Atlas Air Paint Issues
 

Here are a couple of photos i have taken recently of Atlas Air, one taken this morning. As you can see the paint work towards the rear of the aircraft is quite bad. I thinking they should change contractors:rolleyes:

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/IMG_3848.jpg
N412MC

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/IMG_3553.jpg
N492MC

hear hear tony!
I have N492MC in Sydney on 2/4 and the paintwork still wasn't that great...hopefully the paintwork doesn't reflect the companys reputation..

They have always been pretty bad but those shots are some of the worst I've seen.
Do Atlas still fly to SYD regularly???
S.

That's terrible!
 

Is the paintwork bad enough to adversely impact laminar airflow and therefore increase drag/fuel burn? It looks like it to me but I'd be interested in an expert's opinion.

Here's the other side from a few months back:

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6233080

And again...look at the leading edge of the fin! :eek:

http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6297917

Poor girl, in need of an 'Extreme Makeover'. Nice photo BTW Andrew.

Cheap pre-paint preparation
 

I wonder what costs more - the extra fuel burned from allowing turbulent air flow to burnish the paint off or a conventional "sanding back" before a re-paint?

That is the worst photo I have seen of the Atlas paint job (or lack of it).

Scott, they do a lot of freight work for Qantas. I know they normally do SYD-BKK-Chicago, but wouldn't surprise me if they did other routes for them.

Yep it seems like they do. This is a trimmed shot of my photo and you can read the decals. Is there a market for Qantas to have its own cargo aircraft?

http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/r...e/trimedAA.jpg

The reason why the paint has come off is due to the surface not being treated and cleaned properly. The paint hasn't adhered to the airframe and thus why it has come off. Basically to fix the problem they need to strip and repaint the aircraft again. That is what happens when you pay for a "Cheap" paint job.

N409MC also had paint issues, but not as bad as N412MC.
http://jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=6298019&nseq=24

I shot her just a few weeks ago and she's now wearing a fresh coat of paint (will find and attach a pic later).

Ah thanks Kieran. :)

Andrew, great shot, a keeper!!

Atlas is not paying for the fuel, Qantas is, so it's a QF issue!

There was talk last year, but now with this fuel & world economic situation, I dont think we will see it for a while.

Atlas
 

I saw one of the Atlas aircraft in Sydney a couple of months ago with the bad paint job.

However, N418MC seems to have intact paintwork.
http://myaviation.net/?pid=01371486

I would have thought with aircraft looking shabby with peeling paint would make people think I am not using that company.

N404MC was in today, and looks like it may have been painted recently...nice and fresh!!