NEW PROMISE by David Jensen
A coating process taken from the automotive industry is being developed for all-around use in aerospace. Paint manufacturers say it’s efficient, long lasting and will reduce weight.
S
ome may think that to unearth new technology in today’s aircraft, you must look beneath the surface—under the engine cowling or in the avionics bay or at the structural materials. Little do they know that new advancements also may exist on an aircraft’s surface. Coatings that both decorate and protect aircraft exteriors have gone through a revolution of late. The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are keen to apply these new coatings; paint shops at maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facilities have recently begun using them.
Limited Initial Use For more than a decade, coating manufacturers have been producing paints and primers that are more environmentally friendly. Now the manufacturers are busy developing paints that can be applied more efficiently, reduce an aircraft’s weight and last longer, as well. A current, promising technology, called base coat/clear coat (BC/CC), has been taken from the automotive industry. Although it was developed as a car coating decades ago, BC/CC’s history in aviation has been quite limited. Cessna Aircraft, for example, applies a clear coat on color stripes only, according to Tom Heck, supervisor of sales and marketing at the Cessna Service Center in Wichita, Kan. The coating covers stripes on both the manufacturer’s new aircraft and the fielded planes that enter the service center. At maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) paint shops, such as at Duncan Aviation, a clear coat also is sprayed over metallic paints. “If we paint 100 airplanes a year, probably 10 will have metallic paint,” says Doug Bohac, Duncan’s paint shop manager. An acrylic urethane clear coat is necessary for metallic paint to create a smooth appearance. The
polyurethane clear coats being developed today, however, are more durable than acrylic urethane, according to Julie Voisin, aerospace product manager, with Sherwin-Williams. The metallic-paint process also is “not ideal for covering a large surface, such as a Gulfstream GV,” she adds. But this limitation doesn’t apply to today’s base coat/clear coat process, and that is what makes it
revolutionary. Newly developed BC/CC formulas can coat an entire aircraft, of any size, from Cessna 172 to Airbus A380. They are suitable for the total aircraft scheme whether it has a solid, mica or metallic finish. Major commercial OEMs, including Boeing and Airbus, have been driving this leap forward, says Voisin, whose company began developing its SKYscapes BC/CC process in 2008. Among the
Aviation Maintenance |
avm-mag.com | April / May 2012 29
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