Paint Shop Review- Euroair Aviation

[Veetail88]

Jeff,

Sent you a PM.

[RV7Guy]

I've heard both sides of this argument for years. Initially, I was on the side of painting first, then flying. However, upon getting close to flight, the wheel pants and fairings had not been installed. I didn't want to have two paint sessions. During the 40 hour fly off, I mounted the wheel pants and fairing and made a few other adjustment here and there.

I am now firmly in the camp of flying first then painting. There are too many issues that can arise that could ruin a great paint job. Sure there have been a few that have painted first. If they were truly being honest, I'll bet that most would say to wait. After all, it is going to be down for a period of time either way.

Now, there are a few things to consider if waiting to paint. Select a date to take it out of service and stick with it. With a couple of buddies you can have it torn down to pieces (if not painting it whole) in about 4 hours. During the down time, clean and organize the hangar, build a model plane etc... The time will go faster than you think. When done, it will take less than a day to get it back together. Not a big deal.

Bottom line, get it painted one way or another.

[RV7Guy]

I'm sure in Jeff's case there was 2 weeks of body work and a week of paint

And, you mocked me for my colors!!!! Which wing are the arches going on? Are you going to have Ronald tail art?

Good job. Just park it on a corner at Osh so it will feel at home.

Man the extra cup of coffee has me in rare form.

Originally Posted by sprucemoose

Larry makes some good points. This is a good topic for debate. I don't claim that my way is the only way, just want to give some food for thought for those thinking about painint.

In the mean time, new pics have been posted:

http://www.euroairaviation.com/jeff-rv-6.html

It's getting close! God willing and wx cooperates, I'll be bringing her home on Thursday.

[L.Adamson]

Originally Posted by RV7Guy

Sure there have been a few that have painted first. If they were truly being honest, I'll bet that most would say to wait. After all, it is going to be down for a period of time either way.

No,no,no!!!!!!

We've got a whole lot of RV's in this neck of the woods, and the majority have been painted first. I've yet to run into someone who painted first, and felt that they should have waited. I've been around RV's for 15 years now. Painting wheel pants and fairings afterwards isn't too difficult. Wheel pants and fairings also get the most abuse, so you'll probably paint again anyway.

What it really comes down to is money and time. If you've got the $6000-$8000+ just sitting around, then fine. At many airports, you can't paint on the airport property, so you'll have to fly it somewhere else. If you're building this plane in your garage and can setup a paint booth, and would rather budget around $1500 to $2000 for paint, then why not?

There really is two sides of the argument here. I'm just presenting the opposite side...

L.Adamson

[sprucemoose]

Originally Posted by RV7Guy

Man the extra cup of coffee has me in rare form.

No, it's really not that rare. Maybe I can use some of your Easter Eggs to make an Egg McMuffin! Hey, at least we agree and flying before painting.

Jim- The nearest airline airport is Madison, about an hour away from Reedsburg. I don't know about shuttle service, but I'm guessing they would. You'd have to call them directly.

[gbrasch]

...did they use MEK or Acetone to get the gummy stuff off from your bumper stickers??!!

[Euroair]

My name is Denis and I'm Euroair Aviation - aircraft paint shop owner.

Thank you all very much for your interest and time which you did spend on my web, SPECIAL THANKS to Jeff for posting link to my web and his page.

I see here is hot discuse about painting first / flying first. Here is my opinion as "day-night-weekends-holidays painter":
I would not want to step on nobody's toe, however painting aircraft is better after 40 hour fly-off. Here are the reasons:

1) most aircraft has more than one collor - it is very difficult to match lines, stirpes etc., when aircraft is disassembled.
2) after flyoff there is usualy bunch of stuff, which may need to be fixed, adjusted, replaced, inspected..... it make sense to do it with out fresh paint on the plane.
3) unless you paint your plane by your self in garage, it is more difficult to get it to paint shop by parts, and even more difficult to get those painted parts back home with out damaging paint.
4) paint / fillers may hide some imperfections, which you can see just when aircraft is complete...

There is many more reasons why to wait and paint the plane after flying it first. I'm also sure that lot of you painted your planes before flying it and you did get great results and if you would build another bird, you would do it same way again.
However, this apply specialy to first time builders - my last and main reason to paint the plane after 40 hours fly-off, which i believe make most sense: First make sure your plane is flying correctly and safely, then make sure it is cute...

If any of you have any question about painting aircraft or parts, feel free to call me or email me, I will try to help.... There is contact info on my web..

Thanks Denis

[sprucemoose]

Originally Posted by gbrasch

...did they use MEK or Acetone to get the gummy stuff off from your bumper stickers??!!

Probably MEK. If it was me, I would just paint over them, which is why it isn't me doing the painting!

Final assembly pics posted:

http://www.euroairaviation.com/jeff-rv-6.html

Darwin- did you want fries with that?

[celstar]

Denis did a very nice job on my RV-7 he painted for me. Check out his web site i believe it is still the only 7 he has painted so far, but with the quality of work I'm sure he will be doing allot more.

Dave Herrmann

[L.Adamson]

Originally Posted by Euroair

However, this apply specialy to first time builders - my last and main reason to paint the plane after 40 hours fly-off, which i believe make most sense: First make sure your plane is flying correctly and safely, then make sure it is cute...

Happily, the vast majority of RV's fly correctly and safely the very first flight. It's a very proven aircraft!

Do I think un-painted RV's are UGLY? Most certainly! Unfortunately, many of them stay ugly for years. Far past that 40 hrs...

In the case of a friend of mine. He had a professional painter come to his shop, which was partially converted into a paint booth. Of course, this isn't practical for everyone. But his feeling was; that if it didn't get painted before flight, it probably still wouldn't be today.

You see, the first RV he built, took four years to get it painted!

L.Adamson --- RV6A