HOW TO CLEAN A WINDSCREEN

[polar one]

Well, yesterday I again climbed into a plane and looked through all those little swirly scratches. It occured to me that very few student pilots and , many instructors, do not know how to clean a windshield on a plane, resulting in all those little swirly things. It breaks my heart to see some new commercial pilot busy rubbing a windscreen in circles. Anyone else noted those little swirly scratches on the windshield.

So..there are basically two types of windscreens. Ones made of plexiglass and, ones that are made of glass..the glass ones usually are the electrically heated ones and coated so they require very specific cleaning.. the pleaxiglass ones found on the smaller aircraft however have to be cleaned properly. I am not talking specifically about using pledge, soap and water etc, as I am sure others will share their knowledge on this.

What I am talking about is the polishing.. It is simple. Straight up and down (vertical). That way, if there are any little scratches that occur they will not bother you when you look towards the sun (not at the sun). Ask any, and I mean any, helicopter AME..They do it right. Are taught it in school, and will probably give you a practical demo.

to those of you starting flying, I am sure this does not seem like a big thing, but it is something that is really annoying, and totally avoidable...and the first time you look through a windscreen and see all those little circles you will understand

[2R]

Get some 210 from Lindair or Avial and read the label That stuff should be complusory for anyone with a plastic window imho.
As it is pure magic for plastic windows.Prist (not to be confused with the fuel additive )is best for hard glass .
Up and down on the outside ,left to right inside will make it easy to find what side the streaks are on

And if i see you using brown kraft paper expect a kick in the nuts

[Hedley]

Lots of water is how you reduce the scratching. Not
enough water when you're cleaning, you're sandpapering
the windscreen.

Once you get it clean, the best thing for plexi/lexan is
automotive (cleaner) car wax. Also check out the
"scratch remover" at Canadian Tire in the car wax
section. It works great.

To get the bugs off easier next time, I use a quick
spray of "detailer" aka cheater wax on the windscreen
and leading edges. That's what I used this morning
on my motorcycle helmet visor, too

All you need is lots of water, to clean the bugs off.
Mind you, it helps if you haven't let them bake in
the sun for years.

For cleaning the grimy (oil/grease) bits down lower,
I recommend mineral spirits in a spray bottle. You
can get it by the gallon at Home Depot.

[2R]

You can use 210 on your plastic motor cycle visor as well ,and helmet ,and bike visor

[iflyforpie]

P210 is a plastic cleaner and POLISH. You never finish a polish in a straight pattern. If you are getting scratches from using P210 and are using a vertical method to try and keep the scratch circles from happening, you are using it wrong.

The scratches are from either using the wrong kind of cloth (I only use clean cloths specifically designed for acrylics) or there is too much abrasive crap on the glass.

The best method is to use clean water from a hose and your fingernail to remove the big crud and dust before putting the 210 on. But you have to wait a while since 210 and water don't mix at all. My plane is hangared and I clean my windscreen at least once a day and sometimes several times a day and as a result doesn't have a chance to get that dirty.

For practical purposes (ie:flight school where planes are parked outside and limited time available) I would suggest the initial application and cleaning be done vertically and then in circles to polish out any minor scratches.

I use Micro Mesh KR-70 for scratch removal and surface restoration (which you do use in alternating straight patterns until the final polish) but this takes several hours.

I am an AME.

[niss]

PLEXUS

[TheRedPages]

Remember there are 2 steps involved here, If your aircraft windscreen is a acrylic. Clean it first, use a vertical wiping movement with soap and water to get sand and aggrigate off. Polishing on the other hand is done properly in swirls, With a clean cloth as a previous poster mentioned. I personally like LP aero P. as it makes cleaning the windshield easier and over time improves the appearance of an older windscreen.

Try a little toothpaste and water to remove minor scratches, it works really well. Even a scratched windscreen can be fixed by a professional. I think this should be done once or twice over the life of the windscreen, flightschools find ebtter places to spend their money unfortunately, and many renters just don't care.

[sky's the limit]

Ask any, and I mean any, helicopter AME..They do it right. Are taught it in school, and will probably give you a practical demo.

Or any helicopter pilot for that matter.... The window on my machine right now costs $32,000... Scratch it at your peril. I've seen guys let go from companies for scratching windows, no joke.

In the heli world, we spend A LOT of time down in wire environments, and horizontal scratches look remarkably like wires....

As said above, LOTS of water, soak the bugs SOFT before wiping, and on plastic windows, use 210. Oh, and take off the wedding rings....


stl

[GottaFly]

Yeah the majority of this stuff is great info.... but the unfortunate thing with most flying schools this day is the vast number of very young career oriented students who have bad attitudes toward flying and just simply get in the airplane and go flying regardless of what's stuck to the windows. You might say this is attributed to instructors not setting a good enough example, but this isn't true either, we set a very good example, they just don't pay attention, and no amount of discipline will make them have a better attitude towards flying.

Anyways, i witnessed a student dropping a rag on the ground and using that same rag to clean the windscreen... now we know why flying school airplanes have mini swirls in the wind screens..... yes, oh joy for flying schools... it's ok, the students never look outside anyway. I swear when i'm not looking they 210 the ASI and the ALT so they can see those instruments the best... yep.

AS for the 210, fantastic product. I dove in the sand playing volleyball with my serengetis on and got mini scratches in them. The 210 made them nice again. Great Product.

[donnybrook]

definately a good topic here. reminds me of a guy who, unprompted, came over and told me to "never, ever use a brush" on the bubbles cause you might wreck them. he then walked over to his helicopter (which had been flying in a dusty environment) and proceeded to SPRITZ some water from a spray bottle on them and grind the mess into his windscreen. i just shook my head....

hose and your bare hand for sure...

[Hedley]

Right. The best tools for removing bugs are LOTS OF WATER
and your water-softened fingernail. The water flushes the
grit off. You cannot use too much water.

My personal peeve: people who use strong, caustic soaps
on aircraft. It runs into the corners, you can't be sure you
didn't get it all off, and they can be terribly hard on the
aluminum.

Rather than using soaps (which don't do a very good
job of dissolving grease anyways) get a gallon of mineral
spirits from Home Depot and a spray bottle, for de-greasing.

Sure, it leaves a slight slime behind. But a quick spray
of detailer (aka cheater) wax will clean that right up.

Spray wax is great for both painted surfaces, and
plexi/lexan - it makes it a lot easier to get the
bugs off, next time.

[MichaelP]

That's an idea! I'll ask the helicopter guys down the line to polish our canopies

[sky's the limit]

That's an idea! I'll ask the helicopter guys down the line to polish our canopies

Haha.... There's a good one...

After all the years flying airplanes, I didn't know what a clean window looked like, until my first helicopter job - then I got schooled....

stl

[2R]

Is that why helios can fly safely in poor vis as they can seee out the windows ???

[dji]

for the bugs I cleaned my windows in the morning when the plane is still wet with morning dew, the bugs have been soaking for a couple hours and the detach very easily.

[ditar]

Another useful piece of advice: don't use your car's ice scraper to get frost and ice off the windscreen in the winter!

[GottaFly]

Another useful piece of advice: don't use your car's ice scraper to get frost and ice off the windscreen in the winter!

theres some truth to this...... man i love flying school airplanes........

[SDflyer]

210 is like sex for windows and yes go up and down for best results!

[sky's the limit]

Is that why helios can fly safely in poor vis as they can seee out the windows ???

Naw,

When it gets really bad, the door comes off...

stl

[Matthew]

Lots of water is how you reduce the scratching. Not
enough water when you're cleaning, you're sandpapering
the windscreen.

Once you get it clean, the best thing for plexi/lexan is
automotive (cleaner) car wax.

+1, I use lots of water and mild dish soap and gently work the bugs off with a soft face cloth.

After it dries, follow up with a coat of wax.

the best thing is the rain just beads right of the windscreen with a good coat of wax on there and is easier to clean later.

Gotta watch some of those plexiglass cleaners...... some of them have a lot of petrol based ingredients which are deadly on windscreens of the plastic/plexiglass kind.

Matt.