So aircraft bellies get dirty. We have oil from the engine and exhaust soot from the exhuast. If youve ever cleaned a belly you know its not the glamorous part of what we do.  So when you notice on the belly the oil is sticky and hard to remove. When removing oil degreasers will work but is not the most effective. Water based products do not really break down the oil to make it easy to remove.  Mineral spirits in my opinion is one of the best options. We use terry towels because the towels get ruined. You may be able to wash them if they arent too bad. Just do not do it in your washer at home. The beauty of mineral spirits is it actually softens the oil on the belly. This way you do not have to use abrasion or ungodly amounts of pressure to remove the oil. So if we let the mineral spirits break down the oil to remove it we are less likely to damage the paint from abrasion.  So we have removed the oil but the mineral spirits will not remove the exhaust soot typically. The exhaust soot can be easily removed with cleaners that are readily available. I do not typically like to spray onto the belly. I will spray it onto a rag and wipe all the areas of the belly. Including where I wiped with the mineral spirits. We will get back to why later. Note that you need to keep using new towels or new sections of the towel because once the exhuast is removed and on the towel it make the degreaser not as effective even if we spray more degreaser. So after you wipe a section with your choice of cleaner change your section of towel and apply new cleaner and repeat.  After all of the soot and mineral spirits residue is removed it is time to neutralize the belly. I personally use dry wash to remove the cleaner from the belly. It is important to remove the cleaner because they can acctually promote the degratdation of paint and corrosion. Neutralizing the belly will also help keep the paint looking good and easier cleaning in the future. Note that if you did not remove the mineral spirits with the cleaner it will be tough to neutralize the belly. I have noticed on some bellies with clearcoat the exhuast will come off with just mineral spirits. If this is the case I will come back after with a terry towel and remove the excess mineral spirits on the belly. You will be surprised as it will have a shiny finish. Many waxes and polishes have mineral spirits in them so no need to worry. Also another tip for cleaning bellies is always work from the front of the aircraft to the back. You are less likely to catch antennas working this way.  Lastly if you see something say something. If there is excessive oil or problems notify the owner, pilot, or mechanic in charge of the aircraft. Its best to not clean it so they can see the issue before fully cleaning. A quick photo and text message is very helpful.

In this episode we talk about the mistakes aircraft detailers make when detailing aircraft. Many companies are falling short of how different surfaces should be restored when aircraft detailing. It could be a plethora of issues such as their pricing doesnt allow for the work to be done properly or they simply just don't know. 

We go over restoring paint, brightwork, leather, seat belts, carpets and de-ice boots. We talk about doing thorough jobs on these aircraft and what is commonly missed. 

Check us out on Shinyjets.com

Oxidation removal - In this episode I talk about oxidation removal on aircraft paint.

In this episode we talk about Dry Wash Vs. Wet Wash. We go over the benefits of both methods and drawbacks of both methods. 

In this episode we talk with Mike Howard of Jet Setter Charters. We talk about charter aircraft, business, mindset and more. 

You can find Mike here-

https://2jetset.com/

https://www.instagram.com/mikehoward3/

In this we invite Adam Dole of Dole and Sons Insurance to talk about Aviation Detailing Insurance. Listen in to find out how to acquire insurance and how to be covered to detail aircraft.

Find our podcast on these platforms

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/7wEcYJsZBoweuh7APhqelZ

Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shiny-jets/id1549245243

Anchor - https://anchor.fm/shinyjets

Breaker - https://www.breaker.audio/shiny-jets

Google Podcasts - https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy80ODA5NTQxNC9wb2RjYXN0L3Jzcw==

Pocket Podcasts - https://pca.st/fwrplul1

We would like to Adam Dole again for being on our podcast. Below is their information if you need help with aircraft detailing insurance.

Dole and Sons Insurance -

Website - https://www.doleandsons.com/

Instagram - @doleandsons

Phone - (619) 475-5200

Be sure to check out our courses offered below.

Shiny Jets Certification Course - https://shinyjets.com/collections/certification/products/shiny-jets-certification-course

Online Aviation Detailing Course - 

https://shinyjets.com/collections/fly-shiny/Online-course

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In this episode we get into training. Travis has been gracious enough to train at our Aviation Detailing Courses and will be an asset to Shiny Jets Trainings in the future.

Interested in trainings?

https://shinyjets.com/collections/all

Please give us feedback on topics or guests you'd like to hear on our podcast.