Taking aerospace coatings to infinity and beyond

Meet Michael Suhara, the man who’s light years ahead with painting the future of aerospace coatings.

Meet Michael Suhara in front of one of his creations for Alaskan Airlines

Imagine being able to create flying works of art – dazzling designs that can turn the skies into a soaring showcase of aeronautic creativity.

It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it. However, if you ask Michael Suhara to describe his role at AkzoNobel, he’ll cryptically tell you he’s the Senior Technical Service Coordinator for Aerospace Coatings. That doesn’t even tell half the story.

Fast closing in on 30 years with the company, Suhara is AkzoNobel’s go-to person for Boeing when it comes to developing new products that meet their strict specifications. That’s a huge responsibility in itself, but he also takes care of another area of the business – he oversees the collaborative process behind the eye-popping liveries that are regularly applied to aircraft using the company’s high-performance products.

Aerospace works of art 

This is where Suhara’s decades of experience in aerospace coatings take on another dimension. Over the years, Suhara (who is based in Seattle in the US), has honed additional skills as an artist and designer – which comes in quite handy when you’re helping customers turn aircraft into flying works of art.

The many and various projects he has worked on include Star Wars and Toy Story-themed liveries for Alaska Airlines, which obviously invites comments that he’s taking customers to infinity and beyond. That’s closer to the truth than you might think, because as far as Suhara is concerned, he’s laser-focused on ensuring that every customer gets exactly the colours they’re looking for.

“The thing about paint is that it’s usually the last thing people think about, but it’s the first thing you see,” explains Suhara, who used to paint the stunt planes flown by Bob Hoover, widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of modern aerobatics.

Partnering with aerospace customers

Suhara’s main involvement with the special liveries revolves around partnering with customers to determine the perfect colours and agree on how they’ll be applied. “We always invite our customers and their designers to our Troy [Michigan] site, so they can meet with our colour experts to ensure they end up with the precise colours they want,” Suhara continues.

“The Toy Story plane is a great example. Disney is very particular when it comes to colour, so we wanted to make sure that if you go to Pixar Pier at Disneyland Resort, the colours you see will be exactly the same as the ones on the Alaska Airlines plane we coated.”

More often than not, Suhara is there when the planes are being sprayed – watching, advising and ensuring that everything goes as smoothly as possible. “I usually get involved after they’ve stripped down the airplane and applied the primer and basecoat”, he says. “Sometimes you have to do things on the fly and make small adjustments, but mainly I’m there to finesse things, modify if necessary and help the customer achieve what they need to do.”

Once nicknamed Jimmy Neutron after making up a colour on the spot to fix an issue with a UPS livery, Suhara adds that it’s a complex process, now made somewhat easier by continuous advances in computer technology.

Aerospace science and technology 

“When you apply a design to a fuselage, there are lots of things to consider, such as the multiple compounds and all the various curves and contours. That’s why working closely with designers and applicators is so important. People who can visualise design concepts on aircraft are rare, because it takes someone with a little bit of a bent mind to actually understand how it all works. But now, with computer technology improving all the time, it’s become much easier.”

Such are the relationships that Suhara has built up over the years – some customers no longer have to think twice when they need a customised design. “When Alaska wants to do a special livery, they come straight to us,” he notes. “It’s the same with Southwest Airlines, who really like our Aerodur basecoat/clearcoat system.”

He’s quick to point out, however, that it requires a big team effort. “There are hundreds of people behind me that make me look good. Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of working with lots of great people, and they’ve taught me many things that I apply to what we do today.”

Aerospace innovation  

With technology constantly changing, new ways of working are inevitable. One of the most recent developments in aircraft art is the use of inkjet printing to apply designs. “Inkjet printing is really light, because it’s extra thin, but the ink can fade quickly,” Suhara continues. “What we’ve found is that it works best in combination with our products. It’s applied on top of our Aerodur 3001 white basecoat – then they paint over it with our Aerodur 3002 clearcoat. This basically means they can put any picture on the side of a plane – how exciting is that?

“It’s just another great example of how we’re painting the future – finding new ways that our products can be used and applied. Working for AkzoNobel, I’ve experienced numerous changes over the years, as we’ve continued to develop and integrate next-generation technologies. And who knows where we’ll go next? I can’t wait to find out.”