Keywords
Citation
(2005), "Surface preparation and finishing facilities", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 77 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2005.12777eaf.006
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2005, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Surface preparation and finishing facilities
Surface preparation and finishing facilities
Keywords: Aircraft, Maintenance, Surface treatment
Hodge Clemco recently completed a surface preparation and finishing facilities at the new state-of-the-art aircraft maintenance centre built for the Defence Aviation Repair Agency in South Wales. The contract was worth £3.2 million.
The order is the biggest ever won by the Sheffield-based company in its 45-year history and is the result of close collaboration with USA-based Global Finishing Solutions Inc, for which Hodge Clemco is the UK agent. It involved building five booths – one for surface preparation and four for painting – that are big enough to accommodate military jets such as the Tornado, Eurofighter and other aircraft.
The paint-booths, 20 m wide × 22 m long × 8.5 m high, are designed to cope with the specialised coatings used on aircraft, with three-stage filtration to minimise emissions to the surrounding area and sophisticated heating systems to optimise the performance of the coatings in service. High-specification lighting will guarantee minimum 1,000lux illumination.
The de-painting chamber includes a high-performance recycling system which enables a high proportion of the acrylic media used to remove existing coatings to be re-used, bringing considerable savings in running costs.
“Being appointed to work on such a large, important project confirmed Hodge Clemco's position as one of the UK's leading companies in this field”, said managing director Neil Crisford. “Our expertise and our ability to handle all aspects of the installation from initial designs through to training and maintenance won us the contract”.
The DARA aircraft maintenance facility at RAF St Athan, budgeted at £78 million, was completed at the end of 2004, and is a key element of a new Aerospace Centre of Excellence planned by the Welsh Development Agency at the site. The main contractor is Laing O'Rourke.