How to get THAT smell out of your GA airplane

[dachar89]

Curious if anyone knows a great way to get the GA airplane smell out of the GA airplane. I say that a bit tongue in cheek, because to me the smell brings back fond memories of my flight training days in clapped out trainers. Now that I own an airplane, however, I do occasionally enjoy bringing my spousal unit along to experience the joys and freedom of flight and she almost always comments on the smell of our airplane. My airplane is a 1969 Twin Comanche with only 3100 TT, but it definitely has the GA airplane smell... a combination of 100LL, grease, oil and whatever else has been in and out of the cabin in the last 55 years.

I recently got four new fuel bladders installed, which has helped with the smell some (the bladders were old and brittle and I believe released 100LL smell into the wing which came into the cabin) but how can I get the permastank of GA airplane out of the GA airplane?

Has anyone used a ozone generator in a GA airplane and did it help with the smell at all? Air fresheners? Febreeze?

 

[Hang 4]

Seats out. Use carpet cleaner on the carpets. Use a car interior cleaning product on all the side walls, seats etc. A soft nylon brush helps with both of those. Wipe off the cleaners with a damp rag. All this assumes vinyl seats, if fabric, do same but with a cleaner designed for upholstery. Wash the interior of the windows as well. Make sure to use a cleaner compatible with plastic (e.g. Not Windex)

 

[Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe]

Somehow, an Ozone generator in an aluminum airplane full of expensive avionics and rubber plumbing just doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

 

[Salty]

Maybe you should check this?

People in Japan Are Buying Air Fresheners That Smell Like ‘High School Girls’

The air freshener claims that this is “the smell when you give a ride to a high school girl in the passenger seat.”

www.vice.com

 

[Jim K]

Embrace it. Use a little 100LL as cologne. She'll get used to it

 

[Ed Haywood]

Airtex.

 

[ArrowFlyer86]

I got this air freshener for xmas from my friend for exactly this reason. Clips on OK to my overhead air vent nozzle in the Arrow.
The fast flowing air causes the prop to spin which adds to the ventilation of the air freshener!


But I'd be careful as you pick. As with any air freshener what you want to avoid is layering smell on smell.
Otherwise you end up with the ever present issue that I call the "taxi-cab" odor problem: 14 air fresheners clipped to the rearview mirror fighting an impossibly futile battle against the driver's body odor and diet-induced GI problems. The result is not a minty fresh smell, but an eye watering disaster.

 

[Gary Ward]

Airtex.

Worked for us.

 

[Chip Sylverne]

Dryer sheets work pretty well, and have the added benefit of being mouse repellent.

 

[Jaminky]

Curious if anyone knows a great way to get the GA airplane smell out of the GA airplane

If they had that smell in a bottle,I’d buy it

 

[RyanB]

I dunno, maybe I'm the crazy one, but I love that smell. Why would you wanna do such a thing!

 

[texasclouds]

I doubt I could safely fly a plane without that comforting scent of ass-sweat and avionics…

 

[Jim K]

I doubt I could safely fly a plane without that comforting scent of ass-sweat and avionics…

If my plane doesn't smell like 100ll, it's probably empty

In all seriousness, it's in the fabric. The rentals i fly with old seats have that smell, the ones with new seats don't. My plane has fairly old seats, but they're leather and don't absorb the smell as bad.

 

[Domenick]

Somehow, an Ozone generator in an aluminum airplane full of expensive avionics and rubber plumbing just doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

Ozone is highly reactive and will age plastic/rubber quickly. And remember your plastic and rubber is already old.

 

[kyleb]

Ozone is highly reactive and will age plastic/rubber quickly. And remember your plastic and rubber is already old.

And busted rubber or rubber with a hole in it is bad.

 

[ateamer]

And busted rubber or rubber with a hole in it is bad.

That was my biggest fear back in my single days.

 

[texasclouds]

Ozone is highly reactive and will age plastic/rubber quickly. And remember your plastic and rubber is already old.

1954 is all metal baby! All the little trim pieces are metal. It’s beautiful.

 

[AV8R_87]

Ozone is highly reactive and will age plastic/rubber quickly. And remember your plastic and rubber is already old.

Not disputing your statement, but they use ozone genererators to get smells out of used cars before selling them, and a couple applications during the life of the car doesn't seem to impact the plastics and rubber that much.

Using it every other week? Probably not good.
Using it once every 5 years, would it do an excessive amount of damage?

 

[WDD]

Having just redone the interiors of two of our club planes, I can tell you Jim is spot on. The odors are in the fabrics: Carpet, seats, and headliner (if it's a fabric one of course). We replaced our seat covers, seat foam, flooring, and headliner and six months later it still has that new car smell. Completely different.

Thus, my humble advice is to pull the seats and carpet out. Assuming you don't want to buy all new, outside of the plane hit the carpet and seats a few times with a carpet steam cleaner. Then stick them in a room and hit with ozone. It won't be all the way like new, but will be a lot better. The headliner I would just hit with Febreze, as taking it out and in is more than I would want to contemplate.

Also a great time to inspect what's under the carpet. It might surprise you (in a Steven King kind of way).