Hey guys,

Got a question for y'all, I was presented with a odd ball job for me and my amphib (factory seaplane A185F on Edo amphibs), to the best of my knowledge my plane has never been in salt water, however this job requires a few landings in salt, not a ongoing gig, more of a one or two landing event.

The plane will be going back to the airport after each day and also normally lives in a hangar, I would have full access to extra hands and any cleaning supplies require and plenty of time to unsalt the plane after the flight or two.

So the question, is it possible to completely desalt the plane, or is this going to be a once it's done it's done and the seed has been planted type of thing, I'd love to take this job, but not at the cost my my baby


What say you?


Thanks!

Can you land in freshwater on the way back home? Seems like that would be a pretty good way to rinse compared to just hosing her off.

Other than that tidbit I haven't a clue.

There was a product called "Salt-Away" which was (reportedly) a specifically formulated wash agent that was designed to flush out the salt and other minerals. Used for boats, jet-ski's, etc. From how it was described to me it would make a fantastic product for any seaplanes operating in salt water. But I have ZERO experience with this product.

I am not a seaplane guy but I have had lots of experience with using boats in and out of the salt water. We have the same concerns although maybe to a less degree.

In addition to the above, lots of fresh water is really the solution, and the sooner the better. Being in the salt water isn't so bad, its when the craft is taken out and the air can get to it where the salt has accumulated leading to rapid corrosion. IF you can thoroughly rinse with fresh water all areas contacted by salt water (immersed in water or contacted by salt water spray) it shouldn't be a problem. Being an amphip this will be a bit more difficult to get a good rinse into all affected areas.

What whynotfly said. LOTS of fresh water, as soon as possible after immersion in salt. If you can find a good FRESH (ie: not brackish) lake or river to land in before going to the airport, land there, cycle the gear down, then back up, splash around a bit, then back at the airport, thoroughly rinse the airplane off with good fresh water.

Prior to going in the salt, I'd coat most hardware, fittings, etc with something like Paralketone or LPS 3....really gooey stuff, but it'll protect those uncoated things. PITA to clean off later, but.....

I wouldn't be afraid to go there. With those floats, I'd also pull the wheels after you're done with the salt exposure and either totally clean or even replace the wheel bearings. Aerocet I understand now sells sealed bearings.....maybe they will fit your floats, but bearings get water in them, so I'd either totally wash them out with solvent, then repack them or replace them.

I flew a Super Cub in and out of salt water for years in Kodiak. All it ever got after salt exposure was a good splash around in fresh water (straight floats). Lots of Paralketone on everything. That plane was stripped and recovered after ~ ten years in and out of salt, and the airframe looked great during the recover. Hardware was regularly lubed or replaced, but....

MTV

So splash into a lake after, go nuts with the hose at the airport, coat everything, maybe new (sealed?) bearings after, and I should be safe?

That's not too bad, I just want to be cautious as this is a plane I'm going to be hanging onto.

I've spent the last 16 years or so maintaining and operating a fleet of saltwater floatplanes. We do about 10,000 operations a year averaging 900hrs per year per airframe, so we need to be pretty extreme to keep these things running.

Your EDOs should have zerk fittings on pretty much every pivot point, including the axels for all 4 wheels. Customers of mine who have had good luck with longevity in saltwater have put a grease gun on all those fittings and serviced them at least every 25 hours. You'll be amazed at how much water will be ejected out of those joints.

I like the idea of using the sealed oil bath wheel bearings that Aerocet is selling as MTV suggested if you can get them to work, both physically and legally. If you need to stick with the stock wheel bearings and grease seals at least change out the aeroshell grease for something "waterproof" like ACG-2 by Dubois. Also we've had very little luck with the CP (chrome-plated) wheel bearings holding up any better than the regular ones, the only thing that saves the bearings is lots of fresh grease.

I've had customers who operate beaver Wipline amphibs that just budget in a complete set of new wheel bearings every other year, crazy.

Our planes get washed with soap and fresh water every day of operation and we plan on new paint with some sheet metal replacement every 10 years for each airplane.

+3 on liberal application of par-al-ketone, ACF50 or LPS as appropriate.

But for just a one or two day event, I shouldn't be accelerating wear on the aircraft with the proper above mentioned precautions?

The aircraft doubtfully will ever be touching salt again after this.

Oh yes, all that stuff I was babbling about would be total overkill for one or 2 days

Halestorm wrote:Oh yes, all that stuff I was babbling about would be total overkill for one or 2 days

On the other hand, a really good fresh water wash isn't overkill, ASAP after pulling out of the salt water, even if you've only had it in the saltwater once.

Cary

All good advise above.

With conventional wheel bearings...

Make sure at the 100/ annual ( or sooner) to completely clean (grease) the wheel bearings. I really like AeroShell 22 grease. Very light and easy to zerk a bunch.

NineThreeKilo wrote:......The aircraft doubtfully will ever be touching salt again after this.

Might be the first step down a slippery slope,
it'd be pretty easy to rationalize doing salt water again.
It's pretty tough to get your virginity back once it's lost.

We used CRC corrosion inhibitor for sea borne instruments that saw salt spray all day for weeks and months on end. It is waxy but not messy, and we used it at all crevices and conductive metal changes ( Al to steel for example) to slow down galvanic issues. We did other things too, but the spray did just fine by itself. It os pretty inexpensive and goes on fast and easy.

Boeshield T-9, a satisfied customer (me) review: (5) Stars

Just wanted to amend the good advise on the thread. I have been using Boeshield T-9 for thirty + years as a surface and bearing protectant. It needs to be removed and reapplied ever few years, however. Note: T-9 will get stale and dirty over time but, will prevent/slow oxidation and electrolysis. Degreasers like LPS Precision Clean removed it without scrubbing. It will build up over time because of wax deposited after the lubricate is used up. It leaves a "Not so aesthetic" appearance of dull yellow, which typically darkens with age. Easy to apply with an industrial sprayer or a small squirt bottle. Make sure to run some solvent after application if your sprayer has a tiny orifice. Check the MSDS for handling precautions:

http://www.sailrite.com/PDF/86700.pdf

I don't use it in tight areas that a light oil like ACF-50 would be used, i.e. airframe interiors, I use T-9 mostly on exteriors of boats/aircrafts exposed to salt. It's in between Procyon and ACF-50/ Corrosion-X.

Great at home too for guns, motorcycles, sqeaky doors etc...

That CRC stuff looks good, I'd look into the T9, but I'm not sure it would work for the mission, the plane is white, with white floats and aesthetics is a factor for this flight.

Figuring use the CRC, ACF50, land in a lake after, and also a full wash down after each day, including perhaps flooding and draining the floats, spraying the outside and inside of the tail, and after the last day and full strip and re lube of wheel bearings and the gear systems, that should have me as if I never touched salt.


I like the salt virginity comment lol, however this is way more work than splashing around the rivers and lakes that I'm used to

I was just sitting here lookin through old threads for info on float plane salt water operations. Norway has a loooong and scenic coast, so all pilots here are constantly pondering about going gunkholing. So I am trying to figure out how to make the ocean eat a plane as slow as possible, when I read this and had a laugh:

NineThreeKilo wrote:[...] the rivers and lakes that I'm used to

Is this a TLC qoute!?! It was one of the funniest and least expected things on this forum, but thanks for bringing me back to being a teenager, driving around in my moms car with the radio on. I always thought it was a catchy song but I would ruin my image if I told anyone. Now I am old enough to not care if I am caught humming along to Ms. Swift.

Varanger wrote:I was just sitting here lookin through old threads for info on float plane salt water operations. Norway has a loooong and scenic coast, so all pilots here are constantly pondering about going gunkholing. So I am trying to figure out how to make the ocean eat a plane as slow as possible, when I read this and had a laugh:

NineThreeKilo wrote:[...] the rivers and lakes that I'm used to

Is this a TLC qoute!?! It was one of the funniest and least expected things on this forum, but thanks for bringing me back to being a teenager, driving around in my moms car with the radio on. I always thought it was a catchy song but I would ruin my image if I told anyone. Now I am old enough to not care if I am caught humming along to Ms. Swift.

lol, indeed it was a TLC reference

As a follow up on this, I guess someone should respectfully note that FRESH water can also be quite corrosive...... The point being that a lot of the care you should be doing in preparation for a salt landing, you should probably already be doing if you're landing in fresh water much.
There is fresh water, and then there's fresh water, some of which comes equipped with pollutants, and other "stuff".

Wheel bearings are an example of something that should receive service on an amphib regularly. Same goes for all joints/actuators, etc.

So, I guess my point here is I likely wouldn't be doing much more for a quick dip in salt than I would already be doing for corrosion control on an amphib.

MTV

mtv wrote:As a follow up on this, I guess someone should respectfully note that FRESH water can also be quite corrosive...... The point being that a lot of the care you should be doing in preparation for a salt landing, you should probably already be doing if you're landing in fresh water much.
There is fresh water, and then there's fresh water, some of which comes equipped with pollutants, and other "stuff".

Wheel bearings are an example of something that should receive service on an amphib regularly. Same goes for all joints/actuators, etc.

So, I guess my point here is I likely wouldn't be doing much more for a quick dip in salt than I would already be doing for corrosion control on an amphib.

MTV

I fully agree higher degrees of mx are always appreciated by the plane

There is no way, especially in warmer or humid weather, salt water is not significantly more damaging than clean freshwater lake flying however.





https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/med ... _43-4B.pdf

FAA AC on corrosion

I don't disagree that salt water is significantly more corrosive than fresh water.

That said, go to Lake Hood in Anchorage and take a look at EVERY set of floats that've been parked in that "fresh water" for a season or so. I'm told that some of that my be due to electrolysis. But, nevertheless.....

IMy point was that those "boats" under your plane are pretty expensive, and they WILL corrode. Fresh water runs the gamut from crystal clear to some stuff I wouldn't want to drink..... And, all that metal stuff in those spendy boats WILL corrode.

MTV