Rust protection for airplanes

There is hardly any grate on aircraft, since most of the components are made from light metals for weight reasons. Rusting can only be steel. And the few steel parts on the aircraft are specially painted or galvanized stainless steel parts. So they can’t smell.

Aircraft are protected from unwanted corrosion by deliberate corrosion. ^^

The aluminum sheets used for the outer skin of the flying sky are made of an aluminum alloy. A very thin layer of pure aluminum is rolled onto these sheets of aluminum alloy during production. This pure aluminum then oxidizes in the air and forms a dense oxide layer. The actual sheet metal is then protected from corrosion with this oxide layer. This is also the reason why you can never mark these sheets with a tearing needle or a lace pencil when working. The airtight oxide layer is thus damaged and the sheet is no longer protected from corrosion at these points. (Very nice you can see this at the old Douglas DC3 machines that look so metallic from the outside. In the case of which the outer skin is only protected by the placement, but in addition the outer skin is still awakened.)

When the sheet is finished, a yellow-green base color is then applied, which additionally protects against corrosion.

However, I have to say that the times in which aircraft were only made of aluminum are over. Planes like the A380 are made in sandwich construction. This means that only very thin aluminum sheets are used, which are then bonded to fiber composite materials in several layers.