Coatings by PPG Industries’ (NYSE:PPG) aerospace business helped LOT Polish Airlines (Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT) colourise the livery of an Embraer E175 jet, which was painted to celebrate the airline’s 85th anniversary.
Working from black and white photographs, LOT and PPG officials created the colours for a retro design honouring a historic livery and the airline’s original logo, which featured a representation of a crane in flight.
Six colours of DESOTHANE(R) HS/CA 8800 buffable topcoat and a DESOTHANE high-solids topcoat in semi-matte silver were applied over P99 wash primer and chromate-free PAC33CF primer.
The LOT anniversary livery uses elements from the airline’s livery of 1945 to 1973. The top of the fuselage is white with ‘POLSKIE LINIE LOTNICZE >LOT<‘ in black, and the lower fuselage, wings and horizontal stabilisers are semi-matte silver with a clear topcoat for added gloss.
A sky-blue horizontal band across the fuselage frames the windows, with cobalt blue lines above and below. The current LOT logo in purple appears on each side of the fuselage, and ‘flying since 1929’ is painted in black in English on one side and Polish on the other.
The white tail has a red accent and the original logo in black, while a black stylised crane is painted on the forward fuselage. Sky-blue winglets have ’85 Anniversary’ and "Since 1929" in white.
PPG Aerospace sales manager for Central and Eastern Europe Ralf Maubach said that LOT chose the PPG coatings after seeing another aircraft painted with the DESOTHANE HS/CA 8800 topcoat by LOT Aircraft Maintenance Services (LOTAMS) in Warsaw.
Maubach added that LOTAMS has much experience applying PPG coatings and LOT Polish Airlines made the final selection for the paint scheme.
"LOT Polish Airlines was impressed by the high gloss of our DESOTHANE HS/CA 8800 topcoat," Maubach said.
"The anniversary special livery is really an eye-catcher, painted with PPG coatings. They have to repaint some of their aircraft and want to present LOT Polish Airlines with aircraft that have high gloss and shine, so PPG will supply coatings for four more Embraer aircraft to be repainted."
Maubach said it was difficult for LOT to select colours for the anniversary livery because only black and white historical photographs were available as a resource.
"We discussed with them the possible colours we could produce to meet their expectations," he added.
PPG Aerospace’s Central Europe application support centre in Hamburg, Germany, mixed six colours, while PPG’s Gonfreville, France, coatings facility supplied the semi-matte silver colour and clear topcoat.
The DESOTHANE HS / CA 8800 topcoat provides outstanding colour and gloss retention, so the anniversary and repainted aircraft should maintain their appearance for years. It has a high-solids formulation that results in a lower percentage of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and reduced weight as coverage is achieved with less material than traditional coatings.
P99 wash primer promotes excellent adhesion for chromate-free PAC33CF primer, which provides corrosion resistance. A clear DESOTHANE high-solids topcoat applied over the semi-matte silver provides maximum gloss.
Maubach, who praised the painting skill of LOTAMS, said: "This was an intricate design, and LOTAMS did an excellent job."
For more information, visit www.ppgaerospace.com.
