Best way to clean tail boom 412
 

Hi guys, can anyone shed any light on the
best way to clean a white tail boom on a 412?

Many Thanks

Bigsquirrel

Never ending task.
 

If its really bad, get yourself some Flitz. Works a treat.

Taff

If the 'soot' has become ingrained so as to render most 'normal' detergents ineffective then you may have to concede that, at some point in the not too distant future, the boom may require a re-spray (depending on how long the soot has been allowed to accrue).

As a temporary measure (in order to 'restore' the whiteness) mix a tin of Brasso metal polish (liquid form) into a bucket of warm detergent - the soot will be removed! But .. with it will go much of the clear coat (if you have any on your craft). Once you've used Brasso you will need to keep the tail clean on a regular basis in order to avoid further applications of the 'gritty' solution.

Good luck .. and send us a photo once your tail is clean! ;)

Does the 412 have the 'strait' exhaust ejectors or the 'upturned' ones, the latter are almost essential to keeping the tailboom clean and free of heat damage (from extended periods of hovering and slow speed).

409 followed by lots of good soap and brushing!

What ever you use DON'T use TeeCut or any abrasive cleaner. It looks great for a wee while but the paint has lots of micro scores in it that fill with soot and you have to teecut again and in no time there's no paint. Magnasol (spelling?) and water wash early, don't wait until it really needs it, if you need a one off shine, wd40 rags and elbow grease.

Simple Green, 5 gal bucket, long handle brush.

Water, Soap and a sponge first.

Let it dry, and use car polish-that takes off the back stuff easily.....

The best way is to have someone else do it for you....:\
Realistically speaking, unless you need to have it cleaned for a photoshoot or to sell.... don't bother. It will be black within a week of flying!
I've wasted quite a few sun burning hours sweating my :mad: off to impress the boss to no avail :ugh:

Traffic Film Remover - but make sure you wash it off thoroughly with water and if it's composite then don't use it unless it's silicon free.

Thank you guys, some great suggestions there
much appreciated.

Cheers

Bigsquirrel

Really good suggestions and products!

What is Flitz? I have never heard of it?? :rolleyes:

Call Bell for details ,Off the shelf 409 & Simple Green will damage aluminum bad. CarbonX works best ,:rolleyes:

First, a good quality aircraft soap and scrub with cotton towels by hand....followed by a second wash with standard cleaning brush and hose off all soap residue.

Second, obtain AeroGloss cleaner/wax, or similar product...apply and buff by hand or use buffer...two times if really dirty. This will get the T/B as clean as you're going to get it...if still show signs of exhaust then only a paint job will fix it.

Finish up the first 2 steps with a final coating of Rejex...a teflon based product. Re-apply monthly or as needed to maintain smooth sealed surface on paint...its worth it even on old dirty paint.

Main key is to wash aircraft on regular basis...even by hand with bucket.

As stated above...word of caution on Simple Green, etc type of cleaners that are alkyd based cleaners...they will promote corrosion on aluminum structures. There have been numerous studies on this which resulted in several standards created to classify cleaners as aviation safe. But all is not lost...several mfg's to include Simple Green, I think, have produced a version of their cleaners that meet those standards and plainly state on the exterior of the containers such approval...

Best way to clean tail boom 412
 

On the Aberdeen 225s they tried cleaning recently with ordinary sea water. Pictures I have seen of the floating machines proves them successful, could not see any black stains on the Tailbooms. :-)

For really ingrained soot our pilots, (and some of us engineers, if there are no pilots watching :)), use HEMPEL'S CUSTOM MARINE POLISH 67445. It requires a bit of elbow grease but works really well on the B3 tail booms..
For every day cleaning we use a PH neutral truck wash and those microfiber broom heads.

DO NOT use Simple Green 409 or anything else with any chlorine or chloride fluorine or fluoride in it on any aluminum surface. It forms HCL/HFL and causes hydrogen embrittlement. This has brought down Chinooks, see the US Army's memo on simple green. or the FAA memo on hydrogen embrittlement.

409 says right on the bottle not to use on aluminium for this reason. Simple Green makes an "Aircraft Safe" cleaner with different ingrdients for this puropse.

The only thing for helicopter turbine soot is Hempels Aero Gloss. It has a Mil spec, cleans the soot off even old soot behind cowlings. Will not cause corrosion and its safe on composite materials. This is a cleaner polish, designed to be waterless and has no abrasive components so will only take off the soot and oxidised paint only. If it will not come off with Aero Gloss re paint it because it will be stained through to the primer.

Does anybody know where you can get this Aerogloss. Is it definately silicon free?

aircraftspruce, sky geek, ultrafinishproducts

"Thank you guys, some great suggestions there"
 

Hi bigsquirrel,

There have been alot of suggestions, and to be fair-do have an instant result but it is still masking the underlying problem.

There is a company out there that have done extensive trials/testing/research in different parts of the world for many years, to not only address the soot problem but also UV damage to the paint itself. The name is Permagard and the webiste is below.

About Permagard

As part of the application process, there is the option of using an extremely fine abrasive fluid for paint surfaces that have considerable micro-damage.

Major airlines throughout the world now are also using to not only reduce downtime/extend cleaning cycles but is also improving fuel efficiency.

There is a number of video's also on youtube to look at.

No-I dont work for the company and am not a shareholder...just an engineer who came across this info a while back. Any company I work for or consult to, I always put forward as a suggestion as I think it is worth the small effort.

Something to consider :)

Swinging Spanner, thank you for that information
much appreciated. I hope others got some good
info from this thread also.

Cheers

BS