Timeline for Why are planes generally painted white?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 24, 2016 at 22:56 | comment | added | Rayanth | As noted in my answer below, (though it was a while ago and I forgot to mention it here) the green shown on the first picture in original question is NOT primer, it is Temporary Protective Coating, a spray-on plastic that is chemically rinsed off during the paint process. | |
| Oct 2, 2015 at 18:38 | comment | added | FreeMan |
+1 for fleet of flying hoopties!
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| Mar 18, 2014 at 21:38 | comment | added | Danny Beckett | @Lnafziger Sure, I was just pointing out that the weight savings could be even higher. I'm not sure where they got that figure from though. | |
| Mar 18, 2014 at 21:35 | comment | added | Lnafziger | @DannyBeckett My number is for the 737 (which is what voretaq7 was referring to in his answer where he said "significant weight savings"), and not the 747. According to the document that I linked to in my previous comment on Boeing's website, the 747-400 paint weighs 555 lbs (251.7 Kg), so I'm not sure where they got 500 kg. | |
| Mar 18, 2014 at 21:30 | comment | added | Danny Beckett | @Lnafziger The amount quoted for the 747 in the above clip is 500kg, so 1,100 lbs. | |
| Mar 18, 2014 at 19:04 | comment | added | Lnafziger | The 737-700 is 179 lbs. to paint the entire aircraft. | |
| Mar 18, 2014 at 1:11 | comment | added | Lnafziger | @SkipMiller My source is Boeing and the reason is that it ends up being a relatively small difference and is a marketing decision by the airline. | |
| Mar 17, 2014 at 23:59 | comment | added | Skip Miller | @Lnafziger: Your source for this information? If that is true why did they do that? Doesn't make sense! | |
| Mar 17, 2014 at 23:52 | comment | added | Danny Beckett | @RichardMiskin Check out this YouTube clip from Megafactories, with Boeing painting a new 747. This would concur with voretaq7. | |
| Mar 17, 2014 at 21:57 | comment | added | Lnafziger | @SkipMiller Unfortunately the cost savings from not painting the aircraft is more than offset by the cost to keep the aluminum polished. :) | |
| Mar 17, 2014 at 18:48 | comment | added | Phil Perry | "Ugly shade of green"... you do realize it's St Patricks Day, and you've just antagonized everyone of Irish descent? ;) I seem to remember a story about interned B-29s that landed in Russia during WWII due to battle damage over Japan, and the Russians copied them exactly, down to the exposed green primer in the aft portion (the factory had run out of interior white paint, or something). | |
| Mar 17, 2014 at 13:09 | comment | added | Skip Miller | @vortaq7 There was an article in the seat pocket magazine years ago on an American Airlines flight. Their former livery - polished aluminum accented by a stripe of multicolored paint - saved 200 pounds. that is from memory and applies to the MD-80 series. So they save the weight of one passenger on each flight. I wish I could remember the fuel savings they claimed, but it was substantial on an annual basis. | |
| Mar 17, 2014 at 6:25 | comment | added | voretaq7 | @RichardMiskin It obviously varies depending on how much surface needs to be covered, and to a lesser extent on the type of paint used (urethane paints are pretty much the standard in aviation these days). This Daily Apple article has a table from Boeing, which puts the weight of a full paint scheme on a 747 at 555lbs (versus 55lbs for polished skin & a logo). | |
| Mar 17, 2014 at 6:08 | comment | added | Richard Miskin | You say "a substantial weight savings" - Do you have a reference for how much the paint weighs for a given plane? | |
| Mar 17, 2014 at 3:27 | history | answered | voretaq7 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |