Come clean
Protecting your paint
I soloed in 1976 and have been flying general aviation nonstop ever since, and have owned the same Piper Cub since 1977. 5,800 flying hours later, and I still manage to learn something new or better in every issue of Flight Training.
I enjoyed the October issue’s article by Jill W. Tallman on “Washing An Airplane.” Lots of good tips there. However, there is one that I would caution readers about. It was Step 4 about using Pledge furniture polish on the paint. If your airplane has fabric covering, do not use Pledge or any other polish containing silicone. Check for and avoid all cleaners that have silicone ingredients. This includes soaps, or sprays that contain silicone. Silicone is not paint-shop friendly.
If you ever have to make a repair to your aircraft’s fabric (and there are more and more fabric-covered airplanes out there in the Light Sport aircraft world), the silicone will have leached into the paint and fabric weave. You don’t see this when you spray it on or apply it, and in fact, it seems to clean just fine. But it is working its way into the very weave of the fabric and deep into the silver coating.
This is not as important on aluminum airplanes, as you can sand the paint (and silicone) all the way down to the aluminum. On fabric covering, when you go to repair it or install a new inspection cover, et cetera and remove the old paint to the silver level, you will experience a nonstop “orange peeling” issue with the paint as you try to repaint the area that had Pledge or silicone leached into it. Even the chemicals meant to stop “orange-peel” that one can buy from the fabric companies may not be able to treat it. I have some unfortunate firsthand experience with this.
So, skip the simple/cheap cleaners items such as Pledge, or some of the car cleaners that have silicone in them. Look for paint-friendly cleaners like Flitz and others, to clean your fabric aircraft.
Thanks again for the wonderful magazine.
Jon Engle
Hollywood, South Carolina
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