Painting aircraft
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Painting aircraft

How to paint a plane?

 

This question is far from idle. Where and how are planes and helicopters painted? As often happens with other technologies, in Russia everything happens a little differently than in the whole world. There, large airlines usually have their own divisions or departments for painting aircraft. In the event that the facilities are not busy painting their own cars, such a division takes third-party orders.

In Russia, the aircraft often move from one company to another. There is a purchase or lease, in general, often have to change the livery. And it is time-consuming and very costly.

Painting aircraft 2

It just so happened historically that paint hangars for large aircraft have only aircraft repair factories, and factories for the manufacture of aircraft (helicopters). Small private jets and helicopters can be painted in car paint booths. Of course, lately, specialized firms have begun to appear for painting large-sized aircraft.

For example, the firm "AT-Design" has its own set of paint in the Moscow airport "bulls." Size of the area of ​​the company allow it to paint aircraft type IL-76, Boeing 737 and 757. There is a huge hangar at the Ulyanovsk firm "Spektr-Avia", ready to take a giant Antonov-124. Accordingly, they can paint the sun any size.

Legacy Aeroflot

Earlier, in the 90-x years after the division of Soviet Aeroflot heritage, all planes were painted very monotonously, and sometimes only the name of the owner company distinguished them from each other, now the airlines are trying to allocate their equipment. Brightly colored, light-colored aircraft of S7 are well known in airports around the world. And basically, our airlines (probably out of economy) do not spoil us with a wealth of colors (livery) of their boards. The company "Russia" has a very poor and simple coloring. When you see a low-flying aircraft of this company, it seems that the aircraft has a very stupid smile, but of course this is a subjective opinion of the author. Sometimes you often take pictures of planes at airports or on a glide path (the so-called spotting), and of course, "foreigners" are visible, and are determined from afar.

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But back to the painting itself. Painting board just released from the factory hangar, of course, easier and less time consuming. The most common side disguise. Or, after a long operation or when changing the livery. Livery of the aircraft by changing my airline, or in the case of the re-branding of the company.

Aviation equipment, to begin with, in the wiping roll shop. In it a plane or a helicopter is prepared to remove the old paint. Jammed all openings into which water may enter or remover. Then the plane is fully covered by a dedicated liquid - "stripper". It is very aggressive to the ink composition, in just a few hours of eating away the old paint. It swells and leaves patches and seams. Of course, the more layers of paint and lacquer was applied, the process takes longer.

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Wash off the old coating with hot water jets under pressure. Difficult places clear special rubber spatulas. When working with a remover, it is very important to protect all the places and parts that an aggressive remover can damage. She eats up not only paint, but much more. During the time of work at the aircraft repair plant, the author of these lines has repeatedly seen, and participated in the process of painting aircraft. 

And here, the plane (or helicopter) appears in its original, factory state. From pomyvochnaya hangar technique to roll the paint box. This is a special hangar, which must comply with the special conditions. Specific temperature and humidity, air purification system, special compressors for air extraction and ventilation. The better equipment and more accurately comply with the special conditions, the better and more durable paint layer.

Further appliances soil (usually not a single layer) special soil. After that were ground thoroughly. Smoothed out small bumps, hollows filled. On the glossy surface is already painted bead, all irregularities are clearly visible. Plane ready to paint.

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Apply basic, basic color, it is often white. The paint is applied in several stages, and depending on the technology in several layers.

The painting plane?

The paint that is used in aviation special polyurethane. It has two main components: the very paint and hardener plus special additives, thinners thinners. The world leader in the production of aircraft special colors are two firms, the Dutch Akzo Nobel and British PPG Aerospace. Well-known, and the French company manufacturer DuPont. Of course, all the components of the chemical components of the painting should be strictly one firm.

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After drying base layer begins, perhaps, the most time-consuming operation of masking techniques, ie coating the surface of various masks and stencils. They have to close those portions which do not need to be painted on. Depending on the coloring scheme, such an operation is performed repeatedly. All operations subsequent to the paint produced with intermediate drying of each layer. Depending on the complexity of the livery, the abundance of signs and labels, the size of the sun, the painting process can take anywhere from 3-4 days to a week or more.

If necessary, after completion of all phases of the painting, on the sun, a layer of protective glossy varnish. It enhances the quality of weatherproof coating, paint gloss levels, and gives the art parade "trademark" look.

The thickness of the finished paintwork (paint), using good modern polyurethane components does not exceed 0,2 mm. And weighs a coating, for example, in the B 737, 115 about kg.

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I hope that in the near future we will see in our sky is not only standard color board - white top, black bottom, and a bright, interesting livery good companies.

Aircraft Painting Video

 

Liveried aircraft

Especially for avia.pro Valery Smirnov

And you would not ogli tell about the canons of painting (if any), the preferences of different companies or countries. Very interesting))

Du Pont American kompaniya.Mirovoy leader pr. Paints varnishes.
Aeroflot offers a position for a similar painting works ..
30tr interesting ... you find him?
A post interesnyy.Sps ..

Only in Russia could they put a salary in the top thirty, it's a shame for the fatherland.

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