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Cleaning Aluminum

drone_pilot

Well Known Member
My 7A is completed. Now comes the windy season and fine dust that settles on everything. I do not plan to paint my airplane until the initial hours are flown off. Until then, what is the best method/product to use to keep the aluminum surfaces clean and free of dust but won't cause problems for the painter?
 
Just plane water. As long as you don't let the bugs spend the night on your airplane, water works fine and has no detrimental effects.

We keep a spray bottle and a couple of towels in the airplane.
 
A painter told me "just don't use Plexus".

Hey, did I miss your first flight announcement?
 
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I use water as well. I always clean the leading edges and the nose after flying in warm weather. A wet microfiber towel to clean and one to dry. In the spring when the pollen from the neighboring pine trees (and others) blow into my hangar and stick to everything, I use a large bath towel and water to wipe the entire plane down. Seems to work very well.
 
Mainly stay from anything that contains silicone. Silicone is VERY difficult to remove for paint prep!
 
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Cleaning aluminum

I used to work in an aluminum fab shop. If you get stains that water won't remove, we used lacquer thinner on a clean rag for tough stains.
 
SILICONE

Mainly stay from anything that contains silicon. Silicon is VERY difficult to remove for paint prep!

Mel, it's SILICONE, not SILCON. Silicone is the slicky stuff and is a compound made from the element SILICON. I know that you know this, but sometimes the "E" just doesn't get typed.

Silicone is such a pesky lubricant that it was forbidden not only from the Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor plant in Utah where we used lots of different special adhesives but also from ALL of our suppliers' facilities where it was difficult to keep out.

Ask the former Safety and Quality Assurance Manager for the Space Shuttle Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM) Project how I know that we had a difficult time forbidding silicone in the suppliers' plants. :eek:

All it takes is one "Uh Oh!" and a Shuttle launch could be delayed while we chased down the history trail.

For the same reason, you don't want to contaminate your bare aluminum with SILICONE prior to painting because those little SILICONE molecules are slick and are difficult to remove.
 
A painter told me "just don't use Plexus".

Hey, did I miss your first flight announcement?

You haven't missed anything. It has been a chore to find a transition trainer that can meet my insurance requirements! Finally, I found a trainer and have been rescheduled due to weather twice now. I'm hoping to post an announcement this coming weekend!! :rolleyes:
 
pump-sprayer idea

I put plane water in a 2 gallon garden pump up garden sprayer. A few pumps later, I can spray an even spray of water along the leading edges and cowl after a flight - let it soak - and wipe it down with an ugly grey dollar-store bath towel that would never be confused for one to be used in the house. :D I usually add a few drops of soap to the water to help it along too.
 
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