Sherwin-Williams Aerospace Coatings announced it now has a durable, gloss topcoat certified for the military segment, MIL-PRF-85285D, Type I, Class H. The approval was received from the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC) in Patuxent River, Md., according to Karen O’Hara, Sherwin-Williams Aerospace director of sales.
O’Hara noted a number of rotary wing and land-based vehicles in the U.S. military’s arsenal are already coated with Sherwin-Williams coating products and now the company can bring the same durability and appearance standards to many of the U.S. military’s fixed-wing aircraft.
“While flat paints are specified for some of its aircraft, the military requires gloss products on most VIP transports and special mission planes such as E-3 and E-6 radar aircraft,” says O’Hara. “The approved Sherwin-Williams Jet Glo Express gloss topcoat will now be a viable choice for repainting and maintaining these aircraft.”
Jet Glo Express is a high-solids, multi-component polyester urethane paint designed for use on high-performance general aviation, military and commercial aircraft. It delivers the same proven protection and appearance as the company’s conventional Jet Glo topcoat but also offers fast dry and cure times (just six to eight hours) to improve shop processing flow and get aircraft quickly back into the air.
Now approved for MIL-PRF-85285D, Type 1, as well as SAE AMS 3095 Certification for Commercial Airline Exterior Systems, Jet Glo Express urethane coating provides outstanding coverage and protection while providing painters with excellent flow and leveling. It is a durable topcoat that provides superior buffing characteristics and has proven to be chemically resistant to a variety of cleaners and hydraulic fluids.
It delivers superior hiding and stain resistance, and when mixed properly, contains less than 3.5 lbs/gal (420 g/L) of VOC. It has a low HAPS content, less than two percent by weight and is an environmentally smart choice because Jet Glo Express urethane coating is free of lead and chromate hazards.
“In the military, there’s a need for products with the high performance characteristics of Jet Glo Express urethane coating, which is consistent with the history of support for which Sherwin-Williams and its distributors provide,” adds O’Hara. “We want the aviation maintenance world to know that Sherwin-Williams Aerospace offers products for nearly every type of aircraft available, and this certification helps us back that up.”