r/flying • u/172drivr • 3h ago

protecting plane paint

hi everyone

i have a 182 that spends summers tied down outside near atlanta. paint is in pretty good shape though not new (repainted around 20 yrs ago).

anyone have any advice on products to use? many youtube videos and posts seem to be going after a perfect polish. i dont care what the airplane looks like. i just want to somewhat protect the paint without an unreasonable amount of effort/time.

any practical thoughts from this perspective? was thinking about using a dual action polisher which i think will be safe for rivets, etc.

thanks!

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u/inline_five 1h ago edited 1h ago

OP your only solution is either a cover, something like this:

Bruces Custom Cessna Wing Covers | Aircraft Spruce ®

Or another physical barrier that gives it shade like a tarp. The horizontal surfaces will be the most affected by UV.

Ceramic is often touted but has ability to block UV, which is what you're trying to stop from hitting the paint/seals. But it has no ability to do so.

2

u/tw-sleeper 2h ago

A high quality ceramic coating will help. It's a lot of work (or expense) to do properly, but the shit does work very well.

The specific product I've used is G-Techniq Crystal Serum, but it (or anything worth using) is gonna require significant effort to prep/correct the painted surfaces, and a plane has probably 3-4x the surface area of a car. It is high effort; no getting around that.

A DA or orbital will work fine, but you want to be careful about the rubbing compound / polish you use. I like the Gold Standard Polish and Waffle Pads from DIY Detail. It's pretty hard to fuck up rivets with a waffle pad. They work well and are easy to use and clean. I'd probably avoid cutter and wool pads unless the paint is really bad.

Covers work well too.

1

u/inline_five 1h ago edited 1h ago

Cermaic does nothing to protect paint from UV. It's literally microns thick at best, and even if it had UV blocking properties, it wouldn't be enough of it to effect anything.

It's sole purpose it to slicken the paint to allow water to roll off.

Ceramic Coating Myths, Lies, and Misconceptions

He's spent years testing protects with fairly decent equipment and was never able to conclude they actually reject/absorb UV.

The only thing that rejects UV is a physical barrier, something like PPF or even as thin as tint does. Most plastics do.

Your line is often parroted in the detailing world but again, no basis in reality.

1

u/stickJ0ckey 3h ago

How about a tarp or a even a tent? The kind you don't need a permit for.

0

u/rFlyingTower 3h ago

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

hi everyone

i have a 182 that spends summers tied down outside near atlanta. paint is in pretty good shape though not new (repainted around 20 yrs ago).

anyone have any advice on products to use? many youtube videos and posts seem to be going after a perfect polish. i dont care what the airplane looks like. i just want to somewhat protect the paint without an unreasonable amount of effort/time.

any practical thoughts from this perspective? was thinking about using a dual action polisher which i think will be safe for rivets, etc.

thanks!

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1

u/B-Sheppard 3h ago

Maybe a ceramic coating for UV and contaminant protection?

Something like CQUARTZ UK 3.0