Things which ruin windshields.

[GAHorn]

New interiors frequently use vinyl for upholstery, sidewalls, and glareshields. Vinyl will give off a gas when exposed to the sun and will craze that nice new windshield. Don't use vinyl anywhere near the plexiglas/acrylic transparencies in your airplane.

Occasionally I get a call/email from someone who wants to seal a water leak in their windshield or side windows and they want to use RTV (GE Silicone, etc.). The problem with using RTV in aircraft is that most brands of it contain acetic acid. Ever notice how it smells like vinegar?

Acetic acid will ruin plastic windows. It will also cause corrosion in aluminum. Don't use RTV's that contain acetic acid in/on your airplane.

Other chemicals which will ruin plastic windows: Acetic Acid/Vinegar (LOOK OUT for those in kitchen cleaners and in household window cleaners), Acetone, Benzene, Butyl Acetate, Carbon Tet, MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone), Lacquer Thinner, Ethyl Alcohol, Methyl Alcohol, Methylene Chloride (Paint remover) Toluene (watch out! when using TCP) Xylene, Fire Extinguishing Agents.

Use only Aircraft Window cleaning items on your plastic. (Many swear by Lemon Pledge furniture polish, but I doubt that the Johnson's Wax folks who make that stuff will warranty your windshield if they change their formula and don't happen to think about issuing a warning to airplane owners.)

Got a greasy spot on your windshield and want to know what will clean it off? Kerosene (Jet Fuel) or WD-40 (non-aerosol) works fine. (Don't use aerosols directly upon windshields unless they are specifically approved for the purpose. If you have WD-40 in a spray can and need to put some on a windshield, spray it on a clean rag first, and then use the rag to apply it .)

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

...Use only Aircraft Window cleaning items on your plastic. (Many swear by Lemon Pledge furniture polish, but I doubt that the Johnson's Wax folks who make that stuff will warranty your windshield if they change their formula and don't happen to think about issuing a warning to airplane owners.)

Got a greasy spot on your windshield and want to know what will clean it off? Kerosene (Jet Fuel) or WD-40 (non-aerosol) works fine....

I've heard WD-40 will warranty your windshield if they change their formula and don't issue a warning to airplane owners but they stop short of warranting the whole airframe should you wash your whole airframe with the stuff.

[GAHorn]

...I've heard WD-40 will warranty your windshield if they change their formula and don't issue a warning to airplane owners but they stop short of warranting the whole airframe should you wash your whole airframe with the stuff.

The moderators provide that warranty. For claims in/around Austin, TX contact me. For the rest of the US and Int'l, contact Bruce.

[cessna170bdriver]

Hmmmm..... The vinyl-covered (STC'd) glareshield that's been sitting underneath my 1984 windshield since 1985 must've crazed that windshield in such a way as to correct for my astigmatism... Either that or Lemon Pledge has counteracted the effects of the vinyl.

I also doubt that vendors of de-mineralized water would write a warranty on an aircraft windshield, but that wouldn't deter me from using it.

Miles

[hilltop170]

The best products I've found so far for windshields and the rest of the exterior are;

for cleaning: WashWaxAll Products http://www.washwax.com/products.php?cat ... y=Products

for protection: Rejex http://www.corrosionx.com/rejex.html

[GAHorn]

Hmmmm..... The vinyl-covered (STC'd) glareshield that's been sitting underneath my 1984 windshield since 1985 must've crazed that windshield in such a way as to correct for my astigmatism... Either that or Lemon Pledge has counteracted the effects of the vinyl.

I also doubt that vendors of de-mineralized water would write a warranty on an aircraft windshield, but that wouldn't deter me from using it.

Miles

The vinyl warning is direct from Cee Bailey, makers of windshields....who also advise that using plain water is just fine for cleaning. (Geesh, what a bunch of troublemakers!)

[hilltop170]

Cee Bailey, makers of windshields....who also advise that using plain water is just fine for cleaning.

George-
I don't know what kind of bugs y'all have over at Spicewood, but the bugs 50 miles west at Fredericksburg won't wash off with water!

[GAHorn]

yeah, I know, but Miles was worried the mfr'r of water might change the recipie.

[blueldr]

What Richard Pulley is really saying is that the water fifty miles west in Fredricksburg wont wash off bugs.

[johneeb]

This is starting to sound like an Abbot and Costello routine!!!!!!!

[Robert Eilers]

Y'all should come out to California where we fight over water - should we use water to wash the airplane, or grow crops, save fish or feed Los Angeles. Personally, I vote for washing the airplane - thankfully, there is plenty of WD-40.

[W.J.Langholz]

Duck poop...... Now duck poop in its self is not bad, even Texas water will wash it off given enough time....... with the exception of when the duck's hindend is pressed real hard up against your windshield going at a high rate of speed and it lets it go......well even something as organic as duck poop can be hard on your windshield.



W.

[Blue4]

Bird droppings of all kinds ARE, of course, corrosive to aircraft metals. I don't think they're quite to hard on windows. This is why we shoot them, when in season. Oh, and they taste good too. The birds, of course, not the droppings -- droppings make a mess when you shoot them, and aren't so special to eat.

Am I missing a joke about the WD-40 bath? I've heard stories of 4 wheel drive enthusiasts pre-coating their rigs before a big mud drive. Supposedly it cleans off much better afterwards. But an airplane? Not so much. Rockets -- YES, that's why WD-40 was developed. But what's the airplane story??

[W.J.Langholz]

Well you see there is

George H
George W

and then there's

George WD-40



W.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

George is a proponent of washing your plane with a mix of WD-40 and water.

Seems funny to me. Don't know how the water ever touches the plane before the WD-40 disperses it.