Painting 1974 7GCBC

Michael-

Unless you're goal is to quickly make a basketcase into a showpiece and sell it the only proven long-term covering choices are Randolph or Stitts/Polyfiber. Both Randolph and Polyfiber have proven track records, both have UV protection (when applied corectly) confirmed by QUV meter testing. Some polyurethane systems, the current ACA factory covering system among them, have little, or no UV protection, and a big problem with cracking, sometimes within months of cover.

Tom-
 
We just spent $12,500 to get just our '71 Citabria, 7KCAB, wings rebuilt and recovered using Milman aluminum spars. We had the wings covered out through the silver with polyfiber and then had the entire plane finished in aerothane, in a 3-color Decathelon scheme. (it's truly amazing how flexible the aerothane is...seems much more flexible than the polyfiber fabric. All this took about 4 months including a new annual inspection.

I highly recommend using aluminum spars instead of wood in any Citabria rebuild, just for the piece of mind of no more worrying about inspecting for compression cracks every year.

I asked the same recovering guy what a whole Piper Pacer would cost covered out through the silver and he gave me an unofficial estimate of about $25-$30K, depending upon inner conditions.

The estimate of $25K for a Citabria sounds like a pretty good deal, depending upon how much work you do yourself.

Charlie
 
By the way, how come no one mentions the first coat of Randolph material "dac-proofer" (or older guys called it fool proofer) that if it ain't there, NOTHING will stick on fabric for very long?

Poly-brush and polyspray must do the same thing for Polyfiber.
 
charlie hensley said:
I asked the same recovering guy what a whole Piper Pacer would cost covered out through the silver and he gave me an unofficial estimate of about $25-$30K, depending upon inner conditions.

The estimate of $25K for a Citabria sounds like a pretty good deal, depending upon how much work you do yourself.

Charlie
Click to expand...

So if a person flies 100 hours per year, and the covering lasts say 20 years, then the covering reserve should be $25,000/(100*20) or $12.50 per hour. That's not insignificant. But I guess we don't like to think about those things. :)

Michael
 
Sorry for the long absence from this post. I do appreciate all the input everybody has put into this. I've been keeping up with the posts. Long story short, nothing has been done yet. The plane is my father's and as my payment for getting to fly it, I've been tasked with running all this down. I did purchase the Randolph recovering manual and found some really good info in there. The mechanic who my father was talking to mostly works on ag planes. He hoped to do it during his down time during the winter. The Randolph manual's suggestions about temperature and humidity made us realize this probably wasn't a good idea. BTW, any input on that??? Now that the warm weather is approaching, it's time to get back on it. I did confirm that the paint and fabric are original. My father has owned the plane for 90% of it's life and during that time it's been hangered in Mississippi with no aerobatics (dad is a straight and level flyer). I guess that says a lot for why the fabric has held up. I was also a little wary of the mechanic based on his $12,000 quote. This seemed a little low for a complte strip and repaint. I do have some questions:

1. The Randolph manual mentioned a rejuvinator for paint areas that were still flexible. Any thoughts or experience on that?
2. Temperature and humidity concerns for doing the work?
3. Mechanic stated the original paint scheme templates and decals are still available from the factory. Is this true? The plane is blue and white with the ring of stars on the tail and stars on the wings.
4. Anybody know of a good recover rather close to central Mississippi?
 
Regarding recover costs:

I'm in the latter stages of restoring my Champ ('58 7FC/EC). I've used the Poly-Fiber products but stayed with Poly-Tone (dope) rather than going to Aerothane top coat.

Just to sand the silver on an entire Citabria-sized aircraft will take about 40 hours! That, at a $50 shop rate is $2k. The materials will be something like $3500, including repainting things like lift struts, cowling, gear legs & door. I can see how paying someone to do it can cost over $20k.

If you recover it, you're likely to install new 'glass'. The interior looks pretty shabby; better call Air Tex. Hmmm, those floorboards are kinda cheesy; they gotta go. May as well have the frame blasted and epoxy-coated. All those wires need to go. You know, as long as it's down for a few months, we might as well buy those radios we've always wanted...

A local guy refers to this creeping expense as "As Long As" syndrome.

Jon B.
 
Hehe

Yup, when we still did fuselage recovers here at the factory, we warned about this ahead of time. For sure, get new stringers and formers from somoene. They dont really last as long as fabric does now days. Don't know how many guys got new instrument panals and things just because it did not match the 'newness' around it. :lol:
 
I'm deep into restoring my 1978 CGAA. Your right about the formers. I previously decided to rejuvenate and repaint, but after looking into the back of the plane I noticed the formers were breaking away from the airframe connection. apparently the factory did not finish or seal the original plywood. I'll try to post some pictures.

Ray
 
Hello again all. I posted some additional questions in my May 25 post. Anybody had a chance to give those any thought???
 
Whoever mentioned that urethane systems have no UV protection is wrong. The Superflite System VI has UV protection in it's primer coats - and very few people know this, but urethane paint actually has a little UV protection in it as well.

Molly
Superflite, Inc.
800-323-0611
 
Molly-

Good to see you posting, while there is no doubt that some urethane systems have UV protection, there is also little doubt that there are covering systems in use with little or no UV protection. My advice has always been to ask the system manufacturer for verified QUV meter results.

Tom-
 
Molly thanks again for all your feed back on these posts. Your information and input is greatly appreciated!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top