Complete Detail at Girona-Costa Brava (LEGE)

Why does a complete detail take several days?

Paint correction cannot be rushed. After the initial wash we clay-bar every panel to lift embedded contamination—industrial fallout, tree sap, insect residue—that dulls the clearcoat. Single-stage machine polishing follows, working methodically from nose to tail and wingtip to wingtip to restore gloss and remove light oxidation. Brightwork on nacelles, leading edges and the cheat line is polished separately. Each stage must cure or be inspected in good light before we move on.

Inside, the sequence is equally deliberate: vacuum and pre-clean, then section-by-section detailing of seats, sidewalls, cabinetry, galley and lavatories, treating each OEM material—leather, Ultraleather, veneer, stone, carpet—with the correct product. We finish with disinfection of high-touch surfaces and no-touch wipe-down of the flight deck. The result is an aircraft that photographs well and presents like new, but the process requires time and a dry, lit workspace—which is why we book hangars and schedule around your next leg.

What changes at Girona-Costa Brava that affects the work?

Girona sits at 469 feet on a single 2,400-metre runway, twelve and a half kilometres south-west of the city centre. The airport operates H24 with no curfew, and customs, ATS, fuelling and handling are available during aerodrome hours—in practice continuously. Six handling agents are present: Centervol operates its own two-thousand-square-metre FBO facility with lounges, briefing rooms and a Part 145 hangar; ExecuJet offers 24-hour service on request from the General Aviation Terminal; Sky Valet and Universal Aviation run VIP lounges and ops offices inside the main terminal, both with round-the-clock availability; General Aviation Service and United Aviation Services maintain handling stations on the field.

The breadth of handler choice matters for a multi-day detail because it gives you flexibility over where the aircraft sits and who escorts our team airside. Centervol's hangar can accommodate the work under cover; alternatively we arrange hangar access through your handler if weather or timing require it. Summer brings steady resort traffic—the Costa Brava is twenty minutes north-east—but general aviation movements remain manageable, and handlers are accustomed to co-ordinating longer ground times for maintenance, paint touch-up or detailing. In winter the airport is quieter still, and hangar slots open up with less notice.

How does the photographic report work?

Documentation is half the reason to commission a complete detail before a sale or delivery. We shoot the exterior and cabin in natural light before we begin—capturing the baseline—then again after the final wipe-down. The report runs to several dozen images: wide shots of each side, the belly and the tail; close-ups of the cheat line, winglets, nacelles and gear bays; interior frames of the galley, seating zones, cockpit and lavatories. We deliver the set as high-resolution files within 24 hours of completion, ready to forward to a broker, a buyer's surveyor or your own records.

The photographs also serve as a condition benchmark if the aircraft enters a management or charter programme. You have dated evidence of paint depth, brightwork clarity and cabin state, which helps settle questions later about wear or required touch-up. For operators running a fleet, the discipline of before-and-after documentation makes it easier to track each airframe's appearance over time and schedule the next detail accordingly.

Can you fit the work between legs of a trip?

Rarely. A complete detail occupies two to five days depending on aircraft size and paint condition, and the work cannot be split into half-day blocks without losing quality. If you are positioning into Girona for a Mediterranean charter season or a maintenance visit, the timing often aligns naturally: the aircraft arrives, we begin the detail the following morning, and you depart at the end of the week with a polished airframe and a documented cabin. If your schedule is tighter, we recommend the Exterior Dry Wash or Full Interior Detail as stand-alone services—each takes four to eight hours and can be turned around on the ramp or in a hangar between legs.

That said, H24 handler availability at LEGE gives us some latitude. An ultra-long-range aircraft inbound from the Americas can land in the early hours, be towed into the hangar by mid-morning, and start the detail the same day. Similarly, if you need to depart at dawn we can complete the final inspection and photo shoot the evening before, then have the aircraft back on the stand overnight. The key is advance notice: book the hangar, confirm handler escort and airside-pass arrangements, and allow a buffer day in case weather delays any exterior stage.

Is a complete detail a recurring service or a one-off?

Both. Many operators treat it as an annual or twice-yearly reset—spring and autumn, for example—with interim dry washes or cabin cleans between. Others commission it only before a significant event: a pre-buy inspection, a change of management company, the end of a lease, or delivery to a new owner. There is no fixed interval; the decision rests on flight hours, operating environment and appearance standards.

If the aircraft spends most of its time on sealed aprons and flies fewer than two hundred hours a year, a single complete detail plus quarterly dry washes will hold the finish well. If it operates from unpaved strips, coastal airports or industrial regions—or if it logs four hundred hours and a dozen international legs a month—you will see paint contamination and cabin wear accumulate faster, and a six-month cycle makes more sense. We keep notes on each airframe we work on, so when you return to Girona we already know the paint system, any trouble spots on the cheat line, and which cabin materials need careful handling.

What happens if the aircraft goes AOG or the schedule slips?

We hold the hangar booking and adjust. AOG events are part of business aviation, and a multi-day detail is easier to reschedule than a narrow maintenance slot. If a tech-log item grounds the aircraft on arrival, the handler will co-ordinate with the engineer, and we start the detail once the aircraft is released—often the same day if the fix is straightforward. If the delay runs longer, we shift to the next available hangar window and confirm the new start date as soon as you have one.

Weather can also push the schedule, particularly if we need to move the aircraft outside for final daylight inspection or photography. Girona's coastal climate is generally benign, but winter rain or summer dust storms occasionally require us to pause exterior work until conditions settle. The advantage of a complete detail over a quick turnaround is that we have built-in contingency: a three-day job can stretch to four without compromising the result, and handlers at LEGE are used to flexible ground times for general aviation. The cost implication is modest—hangar rent and any additional handler standing time—and we discuss it with you before committing to the extra day.