Aviation Detailing

EBPcivicsi

EBPcivicsi

GOT PREP?
I did a detail not too long ago for a guy who runs a helicopter business. He runs his business out of a hanger where a BUNCH of planes are stored. He wants me to start detailing the planes and helicopters.



I have never done this and would like to know what to charge(I understand that it will vary from market to market, but I would like to know ball park), and anything that I need to avoid. I will be meeting with him next week to take a tour of the facility and to go for a "flight session."



Anyone with any experience with this type of detailing? TIA
 
Well not to scare you or anything but I am a A+P mechanic and started my career working on airplanes as a intern of sorts detailing them. Some things you should be aware of before you go into this type of work.

1. Aircraft are very expensive, one mistake with a buffer near a windshield for example can easily cost 10-20K on a corporate jet.

2. You have a huge area to work on and what may only take a day on a car will take several days to a week on a airplane.

3. There are several expensive aviation buffers needed to do a midsize jet with any kind of speed and the required reach needed to buff things like a tail 30' up.

4. Your materials that you use on a car are not made for aviation paint and probably will not work well with Imron or other aviation paints.

5. Repeat of above, airplanes/helos cost a fourtune along with their paint, you should probably have some sort of insurance to protect yourself from the mistakes that can and will happen.





Don't get me wrong you can do well in this type of work just be aware of some of these things and be careful above all else, aviation as a whole is not very forgiving.
 
Get a waiver big time. Imagine if he crashes because some wax dripped in the wrong hole, ouch. You may want to find an FAA licensed A&E mechanic and go over what not to touch, where you can step on where you can't for low wing aircraft for example. A small dent in the aluminum at the right place can weaken the aircraft significantly.
 
Thanks guys, looks like I will be looking in to some aviation specific products.



The guy who owns the business said that he can go over each aircraft with me beforehand to tell me what to look out for.



I will definitely be looking into having a waiver drawn up.



Will a cyclo work or will I need to go straight to a rotary everythime?



Oh, and they supposedly have a cherrypicker that I can use to reach the higher areas...we'll see.
 
urban1.8t said:
Have a read of the article in the link below.



Under the heading "Substitute Materials" there is a very interesting finding in regards to polish and static. I am not sure if it is relevent, but you never know.



http://www.casa.gov.au/fsa/2001/nov/40-41.pdf



Cheers

Dave.
Click to expand...



Thanks for that!! I was talking to the guy and he said that EVERYTHING had to be bodyshop safe, I guess that's why.... :soscared:
 
A rotary buffer would get the job done in half the time over a PC and when you are doing something that large, time is money.
 
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