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Random Griz Aviation Musings

ChuckMK23

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
spent last evening washing and detailing my det's aircraft. I enjoyed the satisfaction of giving her a good scrub especially when I am responsible for most of the flight hours that is getting her dirty!

I lobbied for and got permission to base this aircraft at my home Airport where my flying club activities are located so total win. of course it helps that my boss and one of our SELRES pilots also live within a couple of miles of the airport.

our flight hour program is budgeted nationally for the command. many of my colleagues fly the mins - that's more for me, I am now trending as the flight hour hog!

30276
 
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Pags

N/A
pilot
ChuckMK23 said:
spent last evening washing and detailing my det's aircraft. I enjoyed the satisfaction of giving her a good scrub especially when I am responsible for most of the flight hours that is getting her dirty!

I lobbied for and got permission to base this aircraft at my home Airport where my flying club activities are located so total win. of course it helps that my boss and one of our SELRES pilots also live within a couple of miles of the airport.

our flight hour program is budgeted nationally for the command. many of my colleagues fly the mins - that's more for me, I am now trending as the flight hour hog!

View attachment 30276
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Does the USAF require you to wash airplanes backwards* (working down to up) like USN does?

*Plenty of Chiefs and AMs did a nice job explaining the why to me. I still think it's stupid.
 
wink

wink

War Hoover NFO.
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
Pags said:
Was explained to me as it minimized the time the cleaner spent on the aircraft and therefore minimized finish/surface damage from harsh cleaner.
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I washed a few War Hoovers and don't recall that. Could be wrong. Maybe new wash products than my day, or maybe it isn't based in fact. Why such a nasty cleaning product? Does it melt salt quicker than water will dissolve it and flush it off?
 
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Pags

N/A
pilot
wink said:
I washed a few War Hoovers and don't recall that. Could be wrong. Maybe new wash products than my day, or maybe it isn't based in fact. Why such a nasty cleaning product? Does it melt salt quicker than water will dissolve it and flush it off?
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Your questions have exceeded my knowledges of naval aircraft cleaning. The answer that LT Pags, Det QAO was happy with from the E-8 was "because the pubs say to do it that way L-T, that's why."

This was followed by some BSing from the AWs and AMs about how the cleaner could damage the finish or something. Who knows how accurate that is.
 
Gatordev

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
I never understood why the cleaner was treated the way it was. Yes, it's a solvent, but so is Simple Green, and you specifically did not want to use SG because of how corrosive it is (even if it worked really well). So the Navy cleaner had to be less detrimental than other cleaners, otherwise you wouldn't be using it.

Then again, there is no clear coat on a gray airframe, so maybe it reacts sooner. Given the lack of standardization of how much soap to pour in the bucket, I think they're are a lot of other real-world variables.
 
ChuckMK23

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
Pags said:
Does the USAF require you to wash airplanes backwards* (working down to up) like USN does?

*Plenty of Chiefs and AMs did a nice job explaining the why to me. I still think it's stupid.
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Absent of any formal guidance, I did the same thing as my club aircraft - a truck brush, a bucket, some simple green, water, and plenty of cotton and microfiber rags. Top to bottom, tip to tail. GoJo hand cleaner works great on stubborn dirty oil stains (and doesn't hurt the paint). This is a 4 year old factory new (in GA terms anyway).
 
ChuckMK23

ChuckMK23

FERS and TSP contributor!
pilot
Gatordev said:
Yes, it's a solvent, but so is Simple Green, and you specifically did not want to use SG because of how corrosive it is (even if it worked really well). So the Navy cleaner had to be less detrimental than other cleaners, otherwise you wouldn't be using it.
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.

Never knew this about SG - my club uses it by the case and has for decades. Granted its pretty diluted by the time it is applied to an aircraft - also all the A&P's I know use it. YMMV.

simplegreen.com

Simple Green Household Cleaning Site

Learn about Simple Green's full line of environmentally safer household cleaning products. Discounts, cleaning tips, reviews, special offers and more.
simplegreen.com simplegreen.com
 
Jim123

Jim123

DD-214 in hand and I'm gonna party like it's 1998
pilot
I thought bottom to top was because top to bottom makes streaks that are hard to scrub off. When you scrub the bottom first then those streaks that run down from the top don't stick, or at least that's the idea. Car nuts seem to have near-religious arguments for both schools of thought. I think it's a pretty funny debate.

I had an old DH who had a strong opinion about it. He was one of those guys whose idea of aircraft commander "training" was "I know something you don't know," one of those guys you'd like to throat punch for taking the Message to Garcia thing too far.
 
VMO4

VMO4

Well-Known Member
Pags said:
Your questions have exceeded my knowledges of naval aircraft cleaning. The answer that LT Pags, Det QAO was happy with from the E-8 was "because the pubs say to do it that way L-T, that's why."

This was followed by some BSing from the AWs and AMs about how the cleaner could damage the finish or something. Who knows how accurate that is.
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I washed many a green helo and OV-10 and was told the same thing, and I also thought it was stupid, since this is the GA thread, this is my flight from Monday, was going to be longer but my airspeed indicator died again, so I returned and pulled it out to send off to be rebuilt, now I am grounded for a bit, and if you are wondering why I kept flying, a J-3 flies long before the A/S comes alive.

 
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Pags

N/A
pilot
Jim123 said:
I thought bottom to top was because top to bottom makes streaks that are hard to scrub off. When you scrub the bottom first then those streaks that run down from the top don't stick, or at least that's the idea. Car nuts seem to have near-religious arguments for both schools of thought. I think it's a pretty funny debate.

I had an old DH who had a strong opinion about it. He was one of those guys whose idea of aircraft commander "training" was "I know something you don't know," one of those guys you'd like to throat punch for taking the Message to Garcia thing too far.
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For the life of me i can't figure out how you start at the bottom and not have streaks from the top but most of the purported benefits I'm sure were overwhelmed by the shear number of people involved who were doing whatever they wanted. Just another thing that USN rules/procedures/etc that have a weird level of specificity (see also shoe laces).
 
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