Paintwork Coatings - any good?

[jaycee46]

We have been looking at hangering our Arrow over the worst months of the winter. Unfortunately, due to lack of available hangerage at the airfield, we would have to move it quite a bit away, with the obvious problems that causes. However, a bit of clubhouse chat at the weekend led us to thinking of having the aircraft 'tefloned', which, it is claimed, protects well, and is considerably less than hangering fees.

A quick search on St.Google and UKGA brought up a few detailing companies offering 'nano' coatings.

Before I make a prat of myself asking the advertisers silly questions, I thought the collective of Pprune may be able to shed a bit of light on
a. whether nano is the same as teflon
b. is it worth doing
c. what's involved
d. anyone had it done and what did it cost?

Cheers!

[PPRuNe Towers]

I treated my shared Jodel every 2 or 3 years with Autoglym Super Resin polish. It been heavily tested with every paintwork imaginable but if you favour another polish system there is an alternative. The Autoglym pure clear topcoat is incredibly simple to use and gives that long term ice sheet finish and liquid beading. Price is mid range auto polish and not the hype ridden alternatives like those plaguing Facebook at the moment.

Brilliant performance on fabric, composite and metal.

Rob

[BoeingBoy]

I had my Archer covered in a 'Ceramic coating' by a company in 2016 and again with a 'Nano coating' by another last year. Both were OK but frankly not worth the money, and in the case of the second company I had to ask them to come back as frankly the aircraft looked as shiny as I normally get in two hours with some dry wash/wax bought in Halfords. I didn't really notice any benefit in cleaning and sadly through my own fault entirely I wiped out the Nano coating with a kitchen scourer when removing bugs from the leading edge (Yes, I know that's not a good idea but it's a long story).

Bearing in mind most of these products are being sold for around £600 to £1000 per application you would be as well applying any form of automotive ceramic based gloss yourselves. There are plenty on the market and frankly it will cost you much less. Check YouTube for videos on how to apply them.

Your Arrow will corrode behind the scenes just as fast whether or not you apply any coating. Leaving it outside, especially near any coastline will see you looking at repair bills in a year or two. The benefit you will get is in UV protection from paint fading, but unless you intend to keep the aircraft for many years this won't be your primary concern.

If you can't get hangarage, buy a good aircraft cover, the investment would be more beneficial.

[The Ancient Geek]

If you can't get hangarage, buy a good aircraft cover, the investment would be more beneficial.

I am not happy about covers, my experience with motorbike covers parked outside is that they can trap moisture and cause corrosion.
There are tent-like portable hangers available, this would be a better idea if your airfield would let you erect one.

[BoeingBoy]

I would agree with the above, but given the choice between no cover and exposure to the elements with a paint coating I think the cover would be a better long term investment. Any form of hangarage would give the most benefit.

[irish seaplane]

I painted an aeroplane for less than I was quoted for a Ceramic coating on a 182. I think it was 2160 gbp.....