BACKGROUND AND PROJECT COMMENTS:
The Saab 340A is a 30 passenger airliner. It has 3 crew, a maximum cruising altitude of 25,000 ft and a range of 1400 nautical miles. This is the fifth Saab that UVA has painted for Pacific Coastal Airlines. Pacific Coastal landed the plane at UVA early Friday where it was washed and some controls removed. Pacific Coastal needs their plane in 5 days. The shortest timeling UVA has completed a "Saab Job" is 7 days, so crews are working overtime through the weekend to get it finished on time
For more information on the Saab 340A:
Click here for the Pacific Coastal Website.
Click here for the specs on the 340A from the Saab Aerotech website.
- Day 1 - Saturday - Some of the crew arrived at 4am to finish another project and get the shop cleared out for 6am when the rest of the UVA people arrive. Most of the crew stayed until 7pm, putting in a long day of work to make sure the AC is ready when Pacific Coastal needs it. This job is a scuff-and-shoot which means that no chemicals are used to remove paint. Today windows and some surfaces not being painted are masked, then the surface layer of paint is sanded and smoothed over in rough spots using hand-help palm sanders. With 4 days to go, eight guys wearing respirators sand at a stifling pace in the dust-filled shop. The temperature today reached 28 degrees Celsius.
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- Day 2 - Sunday - Today the sanding on the AC was completed early in the morning then it was completely wiped down to get rid of dust. After being washed, the Saab was masked for the first stages of painting then wiped down again with mild wax and grease remover. Floors and walls of the paint booth are all sprayed to get rid of dust as well. The surfaces to be painted were then primed and after, the first two coats of blue were sprayed.
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- Day 3 - Monday - After the the blue was painted, it was time for the white. The plane was umasked, sanded and remasked for the second color. A coat of primer was sprayed, then two coats of white. After day three all the paint is on the AC and in the morning it will be ready for decals and finishing touches.
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Day 4 - Tuesday - Today the white was dry and the masking as taken off. The final decals were put on and the controls taken off previously were replaced. The Saab was rolled out into the sunlight looking brand new and will be ready to take off by wednesday.
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