Peter, I hope flying and birdwatching are separate activities
As a new poster, you can use "site:vansairforce.com term1 term2" in google as a site search term. It will list all the threads with the search terms listed.
There are some good discussions on alodine elsewhere on VAF. You might do a little experimentation to settle on your process, some here are not wrong, but leave out steps that affect results for brevity. Acetone and alcohols (pick one) will pre-clean, various formulations of alumiprep will remove oxides, I dip for 2-3 min, rinse in distilled water, then dip in alodine 3+ min, then rinse with distilled again. Lightly blow dry catching the yellow drips with a towel and dispose. Hang small parts with stainless safety wire. Many successful variations of this. With relatively clean aluminum to start with, no mechanical (sanding etc) roughing is needed (based on limited testing).
I made dipping tanks of 3" X 24" PVC and added rubber caps for the tops to seal them. I tried two dipping tubes for rinse, but usually resort to a spray bottle of distilled water, catching the run off as scum was forming in rinse water. Large parts are done in rubbermaid storage containers with several gallons. Sometimes a double dip is needed to get both ends of a part. I have no experience with larger parts or with already riveted joints.
Alodine dip times will change as it becomes depleted. I usually discard when 5-7 min fails to yield a good color. Color also varies with alloy from part to part.
Shop limitations vary, but for me, alodine is better than small batches of primer and it is documented to be a significant corrosion inhibiter.
Have some fun with experimentation to yield a good series of parts, and "your" process.