Exterior Dry Wash at Schwäbisch Hall-Hessental (Adolf Würth Airport) (EDTY)

What changes at Schwäbisch Hall-Hessental (Adolf Würth Airport)?

Schwäbisch Hall-Hessental sits at 1311 feet elevation in Baden-Württemberg, owned and operated by the Würth Group through Flugplatz Schwäbisch Hall GmbH. The airport has no IATA code and no scheduled airline service; traffic is corporate aviation—Würth, Schwarz Group, ebm-papst—and light GA. The single concrete runway, 10/28, measures 1540 metres; a parallel grass strip serves light aircraft. Handling is airport-operated, and the business-aviation terminal is located at 74523 Schwäbisch Hall.

Because this is a private corporate field, every exterior dry wash is coordinated directly with the airport operator. We arrive with our own water supply and waste containment so no wash bay or hydrant access is needed. The 1311-foot elevation means winter temperatures drop reliably below freezing, and dry-wash chemistry must be temperature-stable; we use cold-weather formulations that remain effective down to −10 °C. Slot coordination is not applicable here, so scheduling is straightforward: we request stand access through the handler, confirm GPU and airside escort, and work to the flight department's timeline.

The operator expects a detailed photo report at handover. We photograph the aircraft on arrival, document problem areas—leading-edge pitting, belly staining, nacelle soot—and deliver before-and-after images with the invoice. This documentation travels with the aircraft and supports paint-warranty claims if corrosion or finish degradation appears later.

Why dry wash instead of a traditional water wash at a corporate airport?

Water wash requires a dedicated bay, effluent capture, municipal discharge permits and often a tow from the stand. Schwäbisch Hall-Hessental is a business-aviation facility without airline-scale wash infrastructure, so a traditional rinse-and-scrub operation would mean either trucking water and containment mats to the apron or repositioning the aircraft to another airfield. Dry wash eliminates that complexity: we perform the entire clean on stand using waterless emulsion chemistry that lifts contaminants into suspension, then wipe them away with microfibre cloths. No runoff touches the apron, no handler coordination for wash-bay access, and no tow fee.

The chemistry is approved for modern basecoat-clearcoat and polyurethane topcoats. It leaves a thin hydrophobic layer that sheds rain and delays the next accumulation of soot and bug residue. For an aircraft operating two or three legs a week out of a corporate base, a dry wash every two to four weeks keeps the finish clean without the downtime and logistical overhead of a full wet wash. When paint correction is needed—oxidation, swirl marks, embedded rail dust—we schedule a single-stage polish separately; dry wash is maintenance, not restoration.

What does an exterior dry wash include at Schwäbisch Hall-Hessental?

We clean every external surface: fuselage crown and sides, wings upper and lower, empennage, nacelles, belly and main and nose gear. Bug residue comes off leading edges and radome; exhaust soot is lifted from nacelle trailing edges and belly centreline; hydraulic mist and oil film are degreased from gear bays and belly panels. Exterior windows—cockpit, cabin, emergency exits—are polished with glass-safe microfibre, and position lights and landing lights are wiped clean. We finish with a light touch-up on brightwork: leading-edge stainless, nacelle lips, belly fairings.

The process is panel-by-panel. We spray a section with dry-wash emulsion, let it dwell thirty to sixty seconds to break the bond between contaminant and paint, then wipe in straight, overlapping passes. Heavily soiled areas—the belly aft of the APU exhaust, the nacelle six-o'clock, gear-door interiors—get a second application and a dedicated degreaser. We do not touch pitot probes, static ports, antennas or any no-go zone marked in the aircraft maintenance manual; those areas are masked or avoided entirely.

Duration depends on size and condition. A super-midsize airframe in average condition takes three to four hours; an ultra-long-range jet with a neglected belly can run to eight. We work around your schedule: if the aircraft lands at noon and departs the next morning, we start as soon as GPU is connected and the cabin crew have disembarked. The final step is the photo report—typically fifteen to twenty images covering all major surfaces and any areas of concern.

How do you coordinate with the handler at a Würth Group airport?

Flugplatz Schwäbisch Hall GmbH operates both the airport and the handling, so coordination is a single conversation. We notify the handler twenty-four to forty-eight hours before the scheduled arrival, confirm the stand assignment, request GPU if the APU will be shut down, and arrange our airside escort. The handler expects us to carry our own third-party liability insurance—we provide a certificate on request—and to follow their ramp-safety rules: high-visibility vests, no work under wings during fuelling, no liquids near open panels.

Because this is a corporate field serving a small number of operators, the handler knows the resident aircraft and their schedules. If your jet is a regular visitor, they will often pre-position it on a stand with good access and lighting. We bring all consumables—dry-wash solution, microfibre cloths, degreaser, waste bags—so we place no demand on the FBO's stock. Waste goes into our own containers and leaves the airport with us; the handler signs off on ramp cleanliness before we depart airside.

If the aircraft is AOG or if you need the exterior clean completed within a tight turnaround, tell the handler when you file the flight plan. They can coordinate our access so we are standing by when the aircraft shuts down, and they will prioritise GPU connection. That coordination is especially important in winter, when daylight is short and outdoor work must finish before temperatures drop below the chemistry's working range.

What does Baden-Württemberg weather do to the exterior finish?

Schwäbisch Hall lies in the Hohenlohe plain, a region of rolling hills and mixed agriculture. Summers are warm and humid; thunderstorms deposit pollen, dust and organic acids on the upper surfaces. Winters bring freezing temperatures, road salt in the air from nearby motorways, and occasional snow. The combination accelerates corrosion on unpainted brightwork and traps contaminants under a layer of road grime on the belly and nacelles.

Bug strikes are heaviest May through September. Insect proteins turn acidic within hours of impact and begin etching the clearcoat if not removed; a dry wash every two weeks during bug season prevents permanent staining on the leading edges and radome. Exhaust soot accumulates fastest on short-sector flying—APU run-ups, multiple engine starts, low-altitude cruise—and if left in place it bakes onto the nacelle and belly during the next flight. Hydraulic mist from gear retraction drifts onto the belly skin and attracts dust, forming a grey film that looks worse than it is but still requires degreasing.

The hydrophobic layer we leave behind sheds rainwater and reduces the adhesion of new contaminants, so the interval between washes stretches slightly. But no coating is permanent; after four to six weeks the protection wears thin and the next clean takes longer. Regular dry wash—every two to four weeks—is the simplest way to protect the paint and keep the aircraft looking current.

Why does the photo report matter for a corporate flight department?

A photo report is documentation, not marketing. When we finish the dry wash, we hand over a set of images showing the aircraft on arrival, close-ups of problem areas—leading-edge chips, belly staining, nacelle carbon build-up—and the same areas after cleaning. Those images go into the tech log as evidence that the exterior was inspected and maintained on a given date. If paint warranty claims arise later, or if pre-purchase inspection reveals finish degradation, the photo record establishes a maintenance history.

Corporate flight departments use the images to track paint condition over time. If the same leading-edge section shows progressive pitting across three or four reports, that signals a need for touch-up or a leading-edge tape application before the damage reaches the primer. If belly staining reappears within a week of a dry wash, it suggests a hydraulic leak or an APU exhaust issue that maintenance should investigate. The photos turn a cosmetic service into a diagnostic tool.

We timestamp and geotag every image, and we deliver them as high-resolution files, not compressed email attachments. You can print them for the aircraft file or forward them to the paint shop when scheduling correction work. The cost of the report is included in the dry-wash price; it is part of the service, not an optional extra.