CURLYHEADBOY From Italy, joined Feb 2005, 804 posts, RR: 1 Posted (3 months 20 hours ago) and read 3756 times:
I believe airliners liveries are a thing that fascinate us plane lovers, colourful planes coming to airports from all over the world are part of the beauty and enjoyment of plane spotting.
I guess there are more than a few technical aspects involved when they have to apply the paint job to an aircraft, so I wanted to ask: what features are strictly mandatory when it comes to painting a plane in its livery?
The one that comes to my mind is that, regardless the colours, all have to display their registration, but I guess there are more rules to comply with, so what are the others?
If God had wanted men to fly he would have given them more money...
Tdscanuck From Canada, joined Jan 2006, 3772 posts, RR: 28 Reply 2, posted (3 months 18 hours ago) and read 3710 times:
Quoting CURLYHEADBOY (Thread starter): what features are strictly mandatory when it comes to painting a plane in its livery?
Composite parts must be painted, and if they face upwards or sideways they must be painted a relatively light colour. Otherwise you face UV and heating issues.
Registration is a must (the location and size varies by country). In some countries, you also need to display the flag of registry. I suspect there's also some requirement for visibility (I don't think you can paint your airplane matte black) but I'm not sure about that.
Some of the warning placards and markings are also considered part of the type design, so those have to be there.
MD11Engineer From Germany, joined Oct 2003, 9460 posts, RR: 62 Reply 4, posted (3 months 17 hours ago) and read 3686 times:
The paint system has to be approved bythe manufacturer, to prevent issues like corrosion. The radome has to be painted with a special paint for RF transparency issues.
DALMD88 From United States, joined Jul 2000, 1727 posts, RR: 7 Reply 5, posted (3 months 16 hours ago) and read 3667 times:
Flight control surfaces also have to be balanced after painting. That is why when you see planes on the Boeing assembly line the rudder is already painted.
MD11Engineer From Germany, joined Oct 2003, 9460 posts, RR: 62 Reply 7, posted (3 months 10 hours ago) and read 3578 times:
Quoting YWG (Reply 6): Quoting Tdscanuck (Reply 2):
Some of the warning placards and markings are also considered part of the type design, so those have to be there.
Not to mention the "CUT HERE / RESCUE HERE" markings.
Any decal / stencilling in ATA chapter 11 is mandatory.
Why? BWIA painted there aircraft while they were in the hanger for a C-Check. The BWIA hanger has no doors. All they would do is mask off the aircraft, put plastic sheets over the areas that should not be painted, sand or strip the old paint and apply the new paint. I have a picture of the painting in progress if you would like to see it.
Quoting YWG (Reply 6): Not to mention the "CUT HERE / RESCUE HERE" markings.
Not required in US (or Canadian) registered aircraft.
MD11Engineer From Germany, joined Oct 2003, 9460 posts, RR: 62 Reply 12, posted (2 months 4 weeks 1 day 19 hours ago) and read 3390 times:
Quoting Flexo (Reply 10): A little while back I saw a TV report about Diamond aircraft and it claimed that their aircraft had to be painted white to prevent overheating.
The range of aircraft manufactured by Diamond are made out of composites. Composites are a bit sensitive to heat and UV radiation, hence they get painted with a white or light coloured, reflective, coat of paint.
Flexo From Germany, joined Mar 2007, 313 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (2 months 4 weeks 1 day 18 hours ago) and read 3361 times:
Quoting MD11Engineer (Reply 12): The range of aircraft manufactured by Diamond are made out of composites. Composites are a bit sensitive to heat and UV radiation, hence they get painted with a white or light coloured, reflective, coat of paint.
Interesting, would that also apply to the Boeing 787 once in service?
AA388 From Puerto Rico, joined Sep 2007, 264 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (2 months 4 weeks 1 day 7 hours ago) and read 3228 times:
Quoting Tdscanuck (Reply 14): Yes. You'll notice that all the 787 liveries are relatively light coloured on the upper surfaces, and none of them are bare.
Tom.
I guess Vietnam airlines didnt get the memo..
And why to the 787 engines have to be gray? BA livery looks terrible with grey engines.
Tdscanuck From Canada, joined Jan 2006, 3772 posts, RR: 28 Reply 17, posted (2 months 4 weeks 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 3193 times:
Quoting AA388 (Reply 15):
I guess Vietnam airlines didnt get the memo..
There's a reason I said *relatively* light. Black is out. Light blue, apparently, is OK. What should really matter is the IR and UV reflectance of the paint, so maybe they fiddle with the chemistry on the darker colours.
Quoting AA388 (Reply 15): And why to the 787 engines have to be gray? BA livery looks terrible with grey engines.
During the early design, they were painted in the livery. Then they switched to a laminar flow nacelle. I don't think it has to be grey, but they do want it all one colour so you don't have a paint line tripping the boundary layer from laminar to turbulent.
HAWK21M From India, joined Jan 2001, 25780 posts, RR: 51 Reply 18, posted (2 months 4 weeks 1 day 2 hours ago) and read 3167 times:
Quoting Starlionblue (Reply 16): This only applies to airliners in most countries. Private aircraft do not have to comply, although they often do.
Out here...Any Door which is utilised for Entry/Exit is bordered differently with a contrasting colour.On Freighters too,the door that are Deactivated are not.
regds
MEL
CanadianNorth From Canada, joined Aug 2002, 3083 posts, RR: 12 Reply 19, posted (2 months 4 weeks 15 hours ago) and read 3058 times:
It's been a while since I've read through any CARs, but I do seem to remember for Canada:
- Registration must be visible, and theres a certain dimension that each letter must be as big or bigger, and I also remember on some types it had to be in certain places (helis had to either be nose or tail boom I think)
- As said exits have to be outlined in a contrasting colour from their surroundings
- Any mandatory markings as per ATA ch11
- I don't recall anything about "Cut here" outlines, but I have seen them on multiple aircraft on the Canadian register so I'm unsure on that one
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