By Phillip Pierce, Jet Stream Aviation Products, Inc.

Your Aircraft Brightwork: Common Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

Neglected brightwork is the result of many factors. First of all, maintaining it is very difficult; it's hard, physical work. Secondly, without the proper knowledge, experience, tools, products, procedures and methods, you are headed for sheer frustration; but like any other skill, once you understand the correct way to set up and polish brightwork, the easier it will become. One important thing to remember is, there are no shortcuts: you must follow procedures.

Tools and products

We recommend a variable speed polisher, either electric, barrel, or pneumatic. You'll also need wool cutting pads, a buffing pad spur cleaning tool (to keep the pads clean and fluffed), two-inch masking tape, household flour, clean rags and towels, and most importantly, the correct metal polishes, swirl removers and sealers. Contrary to popular belief, all metal polishes are not alike. Some are too abrasive; some are not abrasive enough; some come in liquid form, some as paste; some are available only in wadding form. There are different metal polishes for different needs in aviation -- I will discuss this further later on. Make no mistake though: without the proper tools, products and procedures, you will become frustrated and neglect your duty to keep the aluminum on your aircraft polished and maintained. The good news: once the polishing and maintaining process is understood, it will no longer be a huge task to undertake.

Common Mistakes

The biggest problems and mistakes when polishing brightwork that we see in our business come after an individual has first achieved the results of a good polish job. The most common mistake is simply neglecting the brightwork -- not taking care of it on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis after it has been polished correctly. The single biggest mistake comes from using the wrong chemicals, soaps, degreasers and cleaners to clean the brightwork. I have seen brand new planes of all sizes over the years that have been completely ruined from the use of harsh chemicals and cleaners used on the paint, plexiglass, brightwork, de-ice boots and so on. For example, on a perfectly-polished leading edge of a Gulfstream, we saw an inexperienced flight department clean the plane after a week of flying: the first thing they did, was use the harshest degreaser in the hangar -- the stuff they clean the hangar floor with -- to wash the plane! They told us, "This stuff works great on the flaps, belly, hydraulic fluid, oil and bugs, so we just use it to wash the whole plane." That’s not good; and it sure isn't good on the polished brightwork or the paint.

The wrong chemicals and cleaners can destroy brightwork with one squirt or wipe, and all that hard work to get it to look like a mirror will be gone. Have you ever seen an aircraft with streaking white lines over the leading edge, or white corrosion spots where water and chemicals dried on the surface? That's caused by harsh detergents and degreasers that etch into the metal, allowing corrosion to start. When you wet wash, always use a neutral PH wash soap on areas where brightwork has been polished; save the degreasers for specified dirty areas of the aircraft only. There is no one cleaner or "Soap" that can totally wash an entire aircraft safely and correctly. Airplanes have many different surfaces on them, and they require different cleaners for each surface. If you are dry washing your aircraft (especially your brightwork), good for you.

The next-most-common mistake we have seen is not having the brightwork polished on a regular basis. We recommend to pilots and flight departments that they get the brightwork polished at least twice a year. (Quarterly is still the best way to keep it up to the highest standards.) Many flight departments and individual aircraft operators seem to get the "cleaning" done when they go in for maintenance or an annual. To really take care of the appearance of the aircraft, it must be viewed as part of a weekly maintenance routine. Aircraft need to be attended to almost daily anyway, for a variety of good reasons. Cleaning, washing, dry washing and polishing need to be added to these weekly items as part of the maintenance routine. The best flight departments around the world we have worked with all use this weekly method of keeping up on the cleaning and polishing and they are always on top of it. Those flight departments rarely have problems when it comes to neglected cleaning.

Another mistake, commonly noted among inexperienced employees or detail companies, is the tendency to drag hoses across a leading edge when wet washing. (Make sure when you are wet washing to bring hoses up from the back of the wing, not the front.)

Avoid Costly Repairs

Hiring an experienced aircraft detail company for polishing your brightwork on a quarterly basis is still the best way to get the work done right and prevent costly repair maintenance caused by corrosion. A good example of this was a repair we performed at General Dynamics in Dallas on the leading edges of a G-IV wing that had deep worm-hole pitting. Out of the six sections that make up the leading edge of the wing, we were able to salvage three of them. The aircraft operator believed the pitting originated when the aircraft encountered volcanic ash at cruising altitude. If the leading edges had been polished after this encounter, the polishing process would have removed the pitting in their infancy stage and prevented the costly repairs. Repairs were made by sanding to the bottom of the pitting and then polishing the edges back to a mirror image. It cost them them $15,000 to return just those the three salvagable sections to a like-new appearance. The other three sections had to be replaced because the worm-hole pitting was too deep to save. (The neglect in this case cost that flight department $30,000.00 to $50,000.00 per section.) Simply keeping up on the brightwork on a regularly-scheduled program could have prevented this, stopping problems before they could start.

Here's How the Pros Do It:

[Phil says, "The following procedures are very basic and we go into much more detail about metal polishing in our manual available at www.jetstreamproducts.com."]

We use and recommend an electric polisher like the Makita model # 9927C. It is lightweight and has an RPM range from 800 to 3000. We use a wool cutting pad, 7-1/2 inches in diameter with 1-1/2 inch pile for digging out oxidation. (Even if you are not polishing a lot of oxidation from the surface and it is in relatively good shape to start with, this size pad is fine because you can buff at slower speeds.) Always keep a Buffing Pad Cleaner Spur handy. (Pads fill up with polish residue and need to be "Spurred" often to keep them fluffed.)

Next, take some 2" masking tape and tape off the painted surface adjacent to the metal being polished. Taping will protect the painted surfaces from that black polish residue that forms when polishing metal. Wipe off any surface dirt, oil or bugs before you begin polishing (not absolutely necessary, but helpful). Now apply Skai Metal Polish.

This is a white, non-abrasive, paste metal polish designed for aircraft aluminum and stainless steel. Take a damp rag and apply a very small amount to the area you are polishing. Polish at the RPM that gives you the best results the quickest. Perfectly polished metal will give you a clear reflection of yourself and be free of all blemishes and small scratches.

Now comes the part that separates the experienced detailer from the weekend warrior: removing the swirls and sealing the metal. Most people can achieve some type of a shine when polishing metal. The trick is making it swirl-free in the sunlight, protecting it from the elements and chemicals, and making it last.

To remove swirls in polished metal, you need to use Mirror Image Swirl Remover. Mirror Image is a 5oz roll of pharmaceutical cotton soaked in a non-abrasive, specially formulated liquid metal polish. Tear a two to three inch piece from the roll, and apply it to the polished area in front of you. While the product is still wet, take a clean, folded terrycloth towel or rag, and wipe the product off in the same direction you buffed. (E.g., on the leading edge, wipe it on horizontally and remove it horizontally.) Using your towel, begin your wiping off before it dries. After the black residue has all been wiped off, come back with another clean rag and some household flour to remove any residue left over in the rivets or around the taped area.  Your polished area is now swirl-free, and because Mirror Image has anti-oxidation agents and corrosion inhibitors, you now have a sealed and protected surface also. If you follow these few simple procedures, you will be successfully polishing metal.

The steps described in this article are the basic procedures to polishing aircraft metal. We go into much more detail about polishing aircraft metal in our “Business Guide For Detailing Aircraft” manual available at the website or by calling 1-800-727-JETS. Request a FREE CATALOG from Jet Stream by calling or visiting their website.

[This article is the first of what we hope will become a regular ANN feature, wherein we will periodically bring you tips and advice from professionals in the field, of interest to our readers. We'd like to know what you think of this format, and this idea -- and this article. Excuse us, now -- we've gotta get out to the hangar... editor@www.aero-news.net]

FMI: www.jetstreamproducts.com