Aircraft Paints

Aircraft Paints - "In 2021, we published the barium sulfate paint, which is still the whitest on record," said Xiulin Ruan, a professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue and lead researcher on the project. "That's suitable for buildings and other stationary infrastructure."

Flightstar Aircraft Services, an FAA-certified Part 145 repair station is the tenant operator of the ASEF. It offers the full range of MRO services from daily line checks to heavy depot level overhauls, avionics and engine upgrades, and passenger-to-cargo conversions at its Cecil Airport location.

Aircraft Paints

Florida State College and Flightstar manage the scheduling of the aircraft coating bay and large paint booth at the ASEF hangar. Flightstar leases a large portion of the facility for its MRO and aircraft coatings operations and FSCJ operates two classrooms, a dry lab and a paint booth in the remaining space.

Paint Related Companies Offering Training

Students get classroom work in aircraft painting, occupational safety and health, environmental protection requirements, aircraft structures, aircraft corrosion control, paint removal systems and processes, and various aircraft coatings systems. They are taught to paint aircraft ranging from Cessna 150s to B-767s using Aero Chem, Akzo Nobel, DuPont, and Sherwin-Williams painting and chemical stripping products.

They practice with DeVilbiss, Binks, and Ransburg electrostatic paint guns, layout tools, and tape and paper rollers. "We wanted to see how the [platelet] shape really affects the performance of the paint," said Ionna Katsamba, also a PhD student in mechanical engineering at Purdue, who focused on modeling the physics behind the paints.

"We found that it was kind of limited in the literature, people really investigating the shapes of nanoparticles and getting the optical properties." According to Gene Milowicki, aviation programs director for the Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) Aviation Center of Excellence: “FSCJ obtained a $10 million grant from the state which JAA matched to fund the $20 million Aircraft Services Educational Facility (ASEF).

JAA and Florida State College dedicated that facility on Feb. 1, 2010. The team took an old concept—the idea of ​​white paint reflecting sunlight to naturally cool buildings—and combined it with nanotechnology to create some of the world's whitest paints.

Why They Did It

The paint created in 2021 was made using high concentrations of barium sulfate, a compound that has different-sized particles to help scatter sunlight. After this success, Ruan and colleagues turned to figuring out how to create a lighter-weight version.

This team ended up incorporating hexagonal boron nitride, which is used mostly in lubricants and has a unique morphology that lowers the density of the material, to reduce the paint's thickness and weight and maintain nearly all of its reflective properties.

Paints like these can keep buildings and vehicles much cooler than traditional white paints on the market, helping us adjust to hotter temperatures without using excess energy for cooling. It is obvious that this initiative is a work in progress and a great aviation success story in the making.

The charter members: Flightstar, Associated Painters Inc., Jacksonville Aviation Authority, and Florida State College at Jacksonville are totally committed to building an Aviation Center of Excellence that can provide unique, world-class MRO services, education, and training to meet the work

Why They’re A Winner

force needs of our industry. In 2021, a team of engineers at Purdue University announced they had made the world's whitest paint, which is able to reflect more than 98% of sunlight and greatly reduce the need for air conditioning in buildings.

Last year, they created a lighter-weight version that could be used for planes, spacecraft, and other vehicles, which was still able to reflect 97.9% of sunlight with a very thin application of paint. "For large vehicles like commercial airplanes, the paint is not an insignificant part of their weight," said George Chiu, a professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue whose research focuses on digital printing.

“There is actually a significant cost savings associated with getting the weight down. If you can achieve the same thermal property of the paint with an 80% weight reduction, that's a significant savings for the airline.

And the weight savings translates to fuel savings, and that makes for a more sustainable transportation system as well.” Perry says, “Aircraft painting is a fast track into the aviation maintenance industry. MRO and painting contractors are always looking for skilled and experienced aircraft painters.

The Results

Five students from the first class have already found jobs. We have a great program specifically designed to help students quickly develop the fundamentals and practical skills necessary to become a professional aircraft painter.” The Aircraft Coating Technician program is a 16-week, 600-hour program with a 40-hour (minimum) internship.

The addition of the Aircraft Coating and Aircraft Services Education Facility at Cecil Field is an aviation success story. When the U.S. Naval Air Station at Cecil Field closed in 1999, the Jacksonville Aviation Authority (JAA) took ownership of 6,000 acres and 1.1 million square feet of building space on the 17,000-acre airfield.

Senior director of Cecil Field, Bob Simpson says, "We inherited an abandoned airport." Tucker Morrison and Reed Friese gave me a top down view of the aircraft coating operations at the Cecil Field paint hangar. Tucker is the Flightstar Aircraft Services COO and Reed is manager of Associated Painters Inc. - Jacksonville Paint Operations.

Flightstar manages the MRO operations and Associated Painters Inc. (AP) is the in-house painting contractor. According to Friese, it takes a 30 person crew seven days, working two and a half shifts, to paint a narrow body aircraft.

Cecil Field Commerce Center In Jacksonville Fl

It takes eight to nine days to paint a B-767 type aircraft. They typically use about 50 to 75 gallons of paint for a B-737 type aircraft. Most AP customers choose paints that are designated by airline or operator engineers and approved by the aircraft OEM.

There are many reasons to paint airplanes. Some include protecting them from the elements and corrosion, while others identify them as belonging to a company or organization and to personalize them. I would suggest that it may be something more, something in our human nature that drives us to paint ourselves, our homes, autos, ships and especially our airplanes.

It appears that we love to enhance the features, lines and form of those objects we favor. Nothing enhances the style and shape of an airplane like a beautiful professional paint job. Xiulin Ruan, professor of mechanical engineering at Purdue;

George Chiu, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Assistant Dean for Global Engineering Programs and Partnerships; Ioanna Katsamba, PhD student at Purdue; and Andrea Felicelli, PhD student at Purdue. © 2015 PPG Industries, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mro Flightstar And Associated Painters Inc

| Legal Notices & Privacy Policies | CA Transparency in Supply Chain Disclosure | Global Code of Ethics The PPG logo is a registered trademark of PPG Industries Ohio, Inc. After a decade of hard work and investing $90 million, the JAA has transformed Cecil Field into an active, modern general aviation airport.

These improvements made Cecil Field an attractive destination for government, private industry, and educational institutions. In 2006, Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ) approached JAA about expanding its presence at Cecil Field with a new aircraft coating facility.

The industry rule is that aircraft exterior painting must not only look great but must stand the test of time. Those who own operate or paint aircraft know this is not an easy or cheap process.

Painting aircraft is a labour-intensive, multi-step process that requires a steady hand and intense attention to detail. Generally, the paint process includes these steps regardless of aircraft size: Reed says that it has been a challenge for aircraft painting companies to find trained and qualified aircraft finishers.

The Team

Now they have the opportunity to help develop a training curriculum for refinishers and to meet and observe those technicians who had chosen refinishing as a career field. On Jan. 10, 2011, FSCJ students began pursuing their Aircraft Coatings Technician certificates from Florida Coast Career Tech, a division of FSCJ.

I contacted Aircraft Coating Technician program instructor, Terry Perry to discuss the brand new program. Terry is a retired Navy aircraft structural mechanic who specializes in aircraft corrosion control and painting. FSCJ had just graduated the first class of nine students and was starting the second.

Ages of the first class ranged between 18 and 22, eight were recent high school grads, one a retired Navy vet, and one was from the construction trades. "We pair them up with our experienced aircraft painters," Reed says, "because there is no substitute for one-on-one training.

The students perform many tasks from sanding, to sealing, to masking, to equipment setup and takedown, to painting small areas of the airplane. For major paint shoots, the students shadow our painters and observe the teamwork and precision that is required to make a large paint shoot successful.”

Fscj Aircraft Coatings Program Coursework

Over the years painting materials have certainly improved. It also appears that air carriers are contracting out their aircraft painting to MROs that specialize in painting and have facilities that can accommodate both narrow and wide body aircraft.

FSCJ is also in the process of purchasing two virtual reality spray paint training systems developed by the University of Northern Iowa, Iowa Waste Reduction Center. Students will have the ability to get unlimited practice without having to go through the expensive and time-consuming steps of mixing paints, waiting for their projects to dry, and cleaning equipment, and completely eliminates hazardous waste.

(Editor's Note: See the article on STAR4D virtual paint training in the next issue of AMT.) NOTE: Primer is not included in paint kits. Customer is responsible for determining whether primer is necessary for your particular situation.

A corrosion preventive primer should be used on properly treated bare metal before applying your paint coat. Students are currently able to practice on aircraft subassemblies and 30-foot fuselage sections that were removed by Flightstar during passenger-to-cargo conversions.

Fscj Aircraft Coating Program Internship

Eventually, both large and small aircraft refinishing will be integral parts of the course of instruction. With the schoolhouse directly adjacent to the MRO facility, students have the opportunity to experience not only classroom and curriculum coatings instruction, but also hands-on participation in coatings projects and other MRO maintenance activities in the facility.

With the internship opportunities being expanded, many students can expect to find employment immediately following program completion. I asked Tucker and Reed about their involvement in the FSCJ Aircraft Coating Technician Program. It was very obvious that they were proud of their participation and helping bring this facility and educational program to fruition.

Flightstar also donated $26,500 to a five-year scholarship fund. Tucker says that his company is committed long term to working with the FSCJ to facilitate students' learning experience. Reed agrees as well. They feel that this was a big win for the Jacksonville area and the aviation industry.

There are many potential future applications for this paint, which Ruan says they're in discussions to commercialize. The team is working to ensure their paints can resist dirt, as well as exploring creating paint in other colors that can still reflect significant amounts of sunlight.

What’s Next

Down the line, Ruan says he's interested in using nanotechnology to create paint that can change colors based on the seasons, to keep buildings warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Tucker and Reed say that they want to help FSCJ staff develop a "holistic" program that would closely match the actual painting process as it takes place in the paint bay.

After the first class both suggested enhancements such as more flexibility in the curriculum, starting hangar work earlier in the program, and extending the internship.

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