J

JEG

Active Member
Will be starting a 12 soon. Would like input on painting and priming. Why not just etch and chromate the ribs and formers as has been done on aircraft for years. Is there any real reason to paint other than looks? Seems to me paint would add weight. Comments appreciated and Happy New Year. John 337JG
 
Hey

Hey Jeg, I am sure Jarvis didnt mean anything by his post. Its a long running hot topic. You can use the search function and read all sorts on this. You will get 1 0000000000 opinions. People get all fired up that their way is the only way and if you dont do it their way, your plane will fall from the sky.

There are dozens of old threads here with hundreds of replies on this exact topic. That is all Jeg was alluding to.

Cheers, and happy 2010
 
JEG said:
You come thru loud and clear Jarvis , did ya ever stop to think that maybe everyone doesn't have the knowledge you seem to. Have a good One
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But he did have a "smiley"... :)

Other than that, I say paint, unless you're willing to maintain the upkeep on polished surfaces, and I hear that's a fair amount of work. Personally, I'd rather have the tough flexible paint that I have, that cleans & stays glossy in just a few minutes.

Painting is quite a bit of work if doing it yourself, or fairly expensive if others do it. IMO -----------these planes are never finished if left un-painted or not highly polished. They also look like crud to everyone but the owner who visualizes some super paint scheme in their head, while all we see is oxidizing surfaces, and rough fiberglass work. :(

Either way, a good looking plane is going to take a lot of prep for paint, or a lot of maintenance to keep that shine. Weight isn't that big of deal in the overall scheme.

L.Adamson --- RV6A
 
RickWoodall said:
Hey Jeg, I am sure Jarvis didnt mean anything by his post. Its a long running hot topic. You can use the search function and read all sorts on this. You will get 1 0000000000 opinions. People get all fired up that their way is the only way and if you dont do it their way, your plane will fall from the sky.

There are dozens of old threads here with hundreds of replies on this exact topic. That is all Jeg was alluding to.

Cheers, and happy 2010
Click to expand...

I understand Rick and thanks. I will do that . Thanks
 
I apologize...

I meant no offense, but was as others have pointed out, was simply referring to the endless primer/paint debate.
 
I have a Cessna 180 that's mostly bare aluminum. At 55 years old it still looks pretty good, although the paint needs redoing again. The interior of the plane, which was not primed, is mostly not corroded. It's a dry climate airplane, though, which certainly helps.

I've polished it a few times. If I do it by hand, it takes about an hour to do a square foot if I want to do a good job. Using a Cyclo polisher lets me do about four square feet in an hour. With well over 600 square feet to polish, it's a job either way.

Waxing the freshly-polished aluminum with a good car wax adds considerably to the longevity of the polish, but it dulls the shine slightly.

I'd vote for paint, on a new airplane.

David Paule
(First post on this forum)
 
JEG said:
Will be starting a 12 soon. Would like input on painting and priming. Why not just etch and chromate the ribs and formers as has been done on aircraft for years. Is there any real reason to paint other than looks? Seems to me paint would add weight. Comments appreciated and Happy New Year. John 337JG
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A compromise would be to only prime the interior faying [contact] surfaces. The most common area for corrosion to occur is where two surfaces come in contact. Weight addition is minimal and protects the areas most likely to be affected. Just a thought and worth what you paid for it.
Charlie Kuss
 
chaskuss said:
A compromise would be to only prime the interior faying [contact] surfaces. The most common area for corrosion to occur is where two surfaces come in contact. Weight addition is minimal and protects the areas most likely to be affected. Just a thought and worth what you paid for it.
Charlie Kuss
Click to expand...


I agree with Charlie and if I built another RV, that's what I do. My -6 is fully primed internally, and, in looking back, I think that's a waste of time, money, and weight for my airplane which is hangared and in a relatively benign environment.
 
Primer

Hi Jeg.....here is a long thread for you on priming.

http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=6218&highlight=Rattle+primer

Personally, I live next to the Pacific Ocean and I've seen new airplanes corrode in 8 months while tied up at Santa Monica Airport. Nothing serious, but inside the tailcones and wings with specks of white'ish corrosion on the Alclad.

On the other hand, I've owned airplanes that were 30 years old and the interior bare aluminum was still shiny and clean looking. These birds were from the Mid-west (Tulsa Oklahoma for my older C-182)....

You being from Nevada, probably won't have a salt air problem. However, some day you might want to sell your bird. Having her primed is a selling point, especially for customers in the Ocean states.

Probably a middle ground/compromise is what I am doing. The manufactures that do prime interior structure (some) do a quick scotch-bright, wipe clean with acetone (or MEK) and spray a self etching primer. And that's all I'am doing.

After deburring, dimpling, countersinking, filing and fitting I remove the protective blue film, scotch bright, acetone with papertowels, spray a rattle can self etching primer and if I want to get fancy, spray an overcoat of Rust-oleum color enamel. I can't believe how good Rust-oleum really is; this product wasn't around until lately and I sprayed some on some outside metal parts on my Sailboat 14 years ago (in a Salt Water Slip at Dana Point Harbor) and those parts are still clean and smooth. No corrosion at all...right next to the Ocean salt. The stuff is magic.

Bob
 
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