Cleaning the bottom of the plane
Moderators: Rick, Lance Murray
- MarkA
- 3 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 170
- Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:58 am
- First Name: Mark
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N123MZ
- Airports: KHIO
- Has thanked: 115 times
- Been thanked: 137 times
Cleaning the bottom of the plane
One of my least favorite maintenance tasks is cleaning and waxing (I use RejeX, a thin-film polymer coating rather than wax) the bottom of the DA40.
A creeper works OK under the lowest parts on the fuselage but it’s not quite high enough to reach the bottom of the wings without doing a continuous sit-up. There are adjustable height creepers you can buy but they're kind of spendy. Since I’m frugal (cheap?), I put together a DYI solution by building some lifters that can be added on top of a standard Harbor Freight creeper to adjust its height (see photos below).
It makes doing the bottom of the plane a little less painful
A creeper works OK under the lowest parts on the fuselage but it’s not quite high enough to reach the bottom of the wings without doing a continuous sit-up. There are adjustable height creepers you can buy but they're kind of spendy. Since I’m frugal (cheap?), I put together a DYI solution by building some lifters that can be added on top of a standard Harbor Freight creeper to adjust its height (see photos below).
It makes doing the bottom of the plane a little less painful
2010 DA40 XLS, N123MZ, KHIO
https://youtu.be/LuQr6mGxffg
https://youtu.be/LuQr6mGxffg
- dmloftus
- 4 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 465
- Joined: Thu May 07, 2020 3:38 pm
- First Name: David
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N868US
- Airports: KLZU
- Has thanked: 215 times
- Been thanked: 256 times
Re: Cleaning the bottom of the plane
Nice! I have the same creeper. Usually not much to clean under the wings, but invaluable to clean the belly. Thanks for the helpful suggestion for the wings ;-)
- MarkA
- 3 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 170
- Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:58 am
- First Name: Mark
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N123MZ
- Airports: KHIO
- Has thanked: 115 times
- Been thanked: 137 times
Re: Cleaning the bottom of the plane
Well... my hangar is located at KHIO which does not allow soap and water to be used to clean planes in the ramp area. Something about ground water pollution or some such nonsense
So I use lots of towels in the hangar with Windex on the top and wings and Simple Green Aircraft cleaner for the bottom fuselage oily parts.
So I use lots of towels in the hangar with Windex on the top and wings and Simple Green Aircraft cleaner for the bottom fuselage oily parts.
2010 DA40 XLS, N123MZ, KHIO
https://youtu.be/LuQr6mGxffg
https://youtu.be/LuQr6mGxffg
- Charles
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 644
- Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:36 pm
- First Name: Charles
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: C-FLEV
- Airports: CYHU
- Has thanked: 28 times
- Been thanked: 102 times
Re: Cleaning the bottom of the plane
No water at my home base either. But I fly to another airport with my cleaning supplies to wash the plane.
- hifiaudio2
- 3 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 54
- Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2022 2:29 pm
- First Name: John
- Aircraft Type: DA40NG
- Aircraft Registration: N845PA
- Airports: KFFC
- Has thanked: 1 time
- Been thanked: 16 times
Re: Cleaning the bottom of the plane
I have no plane yet so not even an owner... Trying to get a DA40NG now...But does anybody do ceramic coatings to these? I assume it's legal... Like the g Technic or such? I have one on my truck. And/or treatments to the windows? Also... Is it legal to have a tint shop apply a UV filter to the canopy? I assume not one with any kind of actual darker tint but I believe you can filter out most or all of the UV without darkening.
- Rich
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 4607
- Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 12:40 pm
- First Name: Rich
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N40XE
- Airports: S39 Prineville OR
- Has thanked: 145 times
- Been thanked: 1186 times
Re: Cleaning the bottom of the plane
Getting ready to do mine
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
- jwx96
- 3 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 179
- Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2019 9:54 pm
- First Name: John
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N193JP
- Airports: KFCM
- Has thanked: 87 times
- Been thanked: 47 times
Re: Cleaning the bottom of the plane
I use a creeper with an old pillow duct taped to it for my head. For me it’s very comfortable. I use Carbon-X diluted 1:2 in a spray bottle and paper towels. It takes about a half a roll but there is almost no drip. I do use eye protection though. I follow with Wash Wax All and micro fiber cloths. It’s a pretty easy process.
- Rich
- 5 Diamonds Member
- Posts: 4607
- Joined: Mon Aug 30, 2010 12:40 pm
- First Name: Rich
- Aircraft Type: DA40
- Aircraft Registration: N40XE
- Airports: S39 Prineville OR
- Has thanked: 145 times
- Been thanked: 1186 times
Re: Cleaning the bottom of the plane
Interesting idea. I had the plane on jacks today to check/adjust tire pressure. I haven't gotten around to cleaning the plane this year, but noticed the black grime on the antennas. So I wiped them off with a rag. It came off pretty easily. Then I looked at the fairly dirty underbelly and took a swipe at it with the rag and it also seemed to be willing to come right off. Really what's under the belly is a light coat of oil which causes bits of this and that to adhere to the plane. It all wiped off quite nicely with just a rag and no cleaning agents whatsoever. No WD40 needed, as the blown-out/leaked 20W50 was already there
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5