www.cessna.org

September, 2007 • Volume 24, Number 09

Mike Busch discusses The Side of Maintenance

on page 26Dark

Products to Clean Aircraft on page 39

www.cessna.org 39

Products To Clean AircraftBy John Frank

I have been an aircraft owner all of my adult life. Add that as a teenager I used to wash aircraft in exchange

for fl ight lessons and one could say I have more than a bit of experience in cleaning aircraft. Over all these years I have tried just about every cleaning product there is. Trial and error has shown me what works and what doesn’t. I am sharing my list of tried and true products.

First a little on my philosophy of air-craft care. A general aviation aircraft is nothing unique as far as keeping clean and shiny. Products that work well on a car, boat or kitchen appliances will work just as well on an aircraft. I will buy the expensive care product if that is what does the job best. However I have found that most of the expensive products are more hype than performance and there is usually a common, inexpensive product that will perform as well as, if not better than the expensive product. I remain a dog who can be taught a new trick in that I will try new products as they are avail-able and if I fi nd something that does a job better than what I am currently using I will change to the new product.

Here is what I have found works best.

Basic Aircraft CleaningBack in the days when my aircraft

used to sit outside on tiedown, every so often it would need a good soap and water bath. I found that JOY LIQUID DISHWASHING DETERGENT did an excellent job. Heck if it will clean the barbecue grease from your spouse’s fi ne china it ought to be able to get your plane clean. I have heard from others that they like to use WOOLITE because it is so gentle though when I tried it I found I preferred the JOY.

Washing the cars around the house my family has found that the Mr. Clean Auto Dry Pro Series is a step up from rinsing off with just the water from the hose so if I were washing my aircraft to-day that is what I would probably use.

My airplane now resides in a hangar

so it rarely needs a bath, rather an occasional dusting is called for. For this I use micro-fi ber towels and LEMON PLEDGE.

WindowsThe best product to use to

clean Plexiglas windows is about as hotly a debated subject among pilots as is lean of peak operations. I have tried just about every product there is and have not found anything that does any better than what I have been using for over 45 years, the afore-mentioned LEMON PLEDGE. Is there a reason to use Lemon Pledge as opposed to the original non-scented Pledge? Actually there are a couple of reasons. Using the Lemon Pledge on the interior side of the windows adds a pleasant scent to the aircraft. More im-portant is that such products that have a citrus element to them cut through in-sect remains better than similar products without any citrus in them.

One thing that I have changed over the years in regards to window cleaning is the cloth I use to wipe the windows clean. I started with paper towels but quickly abandoned them. I don’t care what Rosie says, none of them are soft enough to not cause some abrasive damage long term. Cloth diapers are excellent but my source of those went away when the kids were no longer in-fants. For many years I used Terrycloth Towels and still do in a pinch. They are soft, clean, cheap and readily available in quantity from places like Costco and Sam’s Club.

A couple of years ago I purchased a Corvette and got introduced to the world of totally anal Corvette owners. Those guys and gals swear that the only thing that can touch their cars are Microfi ber towels. Until I started talking to the car owners I had never heard of these tow-els. I purchased some and found them very soft with an extremely high fi ber count. I thought if they were that great

for Corvettes, wouldn’t they work well on aircraft, especially on the windows? Well, they do. And that is what I now

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GoJo and Hoppe’s #9

Cessna Pilots Association - September 2007 40

use to clean aircraft windows, Micro-fi ber towels and Pledge. Fortunately Costco carries both.

Belly CrudThe bottom of our aircraft get par-

ticularly dirty with stuff that is not easy to clean. Oil and exhaust are the prime culprits and each requires something special.

To clean off the belly oil, or BO as it is called around the airport, I have found that a particular hand cleaner works best. GOJO Without Pumice does a great job. The Without Pumice is very important as if you get the product with pumice it will scratch the paint. The one you want is the original GOJO in the white container. This is available at any auto supply store such as Pep Boys.

There is no way to make this a pleas-ant, easy job. Put on your grubbiest clothes. Now put on some nitrile gloves. The hand cleaner is fi ne but the stuff coming off the aircraft is not something you want to be working into your skin. For the same reason I recommend wear-ing safety goggles as well. With GOJO and plenty of towels at hand get under-neath your aircraft, a creeper can be useful, and start slathering on the GOJO to about a 2 square foot area at a time. Work it around a bit with your hands and then wipe it off with a towel. Voila, a clean belly! And a pretty messy you, but you’ll clean up fi ne after a shower and clean clothes. Are you a real de-tailed person like CPA’s Kim Hunting-ton? Having a little oil residue around rivet heads that you can’t get at with you

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Before: Cleaning belly oil with GOJO.

After: Clean shiny belly.

www.cessna.org 41

hands will drive you so crazy you can’t sleep at night? Use a tooth brush and GOJO to clean around the rivet heads. The soft bristles will get the crud but not harm the paint.

It takes me forty minutes to clean the belly of my 210 but I don’t usually clean around every rivet head with a tooth-brush. Probably takes Kim all day to do her 210.

You have cleaned the belly with GOJO but there is still some white resi-due that won’t come off no matter how hard you rub? This is exhaust residue and contains the by-products of combustion including lead, if you are operating on av-gas. There actually is a magic potion to deal with that. It is called HOPPE’S #9 POWDER SOLVENT and it’s origi-

nal intended purpose is to remove bullet and powder residue from gun barrels. It is available at K-Mart, Walmart and gun shops. Just pour a little on a cloth and with some mild rubbing all the exhaust residue will be gone.

Make It ShineNow that your bird is nice and clean,

you want to shine. In the old days it would be time to get out the cheesecloth and Carnuba paste wax and rub, rub, rub. Today there are better products that give a high shine with a lot less effort. One of the best that I have found is REJEX, brought to you by the same folks that make Corrosion X. REJEX is not a wax, it is a polymer coating. It won’t restore old faded paint but it will make a fi nish

Same cowl fl ap after using Hoppe’s #9.

Exhaust stained cowl fl ap before.

Same cowl fl ap after using Hoppe’s #9.Same cowl fl ap after using Hoppe’s #9.

Exhaust stained cowl fl ap before.Exhaust stained cowl fl ap before.

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Cessna Pilots Association - September 2007 42

that is in good condition really shine. It gives a really slick fi nish to which bugs and exhaust do not adhere as readily. It is applied with a soft cloth, allowed to dry and then buffed out by hand. One coat is good enough, two coats is better and three coats becomes almost blind-ing. Nothing lasts forever so to maintain the high level of shine you will have to reapply the product periodically. How frequently depends on environment and how much rain you fl y through, I redo my aircraft about once a year. REJEX is available from Aircraft Spruce and some boating supply stores.

Got a polished spinner you want to keep gleaming? For years the product of choice was MET-AL. That is still a good choice. A little of the past on a cloth, some rubbing and the original shine returns. Another popular product is FLITZ which will give similar results. Sports cars have a lot more shiny things on them than airplanes and that group of owners have steered me to another product that I am very happy with. It is MOTHERS MAG & ALUMINUM POLISH. Available at any auto supply house.

Other Useful Cleaning Supplies

When there is a stain that won’t wash off or similar blemish, it will have to be polished out. This will require some sort of abrasive compound. Of course you should start with a mild abrasive. Dennis Wolter of Air Mod taught me about one of the mildest abrasives to use – Toothpaste! Since then I have on a number of occasions used common household toothpaste to polish out a blemish. If something stronger is called for, go to your auto supply store and buy some polishing compound ( usually in a green can) and the larger grit rubbing compound (usually in a red can) and use these to polish away the defect. Try the milder polishing compound fi rst. After the blemish is gone use REJEX to add some shine and away you go.

And there you have the basic primer of what 45 years of cleaning aircraft has taught me.

LEMON PLEDGE Source:Supermarket

•

JOY DISH WASHING DETER-GENT Source: Supermarket

GOJO HAND CLEANER WITH-OUT PUMICE Source: Auto Supply Store

HOPPES #9 POWDER RESIDUE CLEANERSource: K-Mart, WalMart, Gun Shop

MOTHERS MAG AND ALUMI-NUM POLISH Source: Auto Supply Store

REJEX Source: Aircraft Spruce

CORROSION X Source: Aircraft Spruce

RUBBING COMPOUND Source: Auto Supply Store

POLISHING COMPOUND Source: Auto Supply Store

TOOTH PASTESource: Supermarket

NITIRILE GLOVES Source: Costco

TERRY TOWELS – Source: Costco

MICROFIBER TOWELS Source: Costco

Ed. Note:To see what other members are using for bug cleaning, go to From the Forums... on page 52

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gives a really slick fi nish to which bugs

how much rain you fl y through, I redo

house.

Supplies

milder polishing compound fi rst. After

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Cessna Pilots Association - September 2007 52

From The FORUMS . . www.cessna.org

Bug CleaningFor what it is worth,

I purchased a bottle of the Turtle Wax Ice in a spray bottle. This is the best thing I have seen at removing bugs from the leading edges. Spray it on, wait about 30 sec-onds, and they just wipe off. It was amazing.

Just thought I would pass this info along.

--------------------Barney

I’ve been using Armor-All Protective Wipes on my leading edges. They are in a handy dispenser for trips and they work very well. An extra benefi t is that they deposit some

kind of fi lm that aids in cleaning the next batch of bugs.

The main thing is the convenience and the container is very light.

--------------------Jim Nance

If you want to impress your han-gar neighbors, go at the leading edges with a slice of pine-apple. The enzymes in pine- apple cut bugs as well as anything man-made.

Rub it on, wait a while, then wipe the bugs off with a rag.

The chemical products might be cheaper, but the fruit solution has per-sonality.

--------------------David Bunin

8606 Cessna Pilots Association - Volume 23, No. 9 - September 2006

Renovation Overview(Continued from pg. 8603)

lays and unforeseen issues. Improve-ments and upgrades can often be quitetime-consuming due to the fact that thecompanies doing this work are usuallysmall firms operating with limited re-sources. Given the high overhead cost ofworking in a general aviation environ-ment, and limited sources of neededcomponents and materials, almost all ofthe companies who are doing this kindof work struggle to keep work flowingas smoothly as they can. One of the big-gest challenges is keeping skilled staff-

ing levels up with the workload. If a keyemployee gets sick, quits or retires, adelay in project delivery is inevitable.

There is also a new challenge facingaircraft renovators. I refer to aging air-plane issues. Since the average age ofthe airplanes being renovated today is30 to 40 years old, they are often in needof a thorough inspection, clean-up andrepair in the cabin area before a new in-terior or paint job should even be con-sidered. The days of pulling out seats,side panels, carpets and headliners, andsimply recovering and reinstalling themare over. There are good shops out therethat do it right; many of us communicate

frequently among ourselves regardingrenovation issues. But be careful toavoid those who say they do the requiredwork but really don’t, do only part of it,or think it is unnecessary to tackle theproblems at all. These old airplanes aremore than overdue for having the insula-tion removed and a licensed person per-form a thorough condition inspection,clean-up, and corrosion proofing of ev-erything that isn’t seen during traditionalinspections.

Let’s say you find corrosion that re-quires repair and/or replacement ofstructural components. That type of re-pair work requires a highly skilled per-son, and most shops have limited quali-fied staff members, and usually thoseemployees are already busy with sched-uled projects. Even if it’s only a two dayproject, it may be several days beforethat qualified person is available to dothe job. The unexpected two-day repaircan delay delivery by six or eight work-ing days. Get my drift here? Expect theunexpected. We generally quote five tosix weeks to do a straightforward inte-rior in a four-place airplane such as a182. If we encounter corrosion, exces-sive broken plastic or other problems, anadditional week or two on the project isnot uncommon.

Our shop is partnered with an out-standing paint shop, Dial Eastern StatesAircraft Painting, and they usually takethree to four weeks to paint a 182. DickGuenther, who runs that shop, has oftenstated how much more difficult it has be-come lately to meet this schedule, duelargely to the age of the fleet. This “ag-ing airplane issue” has affected howboth of our shops operate today; thingsare dramatically different from how weoperated twenty years ago. (Dick is go-ing to help write the painting segment inthis series, so you will get a blow-by-blow account of that process later.)

When choosing a shop to do thiswork, it’s important to discuss how theywill deal with these possible delaying is-sues. Our policy is based on fairness. If acustomer brings us a clean airplane anddoesn’t add a lot of detail items, we willmove that job through in the predictedtime. If a customer decides at job start-up to add all new windows and a metalinstrument panel, and on top of that wefind evidence of corrosion, their job willhave to wait for our qualified techni-

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I have very good results us-ing Nanowax from Eagle One. It is a spray on wipe off wax with no buffi ng.

------------------Bryan Burnett

After an application of Top Gun Supreme, all you need is a wet rag or fl y through a rain shower. Keeps the polished spinner polished a bit longer, too.

--------------------Manny Puerto

A CFI/owner at my fi eld suggested dryer sheets. Dampen with a little wa-ter and with a touch of elbow grease the bugs come right off. Smells nice too! I do try to be gentle, especially around paint chips and such.

It does seem to leave a little protec-tive coating that keeps the bugs from sticking so bad for the next couple of fl ights. So far so good.

--------------------Brock Boss

I used to use Pledge on the leading edges, but switched to RejeX (from the Corro-sionX folks) a few years ago. When applied twice a year, it only takes a damp cloth to wipe the little crit-ters off.

------------------Jim Lyon

fl y through a rain shower.