Latin America. After almost two years of testing, the first coating system that meets international military standards for aeronautical protection was obtained.
On July 22, the Office of Aeronautical Certification of Defense (SECAD), belonging to the Colombian Air Force (FAC), delivered the Certificate of Aeronautical Qualification (CCA) to the company Pintuco (belonging to the multinational AkzoNobel) for the production of a special chemical that withstands the extreme conditions of one of its aircraft.
The FAC 4136 helicopter was chosen for the pilot test. After the Corrosion and Coatings Control Inspection process, the aircraft obtained the seal of quality that certifies that it complies with the provisions of the Procedure for Aeronautical Product Design Approvals.
"What we did was identify the problem they had to have a quality and high performance paint, and what we did was make a formulation that is at the height of any painting internationally," said Marleny Yepes, Research Manager at Pintuco. In this way, the company becomes the first national supplier with this type of inputs.
"In a very short time we can already be in rockets and other types of aircraft because all the quality standards, which for us were a challenge initially, were achieved from that joint work," he added in relation to the work of chemical engineers of the company by the hand of aeronautical technicians of the FAC itself.
Precisely, First Technician Juan Felipe Álvarez, Inspector of structures and composite materials of the Air Combat Command No. 5, expressed his pride in "a project and a very rigorous work to guarantee safety in each mission."
Fuselage corrosion costs the aviation industry billions of dollars each year. "If we have good coatings, the life of the helicopter is going to be extended and it will be willing to fulfill the mission day and night, anywhere it is required," Alvarez said.
For his part, Juan David Murillo, technical specialist of Pintuco, stressed that "this means a special mission: it is to know that in Colombia there was no such technology, that everything was imported and I think that in the country we have a lot of industry; not only at the level of paintings but of many other materials and components that we can explore, we just have to believe a little more in ourselves and support each other, this is to carry out a national development".
