In the aerospace industry, unexpected materials that may seem insignificant to the untrained eye often play critical roles in mission success. At North American Coatings Ltd (NACL), we’ve seen firsthand how specialized reflective coatings, particularly gold, can make the difference between a functioning or failing system in the most demanding environments imaginable.
Beyond the Surface: Who We Serve
Our aerospace customers typically fall across several tiers. We frequently collaborate with the “tier two” companies that supply critical components to the military or prime contractors (“tier one”).
As our Quality Manager Nicki Sava puts it, “We’re targeting those tier one and tier two customers, but more commonly we work with tier two. We don’t work directly with the US military, for example, but we’re going to work with companies that provide components to them.”
This positioning gives us unique visibility across the aerospace supply chain. We aim to build strong relationships with tier two manufacturers, while ensuring tier one organizations know our capabilities. This approach has proven successful, as tier one customers often direct their suppliers to us, saying, “You should use NACL for these coatings because they do great work with other suppliers we trust.”
The NACL Advantage: Beyond Just Applying Gold
What separates NACL from other coating laboratories? We believe it comes down to three key factors:
- Performance: Our coatings consistently meet or exceed specifications
- Speed of service: We understand the critical timelines in aerospace projects
- Quality system integration: This is where we truly differentiate ourselves
While many companies can apply gold to different substrates, not all can navigate the rigorous quality requirements of aerospace applications. As our team often says, “A lot of people can put gold on glass, metal, or plastic. But not all of them can do that while also going through first article inspections, critical paperwork, and navigating customer’s different servers and systems.”
When aerospace customers come to us, they’re not just buying a coating, they’re partnering with a team willing to jump through whatever regulatory hoops are necessary to deliver certified, compliant solutions.
Quality That Makes a Difference
The aerospace industry’s documentation and quality requirements can be daunting. Some quality requirement documents stretch to 50 pages, but our ISO-certified team handles them seamlessly.
“Each customer has their own requirements,” according to Nicki. “They all follow similar patterns, Certificates of Conformances, AS9100 forms, but I literally have to sit and circle each section of their drawings in what’s called ‘ballooning a drawing.’ I match each specification to how we meet it or note if it’s not applicable.”
This process is time-consuming but essential. We’re not just applying coatings; we’re providing the documentation trail that aerospace customers require. And increasingly, documentation alone isn’t enough. Customers want to see our systems firsthand.
“Their previous coating vendor didn’t have anything resembling our quality system,” Nicki notes about one aerospace client. “What we’re seeing more is not only do we have to provide their paperwork, they want to see ours. Just sending them our ISO 9001:2015 certificate isn’t enough anymore. They want to be here and conduct customer-driven surveillance audits.”
This unique position, being a small, nimble coating house with sophisticated quality systems, gives us a competitive advantage. For a company of 28 employees in Mentor, Ohio to maintain ISO certifications, ITAR compliance, and work toward CMMC Level 2 certification speaks volumes about our commitment to serving aerospace customers without interruption.
Gold: The Ideal Aerospace Reflector
Gold provides exceptional benefits for aerospace applications, particularly in optical systems:
- Superior IR reflection: Gold achieves nearly 100% reflectance in the infrared spectrum
- Minimal thickness required: Effective performance with thin layers
- Excellent adhesion: Reliable bonding to substrates
- Predictability: Consistent performance characteristics
- No tarnishing: Maintains optical properties over time
Gold is a wonderful reflector, starting in the near IR through the long-wave infrared. Beyond optics, gold’s conductivity makes it valuable for RFID protection and heating applications. We’ve even experimented with gold as an anti-fog coating alternative to indium tin oxide (ITO).
For durability concerns, we typically recommend protected gold rather than bare gold. “Don’t even look at it if it’s bare,” we advise customers. Like jewelry, bare gold is soft and susceptible to damage. Protected gold includes an additional layer making it abrasion-resistant for handling and cleaning.
From Design Challenges to Real-World Solutions
One recent project highlights our collaborative approach to aerospace challenges. A customer approached us because they were having difficulty meeting a large space agency’s requirements with their previous coating vendor.
The problem wasn’t necessarily performance or appearance. The problem was their other coating vendor had no documentation or traceability, which for the agency, the government, or any major aerospace player, simply won’t work.
What initially seemed like a straightforward gold coating project turned out to involve a sophisticated two-reflector system requiring complex masking and tooling. Our comprehensive approach included:
- An initial quality assessment meeting (six hours)
- Navigating encrypted drawing systems
- Developing specialized tooling for vacuum chamber processing
- In-house fabrication to meet tight timelines
- Recommending specification and coating modifications when the specification wouldn’t meet durability requirements
When we identified that the customer’s specified protective layer wouldn’t meet their durability testing needs, we were transparent about our concerns. “We’re happy to do it your way first, but we cannot quote to your durability because we know it won’t perform,” we told them.
After testing proved our assessment correct, the customer authorized our recommended approach, even though it deviated from their original drawing specifications. This willingness to push back when specifications won’t work is part of our value proposition.
Making an Impact Beyond Earth
Our coatings have literally touched space. From satellites for prominent aerospace companies to critical components in spacecraft, our work has contributed to humanity’s exploration beyond our planet.
One particularly meaningful project involved gold-coated reflectors for a breathing system in a spacecraft. “If this coating doesn’t perform well, people can’t breathe,” we were told. Understanding that lives depended on our work added a profound sense of responsibility and pride to an already challenging project.
Back on Earth, our coatings have appeared on commercial and military aircraft, head-mounted displays for defense applications, and even movie props (including the visors in a certain high-flying legacy sequel). While we can’t always know where our coatings end up due to confidentiality requirements, it’s so rewarding when we do recognize our work “in the wild.”
Looking to the Future
As aerospace technology evolves, we anticipate several trends in optical coatings:
- More unique materials: Including crystalline materials we’re not seeing frequently today
- Increased use of advanced plastics: Beyond traditional polycarbonate or PMMA to high-temperature alternatives like APEC
- More rigorous ongoing testing: Beyond qualification testing to continuous verification
While specifications change slowly in aerospace, materials science moves quickly. This creates challenges when customers specify new materials we haven’t encountered before.
Every day we can get a drawing for a material we’ve never heard of, so we Google it, and sometimes even Google hasn’t heard of it because it’s not popular yet. This reinforces the importance of our collaborative approach. When faced with unfamiliar specifications, we’re not afraid to say, “This is new to us, what is it similar to? Do you have samples we can test?” Our honesty builds trust, and customers appreciate our realistic assessment of challenges.
The NACL Difference: Collaboration From Day One
Our collaborative process begins with the very first quote. What may seem like a simple coating request often involves comprehensive analysis:
- Drawing review to ensure the part fits in our chamber
- Specification assessment to confirm we have (or can design) a coating that meets requirements
- Fixturing review to determine how we’ll hold the part during coating
- Durability testing capability verification
- Cross-department consultation with quality, production, tooling, and coating engineering teams
Some quotes we can write in five minutes, and others take days. That’s not to say that we are taking a long time to quote for the sake of it, but we want to make sure we meet their exact needs and don’t have to change the quote after the project has begun.
Our commitment to quality extends beyond our professional interactions with customers. At NACL, we wear bracelets with mottos like “We’re here to help” and “When in doubt, we’ll figure it out.” These aren’t just slogans, they reflect our company culture and our approach to solving customer challenges.
When aerospace and defense manufacturers need optical coatings that perform flawlessly in the most demanding environments, from the depths of space to the cockpit of a fighter jet, they trust NACL to deliver not just coatings, but comprehensive solutions backed by documentation and expertise.
Because in aerospace, every component matters. Even the invisible ones.