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For the last five years I have cleaned my Baron quite
simply, with just water from a garden hose and a hand chamois cloth dry. No big
expensive pressure washers, no exotic soaps and California Blade brushes or Mr.
Clean water spot eliminator systems. Your methods may vary, however, I've been
very pleased with my simple CSOB approach.
I will hand apply and hand buff the entire airplane once or
sometimes twice per year using either of the above Marine Quality liquid waxes.
Another wax/polishing product that comes highly recommended
by fellow CSOBer Steven M., is
Protect All, an easy to
apply spray liquid. Reportedly available in 14oz bottles for about $10 at
Wal-Mart.
See their aircraft testimonials
HERE
Another favorite among Beechcraft owners is
REJEX. Available
from SkyGeek for ~$16 for a 16oz bottle. Reported to go on very easy and polish
up easy as well and lasts (as reported by some) up to about 9 months. Brought to
you by the fine folks who produce Corrosion X.
Some folks prefer to use an electric buffer such as this
Cyclo. I have borrowed my mechanic's Cyclo a couple of times and it is a very
nice machine and does a nice job, however, I just prefer the nice workout and
satisfaction of doing the job by hand.
Cyclo Polishers generally sell for ~ $300, so that's why
this CSOB does not have one!
Search for a Cyclo Polisher CSOB deal on EBay
HERE
Another orbital polisher that is lower cost than the Cyclo
and is reported by Beech owner Bob N. to give good results is the
Porter Cable 7424 (click for specs), a 6" variable speed polisher.
Available at Amazon (click image above) for ~$118. Here are
Bob's thoughts on the 7424:
A Porter Cable 7424 DA Polisher is less expensive, more versatle, and you
can't hurt the finish with it. Do not get an orbital polisher. You can use the
7424 both to clean away the oxidized paint, and to apply wax. Get some yellow,
orange, and white foam pads for it.
I recommend Meguiar's A3016 Deep Crystal Cleaner, topped with either
Collinite #845 Insulator Wax (a pure carnuba wax) or Rejex (by Corrosion-X). If
you keep your airplane hangared, Nu-Finish will deliver an unbeatable shine, but
it won't last as long as Rejex or Insulator Wax if kept outside. Get a gallon of
Wash-Wax-All blue to use for touchups, removing bugs, and keeping the windows
clean.
Thanks Bob!
Spinner Magic
Here's a pirep from Kent F. of OK on some
great results he achieved on some spinners with California Custom products:
I tried the California Custom stuff to polish some spinners
and it works as advertised
A couple of spinners hadn't been touched in 3-4 years except
for washing. I used the de-oxidizer then buffed with the polish. The de-oxidizer
is the key. After the black residue came up, while polishing. I used a third rag
with corn starch (flour works just as good) and the shine glowed clean. Didn't
have to rub hard.
It took less than ten minutes a spinner with rather great
results. It took just small part of bottle. Probably be able to do 10-15 more
spinners.
Spinner - Before
Spinner - After
Kent also adds the following:
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The acid etch goes on by a small cloth wet. You can
immediately start applying the polish. The directions
say rub or buff "until you do not feel friction".
It does not need hard rubbing.
Both, the etch and the polish are more liquid than
paste.
But as you buff, Alike as with any polish, the old
surface turns into a black gummy residue. You can keep
using clean clothes, but it is much faster to sprinkle
starch or flour over the gum as you buff.
I guess the starch particles adhere to the residue and
acts as a medium to remove it easier.
I found a few spots needed a 2nd touch and a little dab
of polish fixed it.
Really, I've tried several methods and other creams and
watched the detail guys use their powered buffers and
even they took a lot of time.
The etch is the trick. And only 5-10 minutes.
Both bottles have enough quantity to do 10-15 spinners.
p.s. definitely use gloves.. Its a dirty deal of smear
polishing, and to me the stage one smells like a bit of
hydrofluoric acid. Bad stuff.
It smells like the same etch air-conditioning guys use
to clean condensers.
Latex gloves worked fine and didn't melt around my
fingers
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For touch ups of the Matterhorn White paint I have found
DupliColor HA00978 to be a good CSOB match. Available at Wal-Mart, Auto Stores
and Amazon. You be the judge for your color eye <vbg>
Here is a source for small "touch up" portions of Jet Glo
aviation paint Aero
Touchups:
Here is a 8/27/2009 pirep from Beech Lister JS on Aero
Touchups:
Just in case any of you have a need for Jet Glo or Acry Glo
paints for touch-up or small jobs, I highly recommend
Aero Touchups
I ordered a small amount of Jet Glo but somehow Acry Glo got
shipped. Also, the small can of hardener leaked during shipment.
I called figuring it was going to be a fight to get the right paint and more
hardner. Just the opposite. The owner, Don, immediately responded by
shipping me an entire new order at his expense, and insisting I keep the other
stuff for spare. He even called back days later to confirm it all
had arrived and everything was OK. This type of customer
service is really rare today, especially among web based mail order businesses
(in my experience).
Although I'm not sure his website mentions it, he was able to
provide my trim colors in addition to the overall white. I have NO connection to
them other than being a totally happy customer.
For exhaust staining, belly cleaning and leading edge bug
removal, my favorite is Simple Green Extreme. Aviation safe and Boeing approved
for aluminum. When diluted 50% with water as directed it performs excellently.
There are even reports of good results with an 8:1 water dilution for the super
CSOB! 
Available at
Spruce and Sky
Geek
Many folks avoid using ordinary Simple Green on their
aluminum airframe! The concern seems to be the product remnants lying in the
crevices and seams of our airframes. This is a major reason that the "Extreme"
product (pictured above) was developed and is approved by Boeing as safe for
aluminum airframes.
Other aircraft belly cleaning secrets include:
From Ralph R. - Try using non-abrasive hand cleaner on the
belly of the airplane. I can clean my Bonanza's belly in about half an hour
using half a dozen rags and a half a can of hand cleaner. Make sure that the
hand cleaner does not have any pumice in it. No water needed, no solvent needed,
no clean up other than disposing of the dirty rags.
I start with a supply of rags and apply the hand cleaner. It
will emulsify the grease and oil. Use rag two to wipe it up. Repeat. Once rag #1
gets really gunked up dispose of it and use rag #2 to apply the hand cleaner.
Repeat until the tail tie down is reached.
From Kelly M. - I discovered that WD40 works for belly
cleaning. I only use WD40 for cleaning, never lubrication. Just spray on belly
or rag/paper towel, wipe clean. Might take 2 passes if really gunked up. Then
follow with Aviation Simple Green to remove the WD40 residue.
Another product that gets a CSOB thumbs up
for exhaust staining is, believe it
or not, Scrubbing Bubbles! This find is courtesy of Beech owner Tommy G.
Here's a Scrubbing Bubbles pirep from Beech Talker
"I sprayed
it on and let it sit for 15 seconds, as Tom suggested. Wiped it off and all of
the baked-on crud came off with it. Couldn't be easier, cheaper or more
effective."
I know you would wax your airplane more often with a
Hangar Helper Buddy!
If you have a waxing/cleaning pirep on some CSOB worthy
products or methods that have worked out well for you please
Email me
the info.
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My
Favorite CSOB Beechcraft Cleaning & Waxing Secrets
