An Aircraft Retailer’s Dream: No Bug Stick Wings

It seems like a thousand years ago I started my first real business washing airplanes at age 12. It turned out to be a very canny business decision in hindsight. Still, when I was 12 it was very hard work, and I can remember cleaning the bugs from the leading edge and wings of small light aircraft and business jets. Then I would have to wax them really good to help me remove the new bugs the next time I wash the same plane.

That was then, and this is now, and there may be some relief down the road for future young aircraft cleaners. Let’s talk, let’s talk about some new future technologies in the aerospace sector.

There is a great video on YouTube that talks about NASA’s wing research for modern aircraft. The title of the video is: “The Super Efficient Future of Air Travel” and it’s worth watching. Fast forward the video to: 4:00 PM in the video.

This video looks at drag – both induced drag and parasitic drag – of dead insects and how this affects a wing’s performance, which is another reason why aircraft detailers are constantly washing and waxing aircraft wings.

Now, imagine in the future specialized coatings that prevent dead (squashed) insects from sticking together. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Yes, I totally agree. Wow, looking back, all I can say is; I sure wish they had such coatings back then, it certainly would have saved me so much work, or maybe not, because if those coatings existed my aircraft washing, cleaning and detailing services might not have been necessary.

Well, either way, these new technologies will completely change the rules of the game for the aircraft detailing industry, just as non-stick Teflon pans changed things for cooking bacon and eggs. Materials science has come a long way, and it’s amazing how much it will reshape the world we live in in the future, even for those subsectors of our economy, like airplane washing and cleaning.

Sometimes I feel like our industry is not keeping up with all the new technologies that affect us, and yes it is a relatively simple business sector to engage in, however a prudent operator or owner of such a business must stay. up to date. the forefront of aerospace technology to stay ahead of the competition, so I thought you might like to hear about this. After all, we don’t want any of our workers to suffer carpal tunnel while cleaning up all those erased and burned insects, right? Consider all of this and think about it.