How often do planes get a bath?
 

One thing I've been wondering is how often aircraft get washed. I've been on plenty that don't appear to have had a washing in quite a while. I'm thinking of streaks of fhydraulic fluid down wings, the part of the fuselage behind the engines on MD80s etc etc.

I would have thought that cleaning the aircraft exterior surfaces was part of a maintenance regime??

Some airlines they let the rain do that. :D

http://tinyurl.com/kvyjy

Like Air France? :D

HA! That looks more like a garbage scow than an aircraft.

Aich Two Ohhhh
 

Even the French <planes> have an aversion to bathing? :D

When the OzFest 2 group took a tarmac tour of SYD last May, one of the stops was the airplane washing station. A 747 was getting the full treatment. Our guide/driver explained that drag caused by dirt makes a noticeable difference in fuel consumption, so they wash the planes every few weeks. Managing all the water it uses is a big issue, especially in Australia's relatively dry climate; they pay a lot of attention to reclaiming/recycling it.

Air France (or any other airline) may not care much about its fleet's beauty, but I suspect they care a lot about its fuel consumption. Nice, smooth paint (or clean, polished aluminum) slides through the air better.

Maybe there is a little pit hair growing underneath the wing... :p

Different airlines seem to have different opinions on aircraft washing. It does indeed reduce drag but is quite expensive as the manufacturers stipulate that demineralised water has to be used.

The exterior scrubbing machine is one of the reasons why the passenger windows, made of a plastics material, get little scratches on them over time (does not affect the flight deck windows which are glass).

The thing that ruins the clean exterior more than anything else is the de-icer fluid used in winter, a glycol-based somewhat sticky fluid that attracts dirt. In addition its orange colour tends to hand around on white-based liveries - Air France is renowned for aircraft going orangey by the end of winter.

Old Eastern European types with smoky engines of the type long gone from the west, and little maintenance attention to fripperies, can sometimes be streaked heavily black behind the engines.

I always wondered how the windows got those little scratches.

<cheap shot> Air France planes get washed as often as they win a war </cheap shot>

:D :D :D :D