Gulfstream’s completions center at its Savannah, Ga. headquarters has incorporated 3-D projection technology into the process of designing and executing aircraft paint schemes, for more flexibility and better quality. Gulfstream engineers helped design the software, which projects a three-dimensional paint scheme onto the aircraft while accounting for how the curved surface might distort the image. The process eliminates the 2-D design phase, allowing technicians to forego plotting the design on the aircraft skin using just a flat schematic.

“With this software, designers can make design changes with the touch of a button," said Gulfstream senior vice president of worldwide sales and marketing Scott Neal. "They get a rendering and can see exactly how everything will look in 3-D, ensuring they’ll be satisfied with the finished product.”

The 3-D projection technology improves accuracy, too. The software is based on Delta Sigma’s ProjectionWorks, a commercial 3-D software program that was first used to display locations for rivets and other fasteners for aircraft manufacturing. Gulfstream engineers helped tailor the program for 3-D mapping of the aircraft’s exterior. The software defines how every image needs to be shaped to reflect correctly on a three-dimensional surface.