Preparation for Stripping

If possible, stripping should be done in the open air but not in direct sunlight. To be satisfactory, inside locations must be well ventilated. Personnel should be kept out of the airplane during stripping and the subsequent clean-up procedure. Aircraft should not be stripped on asphalt floors or runways as the paint remover will attack asphaltic base materials.

In order to allow workmen to apply the remover over large areas, arrange ladders and platforms to permit easy access to the surfaces which are to be stripped. Rubber-surfaced equipment should not be used because contact with the paint remover will make it very slippery.

Mask off or remove all exposed parts consisting wholly or partly of plastic, rubber, fabric or other поп-metallic materials, and all painted areas not to be stripped. For masking, use waterproof cloth or a double thickness of Kraft 40-pound paper and masking tape. Because the parts to be removed or masked off differ from one model to another, the following list will serve only as a general guide.

1. De-icer boots and attaching fairing strips. Overlap the camouflage finish approximately 11/2 inches from the trailing edge of the fairing strip.

2. Windows, windshields, navigator’s dome, and the weather sealing used around these parts.

3. Fabric-covered control surfaces: These surfaces should be removed unless they can be masked off completely and adequately. If removed, place them a safe distance from the airplane to avoid possible splashing or excessive exposure to fumes from the remover.

4. Landing gear and tires: In addition to masking off the landing gear and tires, the airplane must be jacked tip and placed on blocks at least one inch thick to avoid possible contact with the remover.

5. Air scoop, oil cooler, and other openings and vents: Mask off all openings through which the remover can gain access to the interior surfaces of the airplane.

6. Demountable power plant assemblies: The antidrag rings and cowl flaps should be removed and the complete power plant assembly covered with waterproof cloth.

7. Propellers, hubs, and domes.

8. All open seams, such as those around the pilot’s door, escape hatches, cargo compartment doors, and fuel tank access doors.

9. All weather-sealed joints between the nose section and the fuselage, between various sections of the fuselage, and between the fuselage and the tail cone.

10. Ail miscellaneous rubber, neoprene, Plexiglas, and other non metallic parts, and all painted areas not to be stripped which may be contacted by the paint remover.