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Serious question, had a chat with a retired FAA inspector at the Oshkosh airshow that made me pause.
He said, 'We never wrote up a plane for being too clean, but we sure did for not being clean enough.' Made me rethink my entire pre-inspection wipe-down routine. How thorough is your cleaning before you start signing off?
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johnthompson6mo ago
That bit about grime hiding problems is exactly right. I spent an extra hour once just wiping down an engine bay, and it showed a tiny fuel weep I would have completely missed. Now I treat the rag and solvent as the first inspection tool out of the box. A clean surface tells you the truth.
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sarahh485mo ago
That quote about cleaning being the first step of inspection is spot on... but I'd push back a tiny bit on calling it a 'spotless' plane. You don't need it spotless, just clean enough to see what's actually there. Overcleaning can actually hide things too if you're not careful with solvents and rags.
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jana_hernandez6mo ago
That quote hits hard because grime hides problems. A spotless plane lets you see every crack, seep, and worn spot you might miss otherwise. It turns cleaning from a chore into the first real step of the inspection.
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