Painting with Precision

March 31, 2026

Painting an aircraft is a highly complex process. The King Aerospace commitment to servant leadership ensures clients leave the hangar completely satisfied with their aircraft’s new and flawless finish.

Randy Johnson, director of corporate aircraft services for King Aerospace Commercial Corporation (KACC), credits the company’s 27-member paint team in Ardmore, OK, for the company’s hard-earned reputation for top-quality paint finishes. “Our paint team has been together a very long time,” he adds. “Consistency and quality begin with a high-level of experience.”

The process begins with assisting the customer in selecting their aircraft’s new paint scheme, or livery. King Aerospace works with a graphic designer to render the customer’s selections, providing them with a detailed look at their reimagined aircraft.

“Customers usually have something in mind, maybe something they saw in a trade listing or another  aircraft,” Johnson says. “We can help them create a unique design or select an existing livery in the colors they like. Whatever they’re looking for, we can then assist them in making it happen.”

From there, the job is booked with the customer advised to plan for approximately 30 days for their aircraft’s new paint job to be completed.

An Eye for Details

Once the aircraft arrives to receive its new look, the first step in the process involves a thorough inspection of the incoming aircraft’s condition. The King Aerospace team identifies any damage to the airframe and advises the client of any recommended repairs before proceeding.

Next, the team prepares the aircraft to strip off the existing paint. “We mask off windows, composites, air inlets, stuff like that,” Johnson says. “Next, the job supervisor inspects their work, verifies those surfaces and orifices are adequately protected and then gives the OK to proceed with stripping.”

King Aerospace applies the aircraft manufacturer-approved chemical stripper to the aluminum surfaces to remove the layers of old paint and coatings. In addition to ensuring the new paint adheres properly, removal of the old paint also significantly reduces weight and improves the quality of the new coating.

Removal of old paint from composite surfaces require a more extensive, “hands-on” treatment. “We differ from other companies in that we do a pretty aggressive hand sanding to get down to the original primer or substrate, rather than just scuffing them for new paint,” Johnson explains. “Composite surfaces flex more than metal. If you don’t remove those old, brittle coatings, they’ll eventually crack right through the new paint.”

Once that is complete, the King Aerospace paint team preps the airframe to receive an anti-corrosion primer coating. That is followed by three coats of the primary finish, providing added depth and luster compared to two-coat paint processes.

White paint is commonly used on the fuselage and tail due to its low weight and high reflective qualities, but Johnson emphasizes King Aerospace can paint “pretty much anything the customer wants, including complex fade patterns.”

After the base coats dry, painters again mask off the airframe and sand the necessary parts in preparation to apply the stripes, lettering and graphics of the customer’s unique livery. “We do everything we can to make a paint shoot perfect so that it meets our standards,” Johnson says. “It also eliminates a lot of rework.

“Once we’re happy with that, we move onto the wings (often painted white or silver, again for reflectiveness) and engine cowlings and nacelles,” he continues. “That is followed by new protective coatings and sealants where needed. We also use computer-cut stencils for all the required placarding.”

Throughout these final steps, team members conduct a comprehensive inspection to identify even the tiniest flaws requiring correction. “I’m talking minute defects,” Johnson says. “A little bit of flash, fisheyes or paint separation around a fuel sump. We might take a week or more to thoroughly go over the aircraft and make sure they’re flawless on final delivery.”

Satisfaction Guaranteed

Finally, the aircraft is thoroughly detailed to be ready to present to customers such as Key Custom Homes President Kent Key, whose Beechcraft King Air 350 recently received the King treatment.

“My experience with King Aerospace was far superior to that with any other aircraft I’ve had painted,” he said. “From their engagement throughout selecting and finalizing the design scheme to the quality of the finished product, they greatly exceeded even my high expectations. And they even delivered my aircraft two weeks earlier than planned!”

That high level of attention to detail and a commitment to always doing the right thing has earned King Aerospace customers including the U.S. presidential fleet and multiple government agencies, in addition to individual clients.

One major business jet OEM trusts King Aerospace with its most complex customer requests. “We have an upcoming job booked with carbon fiber-look graphics over a pearlized base,” Johnson adds. “That’s going to look sharp.”