SYLMAR, CA – A topflight team of products made by PPG Industries’ aerospace business for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet will simplify maintenance and reduce costs for airlines while enhancing the flying experience for crews and passengers who take to the skies aboard the world’s newest jetliner.
Dreamliner jet flight-deck crews will view the world through commercial aviation’s largest windshields, kept clear of fog and ice with gold and indium-tin oxide heating systems. For passengers, the view will be through Alteos interactive window systems by PPG, commercial aviation’s first electrochromic window shades, powered by an interactive system that passengers control.
Maintenance will be simplified, environmentally responsible and less costly with PPG’s selectively strippable system of coatings. PPG Aerospace supplies the only complete coatings system qualified by Boeing for the 787.
The Boeing 787 will launch with Alteos interactive window systems by PPG that replace traditional pull-down opaque shades and enable passengers to select the amount of light transmitted through the window. The window systems use electrochromic technology by Gentex Corp., a leader in electrochromic devices for automotive applications.
The electrically heated defog coatings on the 787 flight-deck windows are made with a gold thin-film. In addition to providing window heat, the coating reflects a large amount of infrared energy, which helps to minimize heat in the cockpit.
Because of the 787’s composite airframe, PPG devised an improved paint system, according to Brian Roberson, PPG Aerospace Business Platform Leader for Coatings.
“Boeing will use a PPG Aerospace selectively strippable system on the new 787 aircraft consisting of our chromate-free Desoprime CA 7501 high-solids epoxy primer to protect the composite and metal surfaces, DeSoto F565-4010 chromate-free intermediate coating to facilitate topcoat removal for repainting, and Desothane CA 8000 high-solids polyurethane topcoats.
“When repainting is needed, a very mild, environmentally friendly chemical stripper can be used to remove the topcoats and intermediate coating,” Roberson said. “This eliminates the use of strong strippers and hand sanding that could damage the composite, and it also eliminates the need for re-priming and use of surface preparation chemicals.”
Desothane CA 8000 high-solids topcoats have more pigment than traditional coatings, so less material can be used to achieve needed coverage, and a lower percentage of solvent for reduced VOC emissions when being applied. With a four-hour dry time, airlines will be able to reduce process cycle time and get planes back into service sooner. Desothane CA 8000 topcoat has the fastest dry time of any material qualified to Boeing’s material specification (BMS 10-126), according to Roberson.
