Airplane detailing!

bigbadbp7

bigbadbp7

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I was approached by a gentleman that wants me to detail his airplane? What is the going rate? It is a small plane so I figured it would would be worth around two trucks worth of exterior work.

Any hourly rate/pricing recommendations?

Also any caution I need to take when doing the plane? I figured I am going to use my HD ADAPT and a orange CCS pad on my GG6 and seal it up with Deep Gloss 3.0

Advice please! I am excited about this!Feed back please:buffing:
 
Well depending on the condition you may need a rotary polisher. Have done some planes in the past and a good rotary really is a money maker. HD Adapt/WDGPS is a good combination. As far as pricing goes it depends on your market.
For smaller Cessna's your looking at 500 minimum to wash, decon, polish and seal.

Don't sell yourself short. There is a lot of up and down a ladder doing planes. Plus a creeper to clean up the under belly is really handy. Most planes tend to have hydraulic fluid etc built up in the landing gear and underside.
 
Have you seen the aircraft yet? It sounds like you may have since you have a idea of what products you are going to use. If you are doing correction work on it you most likely don't even need a medium polish like HD Adapt. Nearly all small aircraft use single stage and the paint is always oxidized unless its maintained really well.

If you like HD products HD Speed would work really well, but I would top it with a longer lasting sealant. I have used DG 105 then I topped that with DG Track Claw since it is supposed to lower air resistance. The Track Claw was a extra charge, but the client did not seem to mind, in fact he was thrilled about the product once I told him about its benefits.

Some things to look out for are antennas or any other kind of external instrument. Rivets are everywhere and if you are not careful you can take the paint right off the head of the rivet. Just assess the condition of the paint and unless the paint is really dried out and brittle I would not be overly concerned about rivets. Some aircraft are skinned in almost a fabric like material that is stretched over it then heated up to make it tighter. Again not really a big deal unless its in poor condition, just don't put too much weight on it or any sharp objects. The material is really tough but its not like working on metal.
 
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I agree...$500 for a basic 2 seater is about right. LOTS of surface area to work on.

As far as precautions go..unless you are a aviation expert and pilot yourself, have the owner / pilot go over all of the various sensors on the aircraft and tape them off AND flag them with a tie on loggers type tape. If one of these sensors gets missed and is not untaped or is clogged with product it can lead to a potential crash due to instrument issues and misreadings.

I would be VERY careful with a rotary on this paint. Every rivet head, and there are thousands of them, is a raised surface that a rotary can burn the paint right off of. I have great luck with my ol' GG6 and M105 / 205. D108 works great for underbelly cleaning!

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Thanks for the advice. I was talking to another detailer and he said I also need to ground the plane to help with static electricity. So I am not igniting any fuel by accident. Any other advice?
 
bigbadbp7 said:
I was approached by a gentleman that wants me to detail his airplane? What is the going rate? It is a small plane so I figured it would would be worth around two trucks worth of exterior work.

Any hourly rate/pricing recommendations?

Also any caution I need to take when doing the plane? I figured I am going to use my HD ADAPT and a orange CCS pad on my GG6 and seal it up with Deep Gloss 3.0

Advice please! I am excited about this!Feed back please:buffing:
Click to expand...

It all depends on if it's high wing or a low wing. The pricing on planes vary due to engine type, condition, wing span, and wing type.
 
What kind of airplane is it model would be helpful.Ive done a lot of planes 4 this year ,Michael Jordan ,citi furniture ,lawyers cardiologist.They can be really difficult there isn't a stand alone product that will give you awesome results . The hardest part is underneath the fluid is like a gel expect to ruin a lot of towels and if you are gonna wash first no caustic apc .If it's a small Cessna,oxidation removal I would easily charge 750 and that's for a really small plane.Last plane I did was a pilatus 2 step ,convinced owner to coat it he spent 800.00 in coating alone from ag ,I charged 6500.I did magic jack owner jet for 20000 it took 4 weeks to do and he spent 8 k on products. Love doing jets and rv .Thats where the money is not cars.
 
Have you ever done a plane before? If you haven't then you shouldn't be touching a plane. There are many things you need to know before you ever touch a plane.
 
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