Weight of a paint job

[pvans]

We did a little experiment here last week. We have had Dan Mauer here painting an RV8. Dan is a professional, has been painting airplanes for over 25 years. We decided to see what the paint job might weigh.

Our test was only partial, but the results are informative. We weighed the right wing all by itself before and after. No flap, aileron or wing tip. Dan then went through the entire process, acid etch, alodine, primer, extremely minor filling, and a thorough color coat of polyurethane.

We used a digital scale accurate to one tenth of a pound. After subtracting the before and after weights, the wing gained 1.6 pounds.

We estimate the entire airplane paint job to be 10 pounds.

Of course doing the same process for all the airplane pieces would be more accurate, but by the time we thought of it those had already been painted.

[tcone1]

Just out of curiousity, how much did it weigh before paint?

[pvans]

72.6 before paint. Wiring was installed as was heated pitot.

[lucky]

~17 pounds. 5 additional pounds on each main wheel and 7 pounds on the tail wheel. That also includes some additional touch up fiberglass work by painter prior to priming.

[Geico266]

I have heard guys say it adds 30-40 pounds. I could never imagine how that could be.

[lostpilot28]

Originally Posted by Geico266

I have heard guys say it adds 30-40 pounds. I could never imagine how that could be.

10 lbs seems awfully light for all that paint. But then 30-40 sounds like a lot! I'm thinking that ~20 lbs is about average.

[aparchment]

Originally Posted by Geico266

I have heard guys say it adds 30-40 pounds. I could never imagine how that could be.

Perhaps they used a roller and a paintbrush ;-)