Here’s our round-up of great aircraft-specific products to get you ready for the flying season.
You feel the change in the air. Summer is on its way, and your airplane cries out for attention. Yes, you need to address the dust of disuse, or the crud kicked up by taxiing over wintery ramps and runways. But you also need to establish clean airframe surfaces to make bug removal easier as the days get warmer, and you smash more of those little critters.
So what’s the best way to clean your bird? First off, the soap-and-water solution you use to wash your car in the driveway won’t always work out best. You need aircraft-safe products for the most part, and at the very least a good degreaser and a dedicated cleaner for any plexiglass surfaces, like your windscreen and landing/taxi light covers.
We polled a wide ranging group of aircraft owners, those responsible for every kind of aircraft from a fabric-covered Super Decathlon to a Dassault Falcon 900LX. And you had better believe that every one of them had an opinion about what works best, from the simple and inexpensive to the complex and premium-priced.
Washing the Dirt
For an overall wash, a couple of owners of aluminum-skinned airplanes swear by dilutions of Simple Green’s aircraft-specific cleaner. One uses a standard 25/75 ratio of the cleaner to water for general cleaning in a spray bottle, with use of the 100% strength for particularly dirty areas, such as the belly.
Others use Wash-Wax-All spray for cleaning, available at Sporty’s, and Pledge furniture polish on the leading edges—if they are aluminum, this works nicely as a bug mitigation plan, as the polish leaves the surface slick and easy to wipe bug carcasses from. Meguiar’s line of automotive and marine cleaners also got a vote in this area.
For a top-of-the-line solution that works on both painted metal and fabric, Nuvite’s Nupower II waterless drywash, via Aircraft Spruce & Specialty, makes the big task a bit easier by its ability to be sprayed on, left for a spell, and then wiped off with a dry cloth. It’s not cheap, but the gallon container covers a lot of surface area, and, depending on the size of your airplane, could last for a season or two.
Degreasing the Belly
Aircraft create exhaust—unless you have one of the still-rare all-electric Pipistrels—and whether you have a piston, turboprop, or jet, you will need some kind of degreaser to attend to the, ahem, belly of your beast.
Some owners keep it old school, and blend Dawn dishwashing detergent and a little 100LL (wear gloves if you do this), but others look to dedicated cleaners for this gritty job. One owner likes Arrow Magnolia Helicopter Polish and Protector for this area, while another turns to Gritless Gojo, found at your local AutoZone or other automotive store. For larger aircraft, look to Turbine Soot Master by RealClean Products.
To polish those leading edges and engine intakes, nothing beats Nuvite’s aluminum polish and a barrel buffer, according to a corporate pilot who must care for a fleet of jets. Using a three-step process, he recommends a first pass to rid the surface of any corrosion, then a second pass to take care of any oxidation. The final pass gives you the mirror-like finish pursued by purists. It’s an investment for a pint of the stuff, but it lasts two years on your average jet’s leading edges and “beauty rings” around the nacelles.
See Clearly
The finishing touch on any aircraft cleaning project? The windscreen. Do this last, so that you can remove any stray cleaning products or water droplets that made their way onto the plexiglass. Plexus reigns supreme here as the polish of choice, but other owners voted for Magnolia with Sontara Aircraft Window Wipes, and for Prist windscreen cleaner. Whatever you choose, have a stock of super-clean microfiber cloths that you don’t use for any other application. Any greasy residue that gets onto the glass will be tough to remove.
No matter which direction you go, set aside a warm afternoon this month to ensure your aircraft is as cleaned up and ready to fly as you are.
