Thursday, May 10, 2007

Paintwork starts on the First A380


Question: How many litres of paint is used for the first Singapore Airlines A380? don't know...read on.

European plan maker Airbus has started paintwork on the first A380 for Singapore Airlines following the completion of cabin installation for the aircraft. The A380 will stay about three weeks in the company's paint shop in Hamburg, Germany, where in addition to the actual painting, most of the other preparatory work such as cleaning, grinding, masking and unmasking the 3,100 square metres of surface of the A380 will be done.



SIA has ordered 19 of the giant planes, with the first to be delivered in October this year.

Answer: About 3,600 litres of chromatic-free paint is used for three layers of paint (primer, customer-paint, top-coat) for an A380. Only about 600 to 1,000 kg of paint stays on teh aircraft. Each layer measures about 0.12 mm and is able to withstand differences in temperatures of about 100 degree Celsius.

Airbus is applying the most modern and environmental-friendly techniques for the A380 painting process. Electro-static pistols are used to minimise paint mist. Used air is cleaned and washed through a multi-stage cleaning process to ensure that paint particles ae disposed separately.
Reference: BT, April 13, 2007

No comments: