What a sad little thread.
Aircraft cleaning was in the domain of the rigger in my day, didn't expect any help from the zobbits, they'd just get in the way!
As did anybody else who could be press-ganged, they just didn't do it properly. Anyway, cleaning the exterior of aircraft was only a real p.i.t.a. if some lazy gits hadn't done it for yonks previously. An external "cleaning" was just about the only time that the whole skin of the kite would be gone over, often revealing small or incipient problems. And it was always easier to spot potential snags, (hyd weeps, u/s fasteners, loose rivets, panel fits, stuff like that) on clean kites, that was the whole point really I reckon. Biggest problem was trying to get others to keep them in a clean state! But using that manky MoD issue Wadpol, what a waste of time - Tepol and water did the job better (especially if you promised a drink to the fire section).
As for internal cleaning,
clean as you go whatever trade, only a matter of sense I reckon, think FOD, aircrew would do this as well. The pi$$ tubes were, I admit, never easy to deal with, always felt uncomfortable doing that. But they needed doing and handling with care as urine, next to mecury, is one of the most corrosive substances you can have in aircraft (all those tales of pi$$ing down the Vulcan entrance door, no thought for the riggers). So it was in the interests of riggers to ensure these "relief" gadgets were carefully retrieved from the kite and emptied and cleaned out properly - it prevented a lot of "corrosion" hassle in the long run. The bogs on VickyTens, Brits, etc were no real problem either with a sh1t-wagon (but Racasan filling could be fun - blue hands job).
No, "cleaning" the kite was all part of the job for a rigger, moaned about yes (like everything else), but never left to, or expected to be done by, others, especially zobbits. But StiffNose has it about right - "It was about pride in the job, a quality which seems to be in short supply nowadays."
