Tape took 40 minutes.
This takes 38 seconds.
Blackbird’s patented, reusable masking kits replace tape-and-razor-blade masking for aircraft wheel and brake overhaul — built to OEM spec, snapped on in under two minutes, and reused thousands of times over.
Your real competitor isn’t another kit. It’s the tape dispenser.
Most overhaul shops still mask wheels and brakes the way they did 40 years ago: stretch tape, trim with a razor blade, hope the edge holds through primer and paint. Blackbird was built by mechanics who were tired of that process — not by a marketing team.
Tape & razor blade
- ✕ 40+ minutes per wheel, every cycle
- ✕ Inconsistent edges, rework and touch-ups
- ✕ Razor-blade handling injuries and comp claims
- ✕ Ongoing tape purchasing, every shop, every month
- ✕ Disposable — straight to the waste bin after one use
Blackbird masking kit
- ✓ Snaps or screws on in under 2 minutes
- ✓ Consistent, OEM-spec finish every cycle
- ✓ No blades near hands — built-in safety improvement
- ✓ One kit, reused thousands of times
- ✓ Reusable, made in the USA, patented design
From tape roll to reusable kit, in three steps
No new equipment, no special training — the kit replaces the masking step your techs already do.
Match your kit
Look up your airframe and assembly type — wheel or brake — and confirm the kit built to your OEM overhaul-manual spec.
Snap it into place
The mask screws or snaps directly onto the wheel or brake housing — no tape, no trimming, no razor blade. Under two minutes, start to finish.
Paint, remove, reuse
Prime and paint as usual. Pull the mask, wipe it down, and it goes back in the rack — ready for the next wheel, thousands of cycles later.
Three kits. One goal — less time under masking tape.
Every kit is engineered to the tolerances in the OEM overhaul manual for its airframe, not adapted from a generic template.
Wheel Masking Kits
Reusable masks engineered per wheel assembly. Screw or snap into place, hold through prime and paint, remove clean — no adhesive residue, no trimming.
Brake Masking Kits
Purpose-built for brake housings and assemblies — protects critical surfaces during recoat while cutting cycle time to a fraction of manual taping.
Orbs & Other Specialty Tooling
Beyond wheel and brake masks, Blackbird builds Orbs — snap-in nameplates that protect bearings in transit and put your company’s mark on every wheel that leaves the shop — along with custom-engineered tooling for masking, protection, and handling challenges specific to your overhaul line.
Find the right kit for your fleet
Select an airframe manufacturer to see which Blackbird kits are already built for it.
What is tape actually costing you a year?
Based on a shop-measured masking time of 40 minutes by hand vs. 38 seconds with a Blackbird kit.
Built by mechanics, not marketers.
Blackbird was founded by aviation maintenance veterans with a combined three decades on the shop floor. The masking kits exist because they were the ones standing over a wheel with a razor blade and a roll of tape, listening to paint shops complain about the same problem, shift after shift.
That’s the whole origin story: a practical, lean fix for a job nobody enjoyed doing — engineered to hold up to OEM overhaul-manual specifications, not just to look good in a demo.
Stop paying for tape by the roll.
Tell us your fleet and volume — we’ll tell you which kit fits and what it saves.
Request a Quote →