To All,

Has anyone seen or heard tell of a "sprayed" on flooring product as opposed to a carpet or vinyl material ??

Mapleflt

Mapleflt wrote:To All,

Has anyone seen or heard tell of a "sprayed" on flooring product as opposed to a carpet or vinyl material ??

Mapleflt

I'd be curious about using that paint on wing walk. That way your floor wouldn't be slippery and you could still wash it out...

There is a 180 on the field that has Bed-liner sprayed in it. It looked good when it was done but when I was looking at my flooring options I went over and looked at it and he took me around the pattern. It was LOUD and he had problems with the inspection panels popping out. It didn't wear well either. He was going to scrape it all out, re-prime it, go with a vinyl floor mat.

My opinion: I wouldn't do it! Even with ANR's a long flight would take it's toll.

Jim

Well aside from being loud, not having a covering on the floor invites damage to something that is rather hard to replace. Odd this topic came up just as I received more flooring. The carpet in my 206H had run its course from being in a floatplane and sitting in India for a while. So I had ordered some of the Douglass Interior Products "Flyweight" carpet. Not too terribly expensive, has burn certs for aircraft use. Cut it out and had tapes seen to the edges. Looks excellent, deadens sound, protects the floor, is hose cleanable and is aircraft legal. I know, aircraft legal with burn certs in a tiny aircraft is absolutely ludicrous. I think if the carpet is burning and I am overcome by the fumes, I am most likely in a Viking funeral situation. However, the law is the law and the FAA has the sense of humor of Judge Dredd.

So to finish off the carpet project, I also ordered some Bataflex, which actually arrived today. I have some squares sewn in at the heel rub area and I am making a cargo area mat to substitute for the carpet when I take stuff. It all attaches with Velcro, so changing is a snap. Bataflex is the material they use in airliner galley areas. I also use it in my Caravans to line the floor between the cargo tracks. It last typically 10 years in commercial service. It is very thin and extremely tough, I suspect bulletproof. It too has burn certs. Its only drawback is it is made from actual rhino skin, or so it seems by the price. This is offset by the; its lasts virtually forever characteristics.

Now in a pinch and if you don't care about Judge Dredd passing sentence on you. I have in the past gone to Home Despot and bought some of the very thin ribbed vinyl hall runners in black. Cut it out for a temporary floor covering. It costs and weighs nothing and provides a small measure of floor protection. It deadens sound from a scream to a screech. It is so cheap, you can throw it out rather than clean it.

Sprayed bedliner is a really bad idea... Was a cool idea 10-15 years ago, but has proven out to be a poor solution. I'm working on a 185 right now that was done like this. The floor, and walls are all sprayed up to the windows.

Besides not being approved, it is heavy, loud, and as has been said, the exposed aluminum is prone to a beating... Its also darn near impossible to get off if you need to. I am adding a solid floor mat to the bird to both quiet it down and protect the floor.

Some people have a high tolerance for noise and vibration on long flights; I am not one of them. It's fatiguing and just annoying. I'm planning to go with featherweight carpet with foam underlayment in my interior. It looks nice, and after hours in the saddle it will reduce the noise in my ears and vibration in my feet. It's also light enough that I'm fully willing to make the compromise in weight to be comfortable. SCS makes a pre-cut, ready to install piece for my plane with bound edges, foam attached, burn certified for under $500. They will also do pre-cut vinyl but it's much more expensive. That said, I may still get a roll of the vinyl and cover the extended baggage floor, and maybe make a sheet to toss on the baggage area floor just to protect it.

Spray-in bed liner is quite heavy stuff. Great in trucks, but basically the antithesis to what most of us do to airplanes. The wing walk paint won't weigh as much but still isn't really meant for the interior. In my opinion, put in something that at least tries to deal with noise and vibration and can still come out when you need it to. You won't gain anything a vinyl floor won't provide in durability with spray/paint-on products. I also don't understand the "you can wash it out" comment, you still clean airplanes the same way. You can't just hose it down because it's adhered to the floor; water is not meant to be in most places on the inside of a fuselage. In this aspect I think removable floor is actually better simply because you can take it out and then hose it off.

It's a neat idea in theory, but in practical use I think there are better ways to go.

Even if a spray in floor was the bee's knees, I'd be inclined to not do it on account of how permanent it is.

Making a paper template and cutting your own floor is pretty easy to do. I like things to be replaceable where possible.
Hell, I don't even want to glue in soundproofing because it seems too permanent. Maybe I just have a problem with commitments.

Bagarre wrote:Maybe I just have a problem with commitments.

I'm pretty sure that the polished 170 rebuild you are doing, which by the way is crazy nice, means you need to be committed if anything.


I put Lonplate 2 flooring in my 170. I purchased it from Aircraft Interior Products. I like that it is bomber and will never wear out in my lifetime. The drawback to that is the weight. My flooring tips the scales at 17 lbs. Originally I didn't really care, but now I do care about keeping my plane as light as possible. Some may scoff that those few extra lbs. don't mean much. I encourage them to go pound sand. I have seen other products that perform close to the same as what I have now for 1/2 the weight. When the money tree comes in bloom again, I will be switching to a lighter weight product.

akgreg wrote:

Bagarre wrote:Maybe I just have a problem with commitments.

I'm pretty sure that the polished 170 rebuild you are doing, which by the way is crazy nice, means you need to be committed if anything.

Paint seems so permanent.

Delete

Bagarre wrote:
Paint seems so permanent.

As permanent as material removal?

13 years ago I installed an Airtex Carpet in my plane. I can't say enough about how well it has held up with 2-4 guys climbing in and out twice per days in work boots, 3 seasons out of the year. It is one of the few things in my plane which refuses to wear out.