What`s a good one step for a plane?

[Jngrbrdman]

I was thinking of using XMT 360 since I`ve got quite a bit of it, but that is spendy if you are doing too many of them. I`m going to have my hands full with a couple of planes now and need to start exploring a different product line. These are just basic white planes and I am looking for something to keep them looking shiny without having to go over them twenty times. I`ve been maintaining this family`s cars for years, but this is the first time they`ve had me work on the planes. This is the one I`m working on next week:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y42/OCDetails/supra_hanger.jpg

It is in pretty good shape. Nothing a good clay bar (or two or three) can`t fix. The tail is where most of the oxidation and problems lay. I will be maintaining it going forward, so I`m looking for something to clean off the oxidation and put down a layer of protection which will help me get the bugs off easier. I haven`t done a lot of work on planes in the past, so I haven`t ever really looked into dedicated products for them. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[SuperBee364]

You might want to get in touch with Greg Nichols. He`s in Layton, and has done a few airplanes lately. I haven`t done one in 20 years, so the products I used are probably no longer available.

Have you ever washed and/or polished an aircraft before? If not, there`s a few things you need to know about `em prior to taking a hose to them.

But to answer the one-step product question, I`d go with D151. It has darn near the cutting action of 105, good chemical cleaning action, and a fairly nice LSP (it`s a hybrid wax/sealant).

Most planes are painted with Imron paint, and it`s *very* hard. Expect it to be the hardest paint you`ve ever worked on.

For a one step, I`d go D151 with a purple foam wool pad on a rotary. While you would (rightfully) worry about buffer trails and holos on a car`s finish with that combo, on that hard, hard, *hard* Imron paint it shouldn`t be a problem.

[Jngrbrdman]

I`ve done a few of them in my day. :) In the past I`ve just been burning up the supplies I`ve had. I used to buy 4 Star products by the gallon and they had an awesome one step similar to KAIO. I bought five gallons of it from a guy closing his online store a few years ago. I actually bought out all his 4 Star stuff and am just now starting to run out of it. I`m totally out of the one step at this point, so it is time to start shopping for a replacement. I use it on aircraft and boats and it doesn`t take too many of those to burn through five gallons of anything. lol

I actually know Greg pretty well. He is actually about an hour or so north of Layton in Logan. If it wasn`t going to be an all day job in the middle of the week then I`d probably have him come out and help.

[SuperBee364]

Doh, I typed Layton and meant Logan. :) Yeah, Greg`s a good guy.

I edited my above post with a product you might want to consider for an aircraft one-step.

[Greg Nichols]

Anthony,

That plane flies at such high altitudes I suggest a sealant, even then it will come off in a hurry. I bet you have some Collinite laying around, use that. I have some other sealants I use on planes but doubt you have them around.

Cheers,
GREG

[polisher]

nice shot!!

[Larry A]

Dg 501

[Dr Oldz]

Megs 151 is cheap and works really well. Optimum Poli-seal also works really well and is a breeze to use which may be helpful on all of that realestate.