Ernst Stogmuller, of Aviation Consultancy Enterprises Limited, is in the process of setting up four “rescue” products to tackle wear and tear affecting de-icing boots, aircraft paint, windows and leather upholstery.

A cheap, patchless restoration process for de-icing boots was developed by Terry Burrell, known as the “original boot doctor”, in the US in 1985. Stogmuller will be marketing the service, and says he has improved the process: “The original material had a higher viscosity than the substrate of the neoprene or the estane, something which didn’t make any difference – the bits where you inflated it just didn’t stretch as much. But some of the people we were testing the product with objected, saying it ought to be the same viscosity as the substrate. So we worked that out.”

Boot repairs, like all Stogmuller’s rescue products, are carried out in the field, and mobile units are being set up to carry out the repairs.

Adding less than five kilos to the weight of an ATR 42, the coating to be put over aircraft paint has also been done before, Stogmuller said. It can be used to protect the whole aircraft surface, or to provide added protection where the paint work has been touched up: “We did a small square on an old bangers being used for freight,” Stogmuller said. “The difference is fantastic. The surface is reflective and prevents stains as well, such as those you get from turboprop exhausts.”

Downtime for the work is not more than three days. The coating fends off damage caused by rain, UV radiation, scratches and the acidic residue from dead insects. There is a limit of how neglected the paint can be for the application of this regime, but where appropriate, the cost savings over a complete repaint can be up to 80 per cent, according to Stogmuller.

Stogmuller has agreed to put the boot and paint rescues to the test for EBAN. His company will soon be glazing to the paint work and repairing the boots of a King Air 200 from air taxi operator Manhattan Air of Blackbushe in the UK. We will keep you up to date with the work done over the next few months to test the usefulness and longevity of the products.

Ball number three in Stogmuller’s juggling act is the repair of scratches in the acrylic of cabin or pilot windows. “You need sophisticated equipment to measure the depth of the glazing, and it is a very skilled job” he said. “The German company who started it are doing it for companies like Fairchild Dornier and Jet Aviation; even those big companies do not have the equipment.

“Scratches in acrylic windows propagate the same as a tear in the metal. A window which you would otherwise throw away, and which is very expensive to replace, can be repaired. You can’t go below the minimum thickness, however, so it is important that we get to the scratch quickly. I’ve seen windows repaired which I never thought could be,” he explained. “For instance, in the Mitsubishi that I was flying, there was a high and low window heating setting. If you use the high heat setting on the ground by mistake, it damages the window. I have seen these windows fixed with this process.”

Fourthly, the repair of interior leather on aircraft: “I have seen the results and they are spectacular. I have beautiful leather furniture in my house, and we also have cats, but to re-cover one couch is very expensive. This restoration process is very effective, and it is a lot cheaper.”

Currently, Stogmuller is seeking to market the rescue quartet to both corporate and airline operators, although he reports that most of the techniques were developed on business aircraft. He was himself a corporate pilot. “I have had trouble targeting the corporate market. Airlines have listed contact details readily available. EBAN is the only way I can target this market,” said Stogmuller.