Brightwork Polish at Grenoble Alpes Isère (LFLS)

Why does brightwork need polishing more often in ski-season rotations?

Bare aluminium oxidises whenever moisture sits on it, and winter operations at altitude accelerate the process. Propwash kicks up runway grit that scours leading edges; Type I and IV fluids leave a film that traps moisture; and cold-soaked metal condenses water the moment you descend into warmer air. After a dozen legs through Grenoble, Samedan and Innsbruck the inlet rings and wing leading edges that gleamed in November look chalky by February.

Polishing removes the oxide layer and micro-scratches, then we apply a sealant that slows fresh oxidation for eight to twelve weeks. If you wait until spring the corrosion creeps under the clear coat on spinners and around fastener holes, which means a respray rather than a polish. Charter operators who run the same airframe hard through the season typically book a mid-January polish and another in March; owner-flown aircraft on a lighter schedule often polish once in late autumn and again before the summer tour begins.

What changes at Grenoble Alpes Isère that affects the schedule?

The airport sits at 1,302 ft on the Bièvre plain with a 3,050-metre asphalt runway able to take large business jets, and traffic is heavily concentrated in the winter ski season: ExecuJet markets the field as the gateway to Alpe d'Huez, Les Deux Alpes and Villard-de-Lans, so demand peaks December through April. That seasonal surge means tight ramp space and back-to-back slots during weekends and school holidays; if you want three days for a brightwork polish in mid-February, book the stand a month ahead.

Customs and immigration are integrated on request. From 1 December to 30 April border control follows the airport operator's hours, while from 1 May to 30 November non-Schengen flights need twenty-four hours' notice on weekdays or forty-eight at weekends. ExecuJet—the FBO partner of the airport operator Edeis—runs the Terminal Affaires at the airport entrance, and they arrange airside escort and GPU if the aircraft will be cold for more than a few hours. In summer the field is quiet and we can usually start work the day you land, but winter is a different rhythm.

How do you organise brightwork polishing around flight schedules here?

Most crews tell us their next three or four departure dates when they book, and we build the work around whichever gap is longest. If you have a seventy-two-hour window we can strip, polish and seal all the metal on a super-mid; if it's only forty-eight hours we prioritise leading edges and inlets, then nacelles, leaving window surrounds for the next visit. We work directly on the ExecuJet apron under their airside escort, so there is no tow and no second handling invoice.

For aircraft that overnight regularly—say a charter G280 doing weekly Geneva–Grenoble–Geneva triangles—we stage the work across two visits: leading edges and spinners on the first stop, exhaust cones and belly brightwork on the second. That way each session is ten to fourteen hours and the aircraft leaves on time. One-off positioning stops are simpler: if you are ferrying empty from Chambéry to Cannes and happy to spend an extra day at Grenoble, we do the complete polish in a single push and you collect the aircraft with every piece of bare metal sealed and photo-documented.

Which surfaces are included in a brightwork polish?

Wing and horizontal-stabiliser leading edges come first: these see the worst of the propwash abrasion and show oxidation fastest. Engine inlet rings and spinners are next—any dullness here is visible from the cabin door—followed by exhaust petals and thrust-reverser buckets, which discolour from heat and combustion residue. We also polish window surrounds and any other bright trim the OEM left bare: cheat-line strips, door handles, step edges.

The process is always hand work. We start with a cutting compound to remove oxidation and light scratches, step through finer grades until the surface is mirror-smooth, then apply a sacrificial sealant that fills the microscopic pores in the aluminium. On older airframes where the leading edge has been polished many times we sometimes find ripples or thin spots; we note those in the report and recommend whether another cycle is safe or whether a leading-edge boot or paint is the better choice.

What documentation do you provide after polishing?

Every brightwork polish ends with a written report and time-stamped photographs: before, during and after shots of each surface, close-ups of any corrosion we found, and a checklist confirming which areas were compounded, polished and sealed. The report goes into the tech log as evidence that the work was done to the OEM maintenance manual—useful if the aircraft is managed under an EASA or FAA continuous-airworthiness programme.

We also note the sealant batch and application date so that the next detailer knows when re-coating is due. If we discover anything that needs sheet-metal or paint attention—a cracked doubler, a delaminating boot, a fastener weeping—we photograph it, mark the station and flag it for the crew before we finish. It is not an inspection, but we see the metal at a level of detail that a walk-around will not, and operators appreciate the heads-up.

How often should brightwork be polished on an aircraft based here through winter?

Two to four times a year is the general rule, but winter in the Alps pushes you toward the upper end. An aircraft doing thirty legs a month through Grenoble, Samedan and Chambéry will show visible oxidation by six weeks; one that flies weekly and spends the rest of the time in a heated hangar in Geneva might stretch to twelve. We recommend a full polish in late November before the season starts, a mid-season touch-up in January or February if the aircraft is flying hard, and a final pass in April before you head south or back across the Atlantic.

If the brightwork is part of a Complete Detail—exterior polish, cabin deep-clean, leather conditioning—we fold it into that schedule so you are not bringing the aircraft back solely for metalwork. Some operators prefer to do leading edges and inlets every visit and exhaust cones only twice a year, because the inlets are what passengers see and the exhaust discolouration is slower. Either cadence works; the key is not to let oxidation sit through a summer of inactivity, because by the time you return in December it will have etched into the substrate and you will be looking at paint rather than polish.