Giving your Helicopter a Permanent Glow

Alan Norris visits Prodrive to watch the Permagard Process being applied to an EC135.

Purchasing a helicopter represents a large initial investment and as operating costs steadily increase owners and operators are always looking for ways to protect their asset and reduce costs. A French based company thinks it has a ‘something’ that will help on both counts. Permagard is a permanent specialist treatment which can be applied on new and used aircraft and offers a new concept for the protection of aircraft paint-work. Helicopter Life were invited to watch the treatment applied to the EC135 of David Richards, CEO of Prodrive.

Luc d'Argence the inventor and chief development chemical engineer behind the reactive plastic film technology has specialised in the development of paint and interior protection technology for more than 15 years working with the companies who supply the raw materials such as Dupont and ICI since 1998.

Permagard is made up from a concentrated emulsion of aminomethoxyfunctional ethyl polymers, which, in easy to understand terms, is a reactive polymer treatment which when cured forms an elasticised film on the paint surface giving an anti-oxidant and UV filter finish with a high polish finish. The curing process, which normally takes 24 hours, is achieved by...