Does anyone wash the bottom of their aircraft

brien23

brien23

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Brien
Does anyone wash the bottom of their aircraft several aircraft I have noticed just out of annual have the bottom full of oil and dirt from years of not being washed.
Appendix D to Part 43 - Scope and Detail of Items (as Applicable to the Particular Aircraft) To Be Included in Annual and 100-Hour Inspections
(a) Each person performing an annual or 100-hour inspection shall, before that inspection, remove or open all necessary inspection plates, access doors, fairing, and cowling. He shall thoroughly clean the aircraft and aircraft engine.
I have noticed people do a nice job of washing the top of their planes but seem to miss the bottom.
 
Yes, the aircraft should be clean top to bottom nand under the cowling for an annual inspection. And yes, most owners clean the belly.
 
Clip4 said:
Yes, the aircraft should be clean top to bottom nand under the cowling for an annual inspection. And yes, most owners clean the belly.
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So you have no idea of what most owners clean or not.
 
Last time I washed the belly I crawled under after I was done and it still looked horrible.

Come to think of it, today is a nice warm sunny day. I might just do that today.
 
Every time I see the cowl and nose gear strut of a certain 172, I want to break out a rag and a bottle of mineral spirits. Brien, I think you know which one I'm talking about.
 
I'd rather be flyin' ;)
 
I wash the entire aircraft on a regular basis,my mechanic always washes the aircraft after annual,and when doing maintenance.
 
Regularly......but all my aircraft are radials, so if I don’t, they get funky/nasty fast.

I probably clean the bellies twice as often as the rest of the aircraft.

Wash Wax All degreaser works wonders.
 
I've got a good in my opinion set up for washing the belly. Solvent gun with an 8ft hose (clear 1/4" hose), 5 gallon bucket with a mild degreasing soap mixed with water. Spray the belly front to back, spraying again as I clean. Rinse with clean water and then wax. Most days I can clean the belly and wax in about an hour...
 
There is an A&P around here that operates a mobile plane wash. He does a great job so I have him wash and wax my plane twice a year, including the belly. My A&P/IA also washes the whole plane every annual. Other than that, it doesn't get washed.
 
One summer years ago I washed planes. I did the top half for free, including debugging the leading edges, but oh boy did I charge for the bottom half.

I made more money than I thought I would. Seems A/C owners back then tipped well on a free top half wash, and the planes with really dirty bellies tipped very little if any.
 
I wash the bottom of my aircraft but never have had a shop wash them for annual / condition inspections.
 
I clean the bottom once a year at annual. That's enough. Bear in mind, I don't fly hundreds of hours each year.
 
I’ll have to try Gojo. I find WD40 to get the grime off well too. I always finish it off with a coat of Pledge furniture polish and that seems to slow the sludge from forming significantly.
 
I use a creeper and Wash Wax All Degreaser regularly under the engine nacelles and gear doors. Pretty lucky in that my engines don't spit out much oil (since I found their happy oil level) so it's mainly just cleaning the exhaust off. I keep the plane clean enough that all the mechanic has to do at annual is wash the engine down even though it stays pretty clean in there.
 
TheFB said:
I’ll have to try Gojo. I find WD40 to get the grime off well too. I always finish it off with a coat of Pledge furniture polish and that seems to slow the sludge from forming significantly.
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Gojo is mineral spirits + surfactants so it is effective on engine oil. It doesn’t do quite as well on exhaust residue. I do like gojo because I can smear it on the belly by hand then move the plane to the birdbath and finish cleaning with water rather than wiping the cleaner off.
 
Zeldman said:
One summer years ago I washed planes. I did the top half for free, including debugging the leading edges, but oh boy did I charge for the bottom half.

I made more money than I thought I would. Seems A/C owners back then tipped well on a free top half wash, and the planes with really dirty bellies tipped very little if any.
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For crying-out-loud, Z. If you charged less than $900 to clean "really dirty bellies", maybe they would have tipped. Cool story.
 
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It’s on my list to do soon. I’ll most likely wait for a rainy no-fly day to do it. Budda Belly is my product of choice.
 
Flight school planes I don't think they ever wash them. And I swear I am the only one who cleans the windscreen. And trash inside, unbelievable how people don't pick up after they misuse/abuse/use them.
 
mscard88 said:
Flight school planes I don't think they ever wash them. And I swear I am the only one who cleans the windscreen. And trash inside, unbelievable how people don't pick up after they misuse/abuse/use them.
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That's a sad thing. I guess I was lucky during training, small FBO in Spearfish, SD. Everyone treated the planes like they owned them...:) Washing the plane was part of out training....:lol::lol: Windows washed before every flight..:thumbsup:Checklist, seatbelts....always stowed before leaving the plane. Rotating beacon never switched to off, helps to prevent leaving master switch on.
 
I try and fly mine in the rain for a free wash job...
That's rain, no ice, no clouds.
 
Belly is washed every time the plane is washed, at least quarterly. I too swear by GoJo or Goop on the belly, fantastic stuff.

Wash the plane w/o washing the belly? That'd be like wearing a suit jacket and tie with boxer shorts and sneakers in public, (who knows, that's likely in style these days).

Or...similar to how my dad used to rip me a new azzhole when I would wash the car but not clean the interior, windows or detail the wheels & tires.
 
Yes, yes I do. I think the whole plane should be washed. I try to at minimum, spray and wipe a section every time I fly, that way I don’t have to do the whole plane all at once.

I made the mistake of looking at the belly of the club plane once. That job took me about 3 hours. Could barely move my shoulders for a week. But it was clean!
 
Once a year at annual for me too. Creeper mandatory, as are safety glasses! At some point, that crud is gonna drip on your face.
 
Fearless Tower said:
Regularly......but all my aircraft are radials, so if I don’t, they get funky/nasty fast.

I probably clean the bellies twice as often as the rest of the aircraft.

Wash Wax All degreaser works wonders.
Click to expand...

Did mine today... 5 hours top and bottom. Washwax All degreser on bottom, WashWax All all over after that. I'm pooped. first time I've done mine in two years.
 
Years ago I flew for a 135 outfit in Alaska that painted the bottoms of all the single engine charter planes black. That way passengers had a harder time seeing the oil on the belly.
 
After every flight I wipe my plane down (except the belly) with Blackfire Rinseless Wash to get the bugs off. About every 6 to 8 weeks I'll get my creeper and spray the bottom with a very mild solution of Super Clean to degrease. I'll follow the Super Clean by finishing it off with the Blackfire Rinseless Wash. I love the Blackfire stuff. It has polimers in it that keep the wax job in great shape. I haven't washed my plane with soap and water in two years. My airplane is hangared so that helps so much to keep the plane in good shape, but the real key is wiping it down after every flight. It just never has the opportunity to get dirty that way.
 
I have a creeper and clean the belly about every 2 months. It's easier if you don't let it get out of hand. I use something appropriately named Belly Wash which is in a spray bottle and wipes off. 100LL works just as well and I have heard good things about GOJO as well.
 
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