aircraft exterior cleaning

[J777Fly]

Who cleans the exterior of planes for the airlines? Is it done in house by maintenance or contracted out to line support services? And how often are airplanes cleaned?

 

[ProudPilot]

Well for the most part... a good yellow or orange on the radar will give you a nice wash when you fly though it. Otherwise, yea, every airline does it differently. Some had dedicated staff to washing it, and others give you a brush, a bucket, and a hose... go at it.

 

[dc3flyer]

We have someone come out and do a good wash and wax on our jets about once a month. It is a aicraft cleaning company, not the line guys.

 

[ASpilot2be]

The mechanics will pull one of the 737s in the hangar and hose it down, then scrub it down. They then dry it.

 

[Diego Dangers.]

At EWR, CO uses Ultimate Aircraft to was their a/c. I've seen Virgin use them also, the rest just keep their a/c dirty.

 

[N519AT]

We (line service) wash most of our base tenant planes after they get back from trips. It is a pain and is BY FAR my least favorite thing to do.

 

[OldTownPilot]

....SUCKS!!!

especially when the line service manager will only let you hand wax a citation. no buffer for you!!! Just like the soup nazi, except he was the buffer nazi.

 

[n57flyguy]

I'll only do piston singles for my own side thing. I could not imagine waxing a Citation.

 

[dark_reaper]

I'll only do piston singles for my own side thing. I could not imagine waxing a Citation.

Pain in the #%^, but when they pay you some decent cash, sometimes it is worth it.

As for the airlines, I think most of theirs are contracted out, and some of them dont even wash their a/c look at swa. I have seen grafitti I have written in the exhaust grime from last year on their a/c.

 

[N519AT]

Thank goodness we don't have to wax planes at my FBO. I don't get paid NEARLY enough to do that.

 

[n57flyguy]

Pain in the #%^, but when they pay you some decent cash, sometimes it is worth it.

As for the airlines, I think most of theirs are contracted out, and some of them dont even wash their a/c look at swa. I have seen grafitti I have written in the exhaust grime from last year on their a/c.

Yeah, when I didn't have school on my days off I would wash and wax them. about 10 to 12 hours of straight work, but when you break down the pay its worth it.

 

[bundee80]

I'll only do piston singles for my own side thing. I could not imagine waxing a Citation.

Cake. Not trying to one-up, but I had to hand wax a PC-12. I couldn't use the scissor lift, because MX was using both, so I had to use a 12-foot ladder that weighed a ton. I got to use a buffer on the wings, but that's it. I think I'd rather do that though than :guns: leaf blow...

 

[n57flyguy]

Cake. Not trying to one-up, but I had to hand wax a PC-12. I couldn't use the scissor lift, because MX was using both, so I had to use a 12-foot ladder that weighed a ton. I got to use a buffer on the wings, but that's it. I think I'd rather do that though than :guns: leaf blow...

well I hand waxed a GV with no ladder and one microfiber AND had to walk to the FBO both ways 12 miles uphill

Nice though, how long did it take you?

 

[bundee80]

well I hand waxed a GV with no ladder and one microfiber AND had to walk to the FBO both ways 12 miles uphill

Nice though, how long did it take you?

It took about 5 hours. It's supposed to take 2 guys 8 hours. Pretty good workout though.

 

[n57flyguy]

It took about 5 hours. It's supposed to take 2 guys 8 hours. Pretty good workout though.

Nice, was it you private enterprise or paid through the FBO?

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

It took about 5 hours. It's supposed to take 2 guys 8 hours. Pretty good workout though.

I spent 3 hours on a V-35 Bonanza one day. Apparently, the pilot made sure the oil was topped off before every flight, because the underbelly looked like a refinery. Needless to say, the only thing that would cut the grease was 100LL. Nothing like being on a creeper, under a V-35, covered in water, grease and 100LL.

 

[bundee80]

Nice, was it you private enterprise or paid through the FBO?

Through the FBO. No extra on top of my hourly. I'll take it though. Anything that gets me out of the rain, out of leaf blowing, or - even better - leaf blowing in the rain is all gravy for me.

I spent 3 hours on a V-35 Bonanza one day. Apparently, the pilot made sure the oil was topped off before every flight, because the underbelly looked like a refinery. Needless to say, the only thing that would cut the grease was 100LL. Nothing like being on a creeper, under a V-35, covered in water, grease and 100LL.

I do not envy you. You deserve a beer for that! :beer:

Did you try brake cleaner on it? It doesn't smell much better than 100LL, but it's easier to spray on. You should have just painted over it.

 

[n57flyguy]

I spent 3 hours on a V-35 Bonanza one day. Apparently, the pilot made sure the oil was topped off before every flight, because the underbelly looked like a refinery. Needless to say, the only thing that would cut the grease was 100LL. Nothing like being on a creeper, under a V-35, covered in water, grease and 100LL.

Don't let the EPA catch you!

 

[dc3flyer]

Needless to say, the only thing that would cut the grease was 100LL.

We used to call it Wonder Blue when using it as aircraft cleaner on the DC-3. On that thing you can fill up a 1 gallon garden sprayer pretty quick with the under belly fuel drain!

 

[KSCessnaDriver]

Did you try brake cleaner on it? It doesn't smell much better than 100LL, but it's easier to spray on. You should have just painted over it.

Didn't think about it. Probably couldn't have gotten to it anyway, since I was on the weekend crew, and we couldn't get to most stuff in the place.

We tried lots of stuff. Dawn, simple green, some handsoap, and various other stuff. But, I got it clean, and the guy had a nice looking airplane to go to Oshkosh with.