Powder coated fuselage
Wow! I never thought I would hear the words "powder coat" and "fuselage" in the same sentence!
Several issues to consider:
1. A quick review of my Aircraft Sheet Metal reference reveals that heat treatment temperatures are as low as 250 degress F. Placing your fuselage in a large autoclave or oven would alter the tensile strength of the whole dingus in unpredictable ways. Recall that Van's has specific alloy and tensile strength requirements for each piece of the fuselage. Baking the fuse could result in a very dangerous concoction. You may find that your nice, slide-rule selected and qualified, T6 alloy is now T? while your T3 is now mush. What would the finale temper of your rivets be? Remember, they are work hardened on installation to achieve a specific strength.
2. I haven't done any experiments but by observation, the thickness of powder coating is substantially greater than primer. I think it would add a butt-load of weight with a greater percentage of it aft, thus aggravate your future CG range.
3. I bet it would cost a quite a few pennies more than primer.
Jekyll