Polishing the airplane

10 Dec 2004 Polishing the airplane

RV-List message posted by: “Amit Dagan”

Listers,

A few days ago I started a thread about polishing the aluminum skins of RVs.
I specifically requested reasons for and against it. Most responds were
unanimous about how beautiful a good polishing job looks, but warned about
the time consumed, and several warned of the blinding effect (the reflection
of light – and even worse – heat) on the pilot. One “I heard that” comment
was made as to a case of the heat actually melting a canopy!!

While on the subject, I e-mailed some Air Stream trailer folks about their
experience with polishing (Alclad aluminum). These guys (and gals) usually
start with a badly corroded 40-old project, and finish with
better-than-mirror skins. Moreover, some need to remove the clear coat that
was originally applied to the skins at the Air Stream factory. A good
polishing story may be found at the links at the bottom of this post.

I also e-mailed a gentleman that has recently completed an RV-8 and has it
partially polished and part painted. He had no problem with light
reflection, and he lives in California. It took him 4 days to polish, how
long does it take to paint?!!

The more I look into it, the more I am surprised that RV sheet metal
builders are not more proud to show their metal work. The Sonex guys seem to
enjoy showing their bird’s skins much more. It might be an interesting topic
for sociological research: Are builders of more and more complete kits more
prone to just having someone professional do parts of the project FOR them
(panel, paint, aftermarket fiberglass fairings)?
Is paint vs. polish just a fashion thing, i.e. is the “retro look” of the
Temco Swift or the early airliners bound to make a comeback shortly, or not?

I am sending this post to the request of those who wanted to know what I
found out, definitely not for the naysayer, who believes a painted airplane
is more practical (if you want practical, are you sure you are in the right
hobby?!! 😉

A few Notes of interest:
The compounding chemicals from the Nuvite company (nuvitechemical.com) will
cost less than $100 for the project. And Nuvite probably has the most
expensive line of compounds. My research has shown Nuvite to be the most
popular rout, and some that have switched to it from other lines of products
(e.g. Rolite) have not switched back.

For the tools, a $50 1/2″ chuck drill that turns ~ 1000RPM is recommended
for the “compounding” stage, or you could use a $25 car polisher from Harbor
Freight.
For the fine polishing, a random orbit dual head tool called the “Cyclo
model 5” is recommended. A new one is $270, but you can find them used on
e-bay for less, or you can get a new one with accessories (pads, bonnets,
etc) for a bargain $335. Both pneumatic and electrical models are out there.

Wool bonnets, buffing pads, polishing cloth etc. – for a small plane will be
around $150 if you buy plenty.

You’ll need some mineral spirits for cleaning, and a few miscellaneous items
I probably am not aware of, but you can see that it will be less than $1000
easily.

As far as up-keep, the better the first polishing job is, the longer it will
last, the less work you will have at the yearly or 6-month touch up polish,
and from year to year it will be longer and longer between polishes. You
don’t do the whole compounding and polishing deal, only the last stage of
fine polishing at those times. Hangaring your RV (which pretty much
everybody is doing anyway) will help a lot, as well as hand drying it after
it gets wet.

As for waxing – it is actually not recommended nor needed. Of course every
body that has ever polished anything (or hasn’t!) has an opinion (or more
than one) on one or more of the subjects I touched on.

Links of interest:
http://www.irinfo.com/polish/html/polish.html
http://www.russellw.com/planes/ryan/polishing.htm
http://www.tompatterson.com/Trailers/Polish/Compounding.html
http://www.tompatterson.com/Trailers/Polish/Nuvite.html
http://www.nuvitechemical.com/Prod%20Pages/Aircraft%20Page.htm
http://www.perfectpolish.com/AirstreamProject.htm
http://globetrotter64.home.att.net/complete.htm
http://www.perfectpolish.com/Quick%20Guide.htm

One tip you wont find in these links the ambient temperature needs to be
above 65F for the polisher to do its thing. I suppose humidity will also be
important, this should be covered in the material instructions.

So, am I going to polish my -7?
At this point I am undecided, but you can guess what I think about it. You
can always go and paint a polished skin, just etch it and paint. Polishing a
painted surface involves stripping the paint, but that too can be done.

And finally, for the sake of educating the masses, from the owner of a
polished airplane:
Maybe the biggest problem with a polished AC is that everyone who sees
it wants to touch it, then they make a scratch by rubbing their hands over
it and continue to “FIX” the scratches by taking their shirt sleeve and make
matters worse.

So, the next time you see a polished skin, PLEASE don’t give in to the urge
of touching it!

Happy holidays,
Amit.

===

–> RV-List message posted by: “Amit Dagan”

One more link, and a few pictures:

I added a few pictures of polished aluminum aircraft to the Yahoo RV7/7a
group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RV7and7A/ click on Photo Albums > Polished
Aluminum.

And, I forgot to mention this link for polishing aluminum reference:

http://www.aircraftpolish.com/

Amit.