When the US Navy needed to store and transport three F35 aircraft at NAS Pax River Maryland, they thought of shrink wrap. When they thought of shrink wrap, they went searching the web and found Atlantic Shrinkwrapping Inc. (ASI) and a portfolio that showed the knowledge they were looking for.
When Dustin Hoover, ASI President got the call during the investigative stages of the inquiry, he was excited at the possibility of helping to protect these aircraft.
The charge of this project had seen shrink wrap in the area but had no personal knowledge of how the process worked when it came to aircraft. He asked about the process and asked for Dustin’s expertise. He had talked to other shrink wrap contractors but wasn’t getting the same questions that Dustin was asking. That’s because ASI has been working with aircraft and aerospace equipment for many years and knows what to ask and what to do to properly protect aircraft.
Shrink wrapping a fighter jet is not like shrink wrapping a boat or even a piece of cargo. There are many elements that need to be considered when talking on the task of shrink wrapping aircraft. Size, shape, transport logistics, storage logistics, moving the aircraft, working with hot tools, windows, doors, moving wing and tail parts, fuel, aircraft paint and the list goes on and on.
There is a very delicate balance of what you can do to, on an aircraft or even around an aircraft and many absolute things that you cannot do to, on or around an aircraft. ASI is familiar with these processes and procedures.
Just shrink wrapping at NAS Pax River, Maryland when it comes to the weather was something that ASI had to take into careful consideration. Not to mention working next to an active runway when it came to FOD. There was no room for mistakes.
Over the years, ASI has worked on helicopters, fixed wing aircraft, flight simulators, brand new aircraft, space craft, and many more aircraft and aerospace projects. Having done these projects on military bases, private airfields, near launch facilities or in manufacturing facilities, our safety training and understanding of procedures is burned into our crews daily routines.
Once this project went out to bid, ASI was called by several other contractors asking us to bid on this project as sub-contractors for them. ASI respectfully declined these offers as we are a registered contractor for the US Government and would be able to offer the government the best price by being a direct vendor.
The wrapping of the three aircraft took our team of professionals five full days to complete. The NAVY was more than happy with the work that we did and the professionalism we portrayed.
We are very honored to have had the chance to work with these aircraft and protect them for storage and transport to their next duty station.
We look forward to helping you with your aircraft or aerospace shrink wrapping needs.