Scale facts-Aircraft interior finishes.

[wonwinglo]

As well as protecting the external surfaces of an aircrafts structure,attention has to be given to the hidden interior,metal aircraft in particular go through a lot of climatic changes which if unchecked can cause all sorts of corrosion and degradation of the structure,in particular where unlike metals such as magnesium castings are in contact with alloy or steel materials this can quickly accelerate into a white powder which is such signs that there are problems,to avoid this a thin layer of yellow chromate paste is applied to the mating surfaces.Zinc chromate is a major factor in preventing corrosion,when you next look into the wheel bays of an aircraft at your local air museum take a closer look,you will probably see a matt pale yellow colour somewhere or another,this is a zinc coating that is sprayed onto the metal when the aircraft is first built,it must be checked and maintained to ensure the surfaces are free from corrosive air and chemicals that will attack the airframe,furthermore it is applied together with a weak acid,this is usually a selenious material which will etch gently into the metal,the colour can vary between different countries,the U.S Air Force tend to use a slightly greenish tinge but the idea is the same,ie to protect metal during the life of the aircraft.

During WW2 a finish was developed by Titanine aircraft finishes,that made the interior cockpit colour of the aircraft easy on the eyes,especially when map reading or when conditions were poor,it is generally termed and known as 'cockpit green' a pale shade of green,this can still be seen today in many preserved vintage training aircraft of that period,it was made in both synthetic and cellulose finishes,the former tending to be more glossy and the latter a semi-matt finish.Instrument panels were normally black,once again a semi matt finish and normally bombers had a black finished quadrant and other fittings.Another finish that must be mentioned is a material called Lanolin,this again is a fine anti corrosive material usually used in difficult areas where paint would chip off,lanolin can be poured into aircraft tubuler structures and plugs placed into the ends,it is there for the life of the aircraft,the colour varies but normally it is a burgundy type of red in shade,it can also be painted onto fittings,the main advantage is that it never fully dries out and exhibits excellent anti corrosive properties even in salt air,this is why it has been used in many Naval aircraft over the years.

This is only a small insight into what happens inside an aircrafts structure and the materials used,by explaining the above in simple terms gives the scale modeller a better understanding of what the interior of any aircraft in service looks like,after all not many people get that chance to look beyond the exterior finish of any machine.

Inside a B-17 Flying Fortress,this shows to good advantage the chromate green colour used during the WW2 period and beyond.Note even then the different shades of finish used on this particular aircraft.

 

[Nigel.D]

Is that zinc chromate?????

 

[wonwinglo]

Is that zinc chromate?????

*** Zinc Chromate is a generic term for a surface finish that acts by gently etching the surface of aluminium,the material is mixed in the case of aircraft finishes using the basic green/yellow pigment and adding a weak solution of acid,it has a very pungent and abnoxious smell when being sprayed.

Whether cockpit or interior green the finishes contain zinc which is the finest protection for aluminium alloys.

 

[duncan]

Is that zinc chromate?????

When I was employed by the USAF the common name was "baby-shit yellow" ! My children were infants at the time so I had a constant reference even when off duty ! :hmmm:

 

[wonwinglo]

What types of aircraft did you work on in the U.S.A.F Duncan ?

 

[duncan]

I didnt work on them (except for painting the odd star and bar on a damaged fuz) I was the Base Illustrator (very base !) with 1631st Air Base Group. On site were Grumman Albatross SA-16 (ASR) and SC-54Ds of MATS passing through on the trans-Atlantic run via Gander and Iceland en route to Europe. The odd Globemaster passing through. Being situated on Prestwick Airport (north side) there were many different types based there or passing through. Scottish Aviation Ltd was half mile from Greensite,with piles of cacooned Sabres for a while. German Starfighters were serviced by SAL. Bulldogs were being built and the Jetstream on the drawing boards. The civvy side had DC-6s, Connies, Stratocruisers etc etc. Many happy memories, memorable was shaking hands with the first woman in space and seeing Uri Gargarin, Elvis Pressley and loads of other famous people. There is a nice little softback called "The Flying Scots" by Jack Webster that covers aviation in Scotland that might be of interest. IBSN 0-9522174-2-2 Did you know that Amy Johnson`s final flight in 1941 started at Prestwick ?

 

[wonwinglo]

These were great days Duncan for sheer variety of aircraft,Prestwick must have been an hive of activity in those days,all interesting real aeroplanes,problem is these days everything looks the same,the airliners are getting difficult to identify as they are all virtually the same shape,you saw the best machines no mistake as Prestwick must have been an important staging post.

Did you manage to take any pictures by any chance ? if so I would love to see a few of them.

Those Sabre F-86,were these the lease lend ones we had before the Hunter came into service by any chance ?

That must have been Elvis Pressley's one and only flying visit ? and Amy Johnson was flying an Airspeed Oxford which crashed in the Thames Estuary in foggy conditions,even the person who jumped in the water to try and save her was drowned as well,what a tragic flight,but in those days there were no radio aids and if you hit bad weather as she did then you were in trouble.

 

[duncan]

That was the only time Elvis put a foot in the UK. he was stationed in Germany in the US Army. An aquaintence of my son owns the car he used during this period in Germany, has it in his pub( in Unterwossen) to this day as a feature. Most of my photographs were destroyed during a house-move but I`ll look out what is left. very annoyed about loss of cosmonauts , Pressley, Roy Rogers, Bing Crosby,Eisenhower, etc pics. The Soviets were on a goodwill trip to Cuba and were refused permission to refuel anywhere but Prestwick. I was amazed that the dark cropped hair of Valentina seen in Russian newsreels been been turned into a blonde curley "Shirley Temple" style for the trip ! The Aeroflot air hostesses were the ugliest I`d ever seen, fat and dumpy. Interior of the aircraft was like a Victorian railwy carriage. Gargarin didnt leave the plane. Dont know the history of the Sabres. The 6000 X 300ft runway is under-used for passenger use today but air freight is booming . The Russian connection still exists with the big Heavy Lift and other freighters delivering massive loads. The RN diver team that saved the recent trapped Russian submariners flew out of Prestwick. Greensite , the old USAF base , is now RNAS HMS Gannet, a SAR unit flying Sea Kings. The ghosts are still revving their piston engines, waiting for.......?

 

[wonwinglo]

Fascinating stuff Duncan,that sounds like Aeroflot,a TV programme last year interviewed some ex pilots who admitted taking slugs of Vodka before take off to build up courage as their aircraft were under-maintained,on one occasion passengers had a whip round to buy aircraft spares to get them on their journey,stories are rife,the victorian railway carriage look does not surprise me one bit.

That car must be worth a fortune.

 

[Kiwi]

When I was working at Christchurch Airport (NZ) we used to get the occaisional Aeroflot/Eastern Bloc aircraft (Il 62, Tu 154 etc) come in to swap over charter fishing boat crews and they were usually parked outside our hangar overnight. Walking around the aircraft the engineering always looked "agricultural" to me. It was interesting to compare them with the US aircraft based there as part of the Antarctic support mission.

 

[wonwinglo]

Agricultural is the right word,large rivets with lots of double clad alloy panels,lots of undercarriage bogies on the big jets with a real belt and braces approach,however their large multi-lift helicopters are still some of the finest rotary winged engineering feats in the world apart from the Sikorsky Skycrane,the big Mil's still hold the altitude record for helicopters,those huge rotors are awesome.

Russian engineering is quite unique,aviation-wise even more so.