Definition
A type of paint spray gun in which the finishing material is forced from a separate, pressurized container to the gun through a fluid hose, rather than being drawn from a cup attached to the gun. Compressed air pressurizes the paint container, pushing the material to the gun's nozzle, where a second air supply atomizes it for spraying.
Plain English
A spray gun where the paint is pushed to the gun under pressure from a separate tank, instead of being sucked up from a small cup mounted on the gun itself.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft painting, fabric finishing, corrosion-protection work, and maintenance-shop instructions for applying primers or topcoats.
Derivation
"Pressure-fed" simply means the material is delivered (fed) under pressure. The term distinguishes this design from suction-fed (siphon) and gravity-fed guns, which rely on either vacuum or gravity to move paint to the nozzle.
Why Pilots Care
Pressure-fed guns allow heavier materials, like primers and topcoats used on aircraft, to be sprayed evenly over large surfaces such as wings and fuselages. They also let the painter work at any angle, which matters when coating curved aircraft structures.
Intuition Check
Do not read “pressure-fed” as meaning the pressure only makes the spray pattern. Here it means pressure pushes the coating material from its container to the spray gun.
Example Sentence 1
The painter used a pressure-fed spray gun to apply primer evenly across the underside of the wing.
Example Sentence 2
In the paint booth, a pressure-fed spray gun allowed for better control of paint flow during the application process.