthe Turtle
Wax
in a terior
Theormain
is the even
convenience
is a spray
waxtraditional
ment, and limited
sources
of Ice
needed
paintthing
job should
be con- Iterything
that on
isn’twipe
seenoff
during
bottle.almost
This isallthe
the container
very
light. out seats, with
no buffing.
components andspray
materials,
of and
sidered.
The daysisof
pulling
inspections.
I havethis
seen
at side------------------------------------the companies best
who thing
are doing
kind
panels, carpets and headliners, and
Let’s say you
find corrosion that reremoving
the simply
Jim Nance
Burnett
of work struggle
to keep bugs
workfrom
flowing
recovering and reinstalling them quires repair Bryan
and/or
replacement of
it are over. There are good shops out there structural components. That type of reas smoothly as leading
they can.edges.
One ofSpray
the bigwait about
30 staffsec- thatIfdoyou
wantmany
to of us communicate pair work requires
After a highly
an application
gest challengeson,
is keeping
skilled
it right;
skilled peronds, and they just wipe impress your hanof Top
all
son, and most
shopsGun
haveSupreme,
limited qualioff. It was amazing.
gar neighbors, go
you need and
is a usually
wet ragthose
or
fied staff members,
Just thought I would pass this info at the leading edges
y through
a rain
shower.
employees flare
already busy
with
schedalong.
with a slice of pineKeeps
polished
uled projects.
Eventhe
if it’s
only aspinner
two day
-------------------apple. The enzymes in pine- apple cut project, it polished
bit longer,
may be aseveral
daystoo.
before
Barney
bugs as well as anything man-made.
that qualified -------------------person is available to do
Rub it on, wait a while, then wipe the the job. The unexpected
Manny Puerto
two-day repair
I’ve been using Armorbugs off with a rag.
can delay delivery by six or eight workAll Protective Wipes on
The chemical products might be ingAdays.
CFI/owner
my here?
field suggested
Get myatdrift
Expect the
my leading edges. They
cheaper, but the fruit solution has per- dryer
sheets. We
Dampen
with quote
a littlefive
wa-to
unexpected.
generally
are in a handy dispenser
sonality.
ter
withtoa touch
sixand
weeks
do a straightforward intefor trips and they work
-------------------of
elbow
the airplane such as a
rior
in a grease
four-place
very well. An extra benefit
David Bunin
bugs
off. corrosion, exces182. come
If weright
encounter
is that they deposit some
Smells
nice plastic
too! Ior other problems, an
sive broken
do
try to beweek
gentle,
additional
or two on the project is
especially
around
not uncommon.
This course will pay for itself
paint
chips
andissuch.
Our
shop
partnered with an outin reduced maintenance costs
It doespaint
seemshop,
to leave
little protecstanding
Diala Eastern
States
— every year.
tive
coating
that keeps
the usually
bugs from
Aircraft
Painting,
and they
take
sticking
for the
next acouple
of
three to so
fourbad
weeks
to paint
182. Dick
flGuenther,
ights. So far
soruns
good.
who
that
shop,
has
often
FAA
-------------------stated
how much more difficult it has beWINGS Credit
Brock
Bossto meet this schedule, due
IA Annual Renewal
come
lately
largely to the age of the fleet. This “agto use
on how
the
ing airplaneI used
issue”
has Pledge
affected
leadingtoday;
edges,things
but
both of our shops operate
switched
to how
RejeX
are dramatically different
from
we
(from
CorroPiston Engine Management
operated twenty years
ago. the
(Dick
is gosionX folks)
a fewin
ing to help write the painting
segment
for the Serious Pilot
yearsgetago.
When
this series, so you will
a blow-bytwice a
blow account of that applied
process later.)
it only
takes
When choosing year,
a shop
to do
this
a discuss
damp cloth
to
work, it’s important to
how they
wipe thedelaying
little crit-iswill deal with these possible
ters off.
sues. Our policy is based
on fairness. If a
-----------------customer brings us a clean
airplane and
Jimitems,
Lyonwe will
doesn’t add a lot of detail
move that job through in the predicted
time. If a customer decides at job startup to add all new windows and a metal
Walter Atkinson • George Braly • John Deakin
instrument panel, and on top of that we
find evidence of corrosion, their job will
(225) 925-2096 <www.advancedpilot.com>
have to wait for our qualified techni-
FORUMS . .
(Continued from pg. 8603)
From The
Bug Cleaning
Don’t be left behind!
Now available ONLINE
as an internet course.
Advanced Pilot Seminars
52
8606
Cessna Pilots
Association
Cessna Pilots Association
- Volume
23, No. 9- -September
September2007
2006