“Our new computerized and automated climate-control system, painter decontamination chambers, and paint delivery and quality-control devices provide the best quality control in the art of aircraft painting,” said Britt Julius, manager, Paint Shop. “We’re refining every part of the process. We leave nothing to chance to ensure that our customers get a flawless, high-gloss paint finish.”

The most recent improvement is the installation of three new state-of-the-art decontamination chambers designed to remove traces of hexavalent chromium (hexachrome) dust from painters’ body suits, shoes and painting tools as they leave the prep hangar. Removing the hexachrome dust from the painters prevents it from getting into other parts of the facility and outside of the facility.

Before installation of the chambers, Jet Aviation St. Louis completed a sophisticated, computerized climatecontrol system. The system reads the air in the paint hangar and precisely sets the temperature, humidity and dew point to the proper levels to maximize paint application, drying and curing. That kind of climate control is necessary when applying today’s high-solid paints that provide better coverage, which along with the use of safer peroxide-based strippers and modern primers is another step toward making the process as “green” and environmentally-friendly as possible.

“The climate-control system and even the spray guns used by the painters now get their pressurized air from more powerful new compressors,” Julius said. “They not only supply more capacity, but they also provide a better quality of air. And with the compressors, we also added new air lines and longer spray wands to reach areas like wing tops for a better finish.”

The Paint Shop has also acquired advanced devices that analyze paint color tint; analyze pearl and metallic paints; measure the smoothness of the paint finish and assess the level of paint gloss.