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When Reid took over the business , he went to the Paris Air Show and met with an Embraer engineer , which led to Embraer testing the ToughGuard coating at their corporate headquarters in São José dos Campos , Brazil . After two years of testing and analysis , the ToughGuard coating was approved by Embraer and was added to all ERJ commercial jet AMMs and all the corporate / private Embraer AMMs at that time .
When applied , the ToughGuard coating is equivalent to a clear coat that physically bonds with the aircraft ’ s topcoat or clear coat . The ToughGuard coating has been proven through third-party independent testing laboratories to protect the paint from harmful UV rays , chemicals , pollution , carbon soot , hard-water spots , and bird and bug fouling . Not only does the product protect the paint , it also increases the gloss of the paint , and it boasts an incredible 110 ° surface contact angle , putting it into an almost “ superhydrophobic ” surface rating .
The business name was developed because the product is Tough , and it Guards the paint . The durability of the coating is unmatched by competitive products . ToughGuard provides its customers a two-year product performance guarantee when a certified and trained detailing company has provided the application . Since the ToughGuard coating has been applied to aircraft since the early 1990s , no customer has ever claimed that the product did not perform and live up to the two-year product performance guarantee . The opposite occurs — when customers tell Reid that the product outperformed what was promised !
The Jim Miller Aircraft Painting company located in Uvalde , Texas , started using ToughGuard ’ s coating in the late 1990s , when they received a contract to paint VIP planes for the U . S . Air Force specifying the ToughGuard coating be applied after painting the aircraft . They have many years of experience in applying the ToughGuard coating on planes going to places like the Middle East — where the conditions are extreme , with intense UV ray exposure , sand , dust , and humidity .
DECEMBER 2023 | JANUARY 2024 ISSUE NO . 36 11