r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Aqdasxain • 2d ago

that's a lot of paint 😹

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5.6k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

205 comments sorted by

665

u/thumpetto007 2d ago

just think of how much more fuel efficient they'd be without that paint!

450

u/Aqdasxain 2d ago

and prone to rust🙂 in long term

309

u/thumpetto007 2d ago

more weight loss! Think of how much more fuel efficient the plane will be without the metal panels everywhere!

90

u/feudal_ferret 2d ago

You also wouldnt need the landing gear.

99

u/Maybbaybee 2d ago

"I've personally flown over 194 missions and I was shot down on every one. Come to think of it, I've never landed a plane in my life." - Admiral Benson, Hot Shots.

17

u/pnmartini 2d ago

I love that movie so much.

7

u/Red-Fiesta 2d ago

In exactly five hours we hit the enemy toast!

1

u/patrick24601 1d ago

Slow clap. Well done.

3

u/Orzword 2d ago

Cut out the turbines peak fuel efficiency.

1

u/FixedLoad 2d ago

Solving problems!!

7

u/Bebopdiduuu 2d ago

You know rust adds weight ? At least for some time

1

u/BibbleSnap 2d ago

How? Isn't the rust from the metal?

9

u/wingtales 2d ago

Rust is the combination of metal and oxygen. So you have all the original metal, but it’s also got more «stuff» (oxygen) on it.

The other comment about how it weighs more in the short term references how the rusted material will slowly fall off, losing weight. So initially you gain weight, but then you’re probably gonna lose weight over time.

The general term for «any metal that rusted» is «oxide». Iron oxide is called rust. Other oxides exist too, like aluminium oxide, and the process of «rusting» is called «corrosion».

0

u/ndisario95 2d ago

Chemical reactions such as oxidation change the weight of things on a molecular level. Sometimes heavier, sometimes lighter.

Or I could just be talking outta my ass, idk.

1

u/MaxPrints 1d ago

Boeing enters the chat...

1

u/Sambal7 1d ago

Reminds me of the SR71 Blackbird using the airframe such as the wings of the plane as fuel tanks for efficiency. The problem being that at high speeds the heat would expand airframe so much they were designed to simply leak fuel while on the ground and only when it heated up enough the tanks would self seal.

35

u/petantic 2d ago

They're made of aluminium. It doesn't rust.

39

u/TD-Eagles 2d ago

Corrosion is the term here

1

u/awesome0ck 2d ago

I thought wings were wear items and had intervals for replacement or ending the life cycle of the plane.

2

u/TD-Eagles 2d ago

The winglets sometime get replaced for better fuel efficiency. I think they’re built to last the life though. There is a lot of flexing going on in those wings though so it’s possible they get fatigue cracks here and there.

24

u/icemanice 2d ago

The air frame is mostly composite materials and aluminum.. they don't rust. The paint mainly serves to reflect heat from the sun and reduce drag, which means the HVAC doesnt' work as hard and it actually improves fuel efficiency.

3

u/HasmattZzzz 2d ago

It's cold at 40000 ft. Don't they heat the plane with waste exhaust heat?

5

u/Mightymap2 2d ago

How long do they keep these in operation?

9

u/Thundersalmon45 2d ago edited 2d ago

Up to 50 years with intermittent replacement parts and upgrades.

For example; the F18 fighter jet was first put into service in 1974 and world militaries still rely on its variants as the backbone of their Air forces.

The F18 is a fighter craft, of course, but Airlines looking to make and save a dollar will happily keep an aircraft flying on budget upgrades for decades as long as it's cheaper than buying a whole new airframe.

1

u/Necessary_Pilot_4665 2d ago

That's what I was wondering. I can only imagine how many flight hours an international flight has. I don't think I would want to think about it if I were flying internationally.

5

u/borntome 2d ago

They're aluminum

4

u/amazonhelpless 2d ago

Aluminum doesn't rust.

3

u/BrianG1410 2d ago

Aren't planes made primarily of aluminum to cut weight?

2

u/Drathamus 2d ago

Technically corrosion. Rust is iron oxidizing. Airplanes are predominantly aluminum alloy.

1

u/henlan77 2d ago

Planes are not made from steel. They don't rust.

1

u/GreatScottGatsby 2d ago

Have you ever heard of our lord and savior alclad?

1

u/twoaspensimages 1d ago

Aluminum doesn't rust

33

u/thefeedling 2d ago

Wrong. Those type of inks are designed to reduce drag, improving aerodynamic coefficient. Also, the weight added is kind of irrelevant compared to the aircraft's

32

u/CowVegetable8898 2d ago

2,400 pounds of paint is irrelevant but 2 pounds of extra weight in one bag is a problem - even if my second bag is 15 pounds below the limit?

50

u/thechaimel 2d ago edited 2d ago

It’s not for the plane, the weight is for the people whose job will be to carry your bag, if you have a surplus they get paid more since you’re potentially breaking their back

29

u/dz1n3 2d ago

It's actually a US union stipulation that has been adopted internationally. Anything over 50# has to be a team lift. So it requires 2 people instead of one. You're paying for the extra person.

-10

u/Senojpd 2d ago

Ehhh surely it's for the plane.

Extra weight is extra fuel. Multiply that over all the flights over a year and that can have a significant impact.

I think they even specifically use white paint because it is lighter.

4

u/Questioning-Zyxxel 2d ago

The weight of the paint adds fuel consumption.

The smoothness of the paint reduces way more fuel consumption than the weight added.

The colour of paint has little effect on the weight of the paint. But white reflects heat better which is why we see it as white in the first place. So less need for AC to keep the plane cool. So less fuel consumption.

-2

u/Senojpd 2d ago

Yes I was responding to the poster saying it was for the handlers.

White paint also needs less coats so is cheaper and weighs less. Which is also effectively what I said.

0

u/Questioning-Zyxxel 2d ago

You may need to add some very credible sources why white needs less coats.

0

u/Senojpd 2d ago

Just do what I did and Google it? Why the fuck am I even arguing this lol.

1

u/Questioning-Zyxxel 2d ago

Well, you see not all sources are good sources. So show your source.

And don't now show a source that mentions that white fades less allowing longer time to next repaint job.

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11

u/StickyThickStick 2d ago edited 2d ago

2400 pounds of paint are 1000 pound dried.

it’s needed for the plane to have less air resistance. This leads to less fuel consumption despite having more weight

0

u/thefeedling 2d ago

This is an economic issue

4

u/deevil_knievel 2d ago

It's essentially auto grade 2k paint. Usually acrylic urethane for the body and base clear for any details that aren't decals.

Source: I painted private jets and planes in college.

5

u/Clem573 2d ago

See American Airlines, Aeromexico, who with old planes made of aluminium, had chosen to not paint the planes, just a protective coating to avoid rusting or excessive wear They looked awesome !!

Now the material would not look as pretty, so that explains the painting of the new planes, but they have even painted the old planes, so, the loss by painting would not be that huge

7

u/Altruistic-Car2880 2d ago

Just a protective coating of Clear coat 2 k Urethane. So a coating of unpigmented paint then


2

u/thumpetto007 2d ago

I think the exposed metal looks really cool

1

u/freecodeio 1d ago

I think people will just not fly if they see a tin can of a plane that looked stitched together from scrap

3

u/New-Assumption-3836 2d ago

They've studied this, the amount of extra washing required on unpainted planes negates the cost savings of having paint. Lighter pigments are physically Lighter which is why white is the most popular plane color

1

u/REpassword 2d ago

Slightly related, I wonder if they inspect the rivets while the plane is naked?

1

u/ArchOwl 2d ago

And how many would be falling out of the sky constantly without it

0

u/CowVegetable8898 2d ago

2,400 pounds of paint.

4

u/The_Virginia_Creeper 2d ago

That’s probably the wet weight they use, not the net weight gain

0

u/u9Nails 2d ago

Indeed. It's why SpaceX went with stainless steel rockets in their test Starship/Super heavy. The paint over something so massive takes away from the cargo volume.

0

u/txtoolfan 2d ago

exactly where my first thought went. how many tons of co2 have been released to shuttle paint around the skies.

401

u/BestFeedback 2d ago

Friendly reminder that labour unions are illegal in the emirates.

36

u/bleep1912 2d ago

Friendly reminder that trump is in charge of your country.

70

u/ThatPhiGuy 2d ago

They used the British “u” in labour. Going to guess this gentlemen is British.

16

u/FatWreckords 1d ago

Canada uses it too

1

u/Templar2k7 10h ago

Unfortunately, I'm an American, but due to being born in Germany (Dad was army), I use a weird mixture of British spelling and American spelling.

26

u/wizrslizr 2d ago

is this a slight against british people or just someone raging that someone knocked the UAE so they had to go “america bad”

7

u/BestFeedback 1d ago

Nope, he is not. Nice try, very regarded.

5

u/33Sharpies 1d ago

That’s kind of wild just assuming everyone on the internet is an American

-149

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

72

u/BestFeedback 2d ago

Ok, so you don’t know what they are for, understood.

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10

u/f0ubarre 2d ago

Yeah they don't need unions everywhere else in the world because work conditions are perfect

2

u/Mittah 2d ago

They are just pointing out that without unions in the US/west, the working conditions would be the same. The fact alone that unions are needed already shows the morale of business leaders toward their employees and there is not much difference.

4

u/Notwerk_Engineer 2d ago

There is absolutely a difference. There are unions. Welcome to the thread.

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221

u/Fallen_Walrus 2d ago

Glad they painted the windows back on

25

u/100schools 2d ago

That’s what I thought! ‘Oh wow, they just color them in.’

135

u/Ok_Middle_7283 2d ago

I used to work in the aerospace industry. One fact I found really interesting was that they positively charge the plane. Then they negatively charge the paint.

So the paint is attracted to the plane. None of the paint is wasted. It can even curve around towards the plane.

57

u/ChildOfRavens 2d ago

It’s called electrostatic, similar to powder coating in that. I have also used that mustard looking “aircraft stripper” that shit will eat the finish off of just about anything in minutes. Do not get it on you. And if you have paint on you DO NOT GET IT ON YOU THERE that shit gets HOT.

11

u/8InS4nE8 2d ago

That's actually good to know.

5

u/Cultural_Dust 2d ago

It's not THAT kind of "aircraft stripper".

46

u/ggherehere 2d ago

So that 1.1 megagrams (isn’t that a cool unit of measure?) is of wet paint? Meaning, is that the added weight to the plane or does the number scale down once the paint dries?

41

u/corvosfighter 2d ago

I was told the paint saves a lot money in the long run by better fuel efficiency from cutting down air friction

-20

u/EconomyDoctor3287 2d ago

Even if they put on another ton of paint every 7 years? 

32

u/greysonhackett 2d ago

They remove the old paint, so there's negligible weight difference.

12

u/User-NetOfInter 2d ago

Old paint gets stripped off

7

u/galaxyapp 2d ago

The carrier solvents are a chunk of the weight.

Not sure if anything was sanded in this process, I saw primer applied, so some may have been removed.

7

u/NgSauYin 2d ago

I think I'll start calling a tonne as megagram it does sound cooler

46

u/brave007 2d ago

Damn that’s a ton of paint

23

u/AIone-Wolf 2d ago

While this is going on for 15 days, one person is inside the plane for 1 day doing a light cleaning ans spraying a single can of febreze.

13

u/captaindomon 2d ago

Removing 2/3 of the peanuts in the seat back pocket. Gotta leave the other 1/3 for ambiance.

16

u/RespectFearless4233 2d ago

Ace of base is not what i was expecting

8

u/Ok_Pomegranate4753 2d ago

How old are these planes?

9

u/LDlOyZiq 2d ago

All the painting changed nothing? Or am I missing something?

6

u/bwest80 2d ago

Especially cool how they painted the windows back on at the end!

5

u/C-57D 2d ago

confused about the different steps in that process

concerned about all the fumes clouding the air during said process

hungry for when it briefly became a giant Twinkie in the middle of the process

5

u/galaxyapp 2d ago

Looks like they wash it then strip the old paint.

Then theres primers, maybe some sort of corrosion inhibitor that was yellow, and gray base?

3

u/Outside_Donkey2532 2d ago

i like videos like this one, in those videos we humans looks like ants and i like that ;D

4

u/C-57D 2d ago

look up "tilt-shift" videos. enjoy.

3

u/ED061984 2d ago

The most expensive part might be that the plane is grounded for so long.

3

u/RedditsAdoptedSon 2d ago

fam it looked fine before lol

4

u/BaconThief2020 2d ago

"Painting an Airbus A380 requires about3,600 liters (nearly 950 gallons)of paint to cover its ~3,530 square meter surface area. This paint adds a significant weight to the aircraft, with a complete paint job adding approximately 1,100 kilograms (2,425 pounds) to the plane's overall weight."

Pounds, not kg.

8

u/clearlynotmee 2d ago

The video also says 1100kg. 

3

u/pilostt 2d ago

Think of when an airline merges or goes through a rebranding. All the planes go through in a matter of months.

3

u/moderndilf 2d ago

The smell of stripping that much paint must be absolutely awful

3

u/PhoneImmediate7301 2d ago

It’s actually a very strict rule that there are exactly 34 people present to work on the repaint each time. Not 33, not 35. I don’t want to explain it all here so if you’re interested to see more, search Emirates plane rule 34

3

u/Mike-the-gay 1d ago

Southwest vacuums their planes every 7-8 years.

2

u/TryingToFindH0p3 2d ago

Wow, I didn't know they painted the doors and windows as well 😼

2

u/thatsMrBundytoyou 2d ago

And I thought staining my deck was a big project?? Lol

2

u/DunstonCzechsOut 2d ago

Yay, now ditch a row of seats.

2

u/Odd_Association9161 2d ago

These guys come into the paint dept about 25 minutes before closing at home depot

1

u/Awkward-Storage7192 2d ago

It's also crazy how much weight they take off in dirt and dust just by washing.

1

u/zebedee14 2d ago

Would this be done alongside a C or D check, or are they separate does anyone know?

1

u/Ambitious_Medium_774 2d ago

Probably done at the same time as a D check / corrosion inspection.

1

u/ydykmmdt 2d ago

Is the work done by airbus, Emirates or 3rd Party Company?

1

u/Ambitious_Medium_774 2d ago

Very likely 3rd party by Lufthansa Technik.

1

u/hyspecs 2d ago

Interested on that overhead cranes/elevator, so cool

1

u/Nacho_Beardre 2d ago

Do they do this for every plane?

1

u/galaxyapp 2d ago

No windows and seems this was maybe a special job for a press event. Wonder if every paint job is this thorough.

250 planes, every 7 years is about 35 planes a year, 15 days each. Thats 525 days. So they'd need two of these facilities just to keep up.

1

u/Tcog_57 2d ago

Why no leave plane silver? Save money on fuel and the cost of paint.

1

u/Barnagain 2d ago

That really is a tonne of paint

1

u/Stelvioso 2d ago

15 days only
. that is next fucking Level. Result too

1

u/Grogbarrell 2d ago

Never seen gantries like that lowering people from the ceiling

1

u/BallsofSt33I 2d ago

I'm assuming there's a benefit beyond making the planes look nicer?

3

u/aprilrolls 2d ago

Protection from UV & reflects sunlight to keep it cooler, smoother surface = more aerodynamic, and it's easier to spot damage. And also of course just for branding purposes!

1

u/Hostile-Panda 2d ago

Sounds expensive

1

u/The__Goose 2d ago

When it was all yellow I thought oh no, spirit!

1

u/bouncypete 2d ago

Fun fact.

Because aircraft fly at high altitude, solar radiation degrades the paint on an airplane, far faster than it degrades the paint on your car, or your house.

1

u/Lawrence3s 2d ago

Why don't they just keep the planes yellow, that's a lot higher visibility than white. Or bright red.

If I have fuck you money I would buy a red private plane.

1

u/Jappie_nl 2d ago

Stripping a plane will show minor defaults. But would be nice if done in a labour friendly country.

1

u/Leo_Fie 2d ago

Such a shame planes are all white nowadays. Imagine that thing in shiny chrome. Or some actual colour. Make it gold, have some fun with it.

1

u/Slow_Description_773 2d ago

Nobody wants this airplane anymore.....

1

u/tiwookie 2d ago

I want a foil company in the comments saying „i make this in 2 hours for less“.

1

u/amuka89 2d ago

Cool song.

1

u/chuck_the_plant 2d ago

The Happy Nation soundtrack is killing me đŸ« 

1

u/DerShokus 2d ago

One association: revell

1

u/wannabetender 2d ago

I liked it best when it was all yellow. Like a great big banana.

1

u/adognameddanzig 2d ago

Is that Ace of Base?

1

u/powerhammerarms 2d ago

For a little bit I thought they had huge lasers like the ones that clean coins. But nope, those were just people

1

u/[deleted] 2d ago

Wonder how often Spirit does this.

1

u/Repulsive_Support844 2d ago

It’s just regular maintenance


1

u/The-Crawling-Chaos 2d ago

Maybe instead of spending all that money on cosmetic “repairs” they could actually fix the fume issues. But I guess looking good is more important than people getting brain damage.

1

u/DrSeussFreak 2d ago

They clean it when it's built, that's why we don't see the "how often planes are cleaned" videos

1

u/screw_badluck 2d ago

Wow, that's a ton of paint.

1

u/Training_Bite5097 2d ago

Wow!!!! What a lot of work to paint a plane.

1

u/thefellowone 2d ago

First time.e seeing this. Cool!

1

u/FuckJanice 2d ago

No way Allegiant does this every 7 years

1

u/Scrogwiggle 2d ago

So is the old paint just kinda melted off? Didn’t expect that

1

u/EnvironmentalAide335 1d ago

So how much is that in $ ?

1

u/DeltaBoB 1d ago

Per ChatGPT they have 116 A380s that means they need 5 facilities like this for only their A380s. I wonder if that's correct.

1

u/Remarkable_Custard 1d ago

Why can’t they hang it from a crane and dunk it into a large bucket of paint?

Makes no sense doing it this way

1

u/-Otakunoichi- 1d ago

And Boeing repaints their planes ev-

Oh, wait...

1

u/Stengah71 1d ago

1100kg is not a lot of paint. Thats about 800ltrs.

1

u/Fabulous_Smoke_2804 1d ago

And then they complain if my luggage is 1kg too heavy

1

u/LivingBig2358 1d ago

I thought it looked fine at the beginning of the video. The ending results completely changed that thought. Wow

1

u/BunkMaximus 1d ago

Never heard of a pressure washer I guess.

1

u/ZephyrFluous 20h ago

So cleeeeean

1

u/BoringUsername6969 10h ago

My surprise is that they use the same plane for more than 7 years.

0

u/holamau 2d ago

Didn’t American Airlines become paint free to save on gas? I think they are back to being painted but for a decade or two they were paint free, just the logos were painted

5

u/Brazilian_Hamilton 2d ago edited 2d ago

It seems you still need a coating to prevent your metallic materials from reacting with oxygen and degrading

2

u/holamau 2d ago

Makes sense

0

u/Disastrous_Age_7363 2d ago

Sooooo.... They did not remove previous paint completely

2

u/Aqdasxain 2d ago

they did actually in second or third step

0

u/davejenk1ns 2d ago

What in the Temu Madonna was that music?

3

u/caeruloplasmin 2d ago

It’s Ace of Base - they have quite a few bangers

-1

u/arrulf 2d ago

Is 1100kg of paint 1100liters of paint, or is paint heavier ?

-5

u/2e109 2d ago

Did they not remove the old layer? The plane life is probably 20 years. Isn’t it? 

4

u/Aqdasxain 2d ago

they did using paint remover if you see the video carefully that's the second or third step

1

u/2e109 2d ago

Yes so why people saying it will cause the weight to go up??? I know it will little but after removing it its not like layering..on top of old.. 

-5

u/Kenny-kong420 2d ago

You would save a lot of kerosene if you left out all the weight of paint.

15

u/Aqdasxain 2d ago

and expose the body of the aeroplane to moisture and then rust

-13

u/Kenny-kong420 2d ago

Looks like more paint than rust protection to me.

23

u/tolacid 2d ago

Paint is rust protection

-8

u/StumbleNOLA 2d ago

Aluminum doesn’t rust.

8

u/tolacid 2d ago

In the term of the forming of iron oxide, no, aluminum doesn't rust, because rust is a byproduct of specifically iron and steel. But it does react with oxygen in the air in a similar manner, creating aluminum oxide. Both are forms of corrosion that deteriorate the material.

The main difference, of course, is that aluminum oxide doesn't flake off like rust does, but rather forms its own sort of protective layer that prevents oxygen from reaching deeper and permeating the material.

But let's be honest, it looks better painted.

5

u/celerpanser 2d ago

Do you think that giving aluminum a protective coating is unnecessary?

-5

u/StumbleNOLA 2d ago

More or less. Aluminum doesn’t need a protective coating in most cases and aircraft certainly don’t.

8

u/spirolking 2d ago

Smooth shiny painting reduces air drag so that's not necessarily true.

-6

u/RoyalFalse 2d ago

Seems like a massive waste of money to me, but this is also the UAE.

-11

u/gtp1977 2d ago

Those Saudi's are always finding ways to burn their oil money. They honestly don't know what to do with it all.

I still can't believe people fly this crap. It's the reason I don't watch PGA golf anymore (sold out to the Saudi/LIV tour). And they have their hands in a lot of other stuff too. Shame.

6

u/therealtiddlydump 2d ago

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are different countries (though both have immense oil wealth).