Pat Hatch

Pat Hatch

Well Known Member
Advertiser
I built my RV-6 22 years ago, it first flew on July 1, 2002. It's been it's whole life in Florida so not only was the original paint beginning to show its age, but there were a few areas of minor corrosion around the airplane that needed to be addressed. It was time to give this airplane a new lease on life. I did an extensive condition inspection this year which included among other things a new cowl with Skybolt fasteners, new gear leg fairings with wooden stiffeners topped with new gear/fuse intersection fairings, new wing root fairings, and a whole bunch of other stuff including two permanent service bulletins to the horizontal stab. The paint shop I chose is located in Sebastian, FL, an airport that is about a 5 minute flight from my home base, Vero Beach, FL. After arriving at the paint shop, I completely disassembled the airplane so that each surface could be painted individually. The airplane was chemically stripped, but afterwards was completely sanded down to bare metal using DA sanders. Then alodine and Akzo primer, and the white base coat. Next, I had to make several trips to the paint shop to temporarily install control surfaces for masking purposes and then remove everything again. Final striping, then final assembly. This all takes a lot of time. Total time in the paint shop was about 3 months. While there, I removed the prop to replace the fan belt which I believe was the orignal belt on the airplane.

Anyway, finally got it home this week and I'm quite happy with the result. It's like a new airplane for me. A few pictures:

IMG_E5883.JPG
IMG_E5884.JPG
IMG_E5878.JPG
IMG_E5879.JPG
IMG_8778s.JPG
 
Last edited:
Looks fantastic! Is it normal for people to do disassembly themselves? Was that a money saving effort, or was the shop unable to?
 
RayJay said:
Looks fantastic! Is it normal for people to do disassembly themselves? Was that a money saving effort, or was the shop unable to?
Click to expand...
Yeah, two reasons: one, you don't want just anybody taking your airplane apart--who best to do it than he who built it, and, two, you can save a lot of money because the paint shop will discount not having to bring in an A&P to do the work.
 
Looks great!

I'm curious how many flight hours you had on the original paint? I'm sitting at 8 years and 1650 hours, and my 9A is sadly showing it's use and needs a repaint. I do fly a lot of IFR in weather, and rain takes its toll.
 
Pat, That looks great.... I don't know about Florida, but in California, the taxman would be licking his chops if he saw those pictures.
 
airguy said:
Looks great!

I'm curious how many flight hours you had on the original paint? I'm sitting at 8 years and 1650 hours, and my 9A is sadly showing it's use and needs a repaint. I do fly a lot of IFR in weather, and rain takes its toll.
Click to expand...
Thanks, Greg. I've got about 750 hours on it.
 
Pat Hatch said:
I built my RV-6 22 years ago, it first flew on July 1, 2002. It's been it's whole life in Florida so not only was the original paint beginning to show its age, but there were a few areas of minor corrosion around the airplane that needed to be addressed. It was time to give this airplane a new lease on life. I did an extensive condition inspection this year which included among other things a new cowl with Skybolt fasteners, new gear leg fairings with wooden stiffeners topped with new gear/fuse intersection fairings, new wing root fairings, and a whole bunch of other stuff including two permanent service bulletins to the horizontal stab. The paint shop I chose is located in Sebastian, FL, an airport that is about a 5 minute flight from my home base, Vero Beach, FL. After arriving at the paint shop, I completely disassembled the airplane so that each surface could be painted individually. The airplane was chemically stripped, but afterwards was completely sanded down to bare metal using DA sanders. Then alodine and Akzo primer, and the white base coat. Next, I had to make several trips to the paint shop to temporarily install control suraces for masking purposes and then remove everything again. Final striping, then final assembly. This all takes a lot of time. Total time in the paint shop was about 3 months. While there, I removed the prop to replace the fan belt which I believe was the orignal belt on the airplane.

Anyway, finally got it home this week and I'm quite happy with the result. It's like a new airplane for me. A few pictures:

View attachment 66532View attachment 66533View attachment 66534View attachment 66535View attachment 66536
Click to expand...
Very nice Pat! You always impress with your details. Hope all is well !
 
Very nice Pat. What a nice, clean design that really shows off your plane. Are you bringing it up to OSH? Im still on the fence about going or not.
 
Very nice, and good of you to keep up on the mechanical and the appearance. The photo posing is a little "shady" and I got a chuckle out of the fan belt, not a lot of fans will do the speed your airplane will.
Steven B
 
Love the paint job Pat .... can't believe how long it has been since I visited you in Vero to see your "new" hangar at the time. The Triad still misses you !!!
 
Very nicely executed Pat ! I’ve got an RV 6 with 4 year old paint , just curious,,, have you amended your insurance value on her? I’m listing mine for sale soon and am torn as to what our planes are really worth 🤔
 
ERJDriver said:
Saw this one yesterday at KOBE. Looked good! What was the ball park price? My 8 needs some work
Click to expand...

Pat Hatch said:
I built my RV-6 22 years ago, it first flew on July 1, 2002. It's been it's whole life in Florida so not only was the original paint beginning to show its age, but there were a few areas of minor corrosion around the airplane that needed to be addressed. It was time to give this airplane a new lease on life. I did an extensive condition inspection this year which included among other things a new cowl with Skybolt fasteners, new gear leg fairings with wooden stiffeners topped with new gear/fuse intersection fairings, new wing root fairings, and a whole bunch of other stuff including two permanent service bulletins to the horizontal stab. The paint shop I chose is located in Sebastian, FL, an airport that is about a 5 minute flight from my home base, Vero Beach, FL. After arriving at the paint shop, I completely disassembled the airplane so that each surface could be painted individually. The airplane was chemically stripped, but afterwards was completely sanded down to bare metal using DA sanders. Then alodine and Akzo primer, and the white base coat. Next, I had to make several trips to the paint shop to temporarily install control suraces for masking purposes and then remove everything again. Final striping, then final assembly. This all takes a lot of time. Total time in the paint shop was about 3 months. While there, I removed the prop to replace the fan belt which I believe was the orignal belt on the airplane.

Anyway, finally got it home this week and I'm quite happy with the result. It's like a new airplane for me. A few pictures:

View attachment 66532View attachment 66533View attachment 66534View attachment 66535View attachment 66536
Click to expand...
Pat, in a word, Wow! Nicely done!
Your Six and my Six-X are the same age from the same State, albeit quite a distance NW of you. Reluctantly sold, the new owner reported the paint is showing the same age/corrosion issues. I’m hoping he will sell it back to me and I’ll do same! :)
My RV4 however was painted 27 years ago and still looks new. I used a process I will repeat with the next one I assure you, much like what you just did.
Awesome, congrats!
V/R
Smokey



 
Thanks, Smokey, built a lot of RVs but I keep coming back to the -6. My all time favorite!
 
Len said:
Love the paint job Pat .... can't believe how long it has been since I visited you in Vero to see your "new" hangar at the time. The Triad still misses you !!!
Click to expand...
Len, great hearing from you. Miss being in NC! Come see us when you're down here. Same goes for Bill Englert!
 
fixnflyguy said:
Very nice Pat! You always impress with your details. Hope all is well !
Click to expand...
Bill, really look back fondly on the times we had together in W-S. I love your -4, looks like you did a great job, wouldn't have expected any less! Come see us when you're in FL!
 
That is the most stunning paint design Ive seen in a while! congrats. All transparency I might steal a few ideas from your design. haha
 
My plane is unpainted and I’m struggling with the unlimited options of design ideas. Yours in amazing, I have no idea how you could decide what to do but it looks great!
 
Oroyo said:
My plane is unpainted and I’m struggling with the unlimited options of design ideas. Yours in amazing, I have no idea how you could decide what to do but it looks great!
Click to expand...
Credit for the design goes to Autumn Baugh at Evoke, and the paint was done by Mike Dodson at AircraftersRefinishing in Sebastian, Florida. Highly recommend both of them!
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.