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Airblast Installs State-Of-The-Art Spray Booth For The Omani Airforce
Client
Location
Adam Airbase, Oman
Brief
Design, manufacture and install a state-of-the-art spray booth, accounting for strenuous environmental challenges.
Background
In December 2012, BAE Systems won a £2.5 billion contract to manufacture and supply 12 Eurofighter Typhoons and Hawk Advanced Jet Trainers to the Omani Airforce. This contract also included in-service support and maintenance of the aircraft. In 2017, the last of the Eurofighters departed Britain for Oman.
Secured through Airblast Eurospray’s “JOSCAR” accreditation, the MoD and BAE Systems reached out to our team to construct a state-of-the-art component spray booth for the Omani Airforce. The Eurofighters are stationed at Adam Airbase, right in the heart of the Adam desert, host to fluctuating temperatures and high humidity.
This facility is one facet of a greater maintenance process for these advanced fighter aircraft. Over a period of flight time, the planes can develop fuselage wear and corrosion. The spray booth is used to treat and respray individual aircraft components from the aircraft’s fuselage.
The Challenges
The climate of Oman could be described as a subtropical, humid, hot desert climate with low annual rainfall. Due to its high seasonal temperatures, stark temperature differences and high humidity, spraying in this environment is challenging. The coating product requires exacting temperature and humidity control.
So, Airblast’s expert team set to designing an innovative solution and delivered a comprehensive, state-of-the-art spray booth complete with not only temperature control but also the ability to lower or raise humidity at the same time.
The Solution
Due to the environmental challenges of spraying in a desert, the internal climate of the spray booth had to be strictly controlled. Dependent on the time of day and season, desert temperatures can rise to heights of 40oC and 40% humidity or drop to 20oC and 60% humidity. To combat this, Airblast designed a spray booth complete with continuous automated climate adjustment.
The Result
Airblast is grateful to have worked on such a technically challenging project and to have delivered a novel surface treatment facility. As a result, the Omani Airforce has now the full maintenance capability it requires to service these British made aircraft.
