Commercial & Business Jet
Helicopter Paint Booths

Helicopters are vastly different from airplanes in terms of size and shape. Therefore, they require a much different finishing environment. GFS has an unmatched reputation and experience in designing and building high quality paint booths for the helicopter industry. Our helicopter booths are being used to paint commercial and military helicopters for customers such as Augusta Westland, American Eurocopter and Bell Helicopter

Modularly designed, our helicopter paint booths are available in a variety of sizes and configurations. We will work with you to design and build the perfect booth to meet your unique requirements.

Commercial & Business Jet
Helicopter Paint Booths
Airflow

GFS Spray Booths feature a modular design. This approach offers the economy of a standardized line of spray booths while making available a variety of sizes and configurations to fit a broad range of finishing processes.

Our helicopter paint booths are custom built and are available in downdraft, side downdraft and crossdraft configurations.

Downdraft

Air flows vertically from the ceiling intake plenum at the top of the booth, over the helicopter, and into the filtered exhaust pit in the floor. It’s then exhausted into the atmosphere.

Side Downdraft

Air enters the booth through a full-length ceiling plenum, and flows downward over the helicopter. When the air reaches the floor, it is pulled into the floor-level filtered exhaust plenums on each side of the booth, and exhausted into the atmosphere. No pit is requried for side downdraft booths.

Crossdraft

Air is pulled through one end of the booth from the shop or plant. The air flows parallel to the floor, over the product, and into the filter bank on the opposite side of the booth. The filter bank captures particulate, and the air is exhausted into the atmosphere. No pit is required for crossdraft booths.

Commercial & Business Jet
Helicopter Paint Booths
Filtration

3-Stage Filtration

Aerospace National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) requires the use of high efficiency filters to remove 95% of particles over 2 micron in size under certain conditions. The use of a 3-stage filtration system is mandatory and the filters must be in accordance with EPA Method 319. GFS uses a filtration system that provides 99% removal of most paint spray aerosols. This exceeds the requirements of both of these environmental protection agencies. 

The third stage filtration system consists of roll media, a MEPT panel filter a a 6-pocket bag filter.

Click on image below to download PDF brochure:

Commercial & Business Jet
Helicopter Paint Booths
Lighting

GFS will work with you to design the most energy-efficient lighting setup for your paint booth, without sacrificing quality.

The type of lights that we use in our booths depends on the size and type of booth. All lights included in our finishing environments are manufactured in-house in our Osseo facility, offering us complete quality control.

Low-energy consumers, T-8 fluorescent fixtures are used in the majority of our paint booths designs. Some booths, especially larger ones, utilize T5-HO tubes. T5-HO lights give off much more light than a plain T-5 light. Although they use more power than T-8 lights, less fixtures are needed because they give off more light. For high-bay facilities above 35 ft., HID lights are used.

Click on either of the images below to download the corresponding PDF brochure:

T-5 Light Fixtures	T-8 Light Fixtures

Commercial & Business Jet
Helicopter Paint Booths
Temperature

Temperature and Humidity Control

Aircraft paints can be very demanding of the application conditions. Modern paints are best applied in a narrow temperature range. Some paints prefer a moist or humid environment for application and for curing. The effect of these requirements is to design temperature and humidity control into the replacement air systems of the paint booths.

GFS is a leader at designing the most modern environments with specialized equipment and controls. These systems often have mechanical or evaporative cooling and steam or evaporative humidity generators.

Control of the temperature and dehumidification generally requires mechanical refrigeration. This is usually by chilled water or air-cooled condensing unit. This is heavy industrial equipment and means a careful design of the system as well as the structural loads to be imposed on the building.

Control of humidity means the addition of water, in vapor form, to the incoming airstream of the paint booth. This type of equipment must be designed especially for the layout of the paint booth. Consideration of the loads imposed on the structure is paramount.

GFS has done more of these high-tech mechanical systems for paint booths than any other supplier. We can also work with your architect to incorporate these systems into his design for even more economy.

Commercial & Business Jet
Helicopter Paint Booths

Recirculation

In today’s aerospace finishing industry where energy is a significant concern, air conditioning and exhaust recirculation systems are becoming common. Instead of the traditional 100% exhaust, exhaust recirculation systems are often cost effective. Energy costs for this type of system are one fifth of the costs for a full exhaust system. Capital costs are also greatly reduced.

Factors such as fire safety and personnel health must be considered before using an exhaust recirculation booth. The addition of monitors, controls and alarms must be added to the booth so that painters are aware of the current conditions of the booth.

GFS has installed many recirculation systems, and is an industry leader in this required technology. Generally recirculation rates are 80% circulated and 20% fresh air, however recirculation rates of up to 60/40 and as low as 90/10 have been accomplished. The major factors on determining the recirculation rate are climate conditions and personnel safety, and the ability to heat and cool the space.

Commercial & Business Jet
Helicopter Paint Booths

Click on Image to Download PDF Brochure