Polishing an aluminum airplane

Bill Hart · Post by **Bill Hart** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 1:31 pm

Holy crap! We have a spelling Nazi among us. This will have to be my last post.

Bruce, How is your paint stripping coming/going?

Post by **Bruce Fenstermacher** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 5:01 pm

I've not started yet as I mentioned I was only looking for info just in case I get a hair up my back side to do something.

You know how it is. Your just hanging around the airplane and out of no where you strip the paint of some little part. Next thing you know your into the fuselage and a bigger project with the wrong equipment than you wanted.

A little information helps to keep the hair in the right place BUT it will happen someday.

Bill Hart · Post by **Bill Hart** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 8:32 pm

I have seen several bare metal airplanes in AK and now mine needs paint in a bad way so I thought about stripping it and flying it bare for awhile but Iâ€™m worried about the effects of life in the south east.

3958v · Post by **3958v** » Wed Oct 18, 2006 11:49 pm

Miles I have been married for twenty years and "My Chick" likes a polished plane best so thats what I have and I plan to keep her and the plane. Seriously I Have always driven around in work pickup trucks that are full of fuel tanks and other work tools so its nice to go to the airport and hop in a sharp airplane and go out flying. Its also nice when you land and people come out and take pictures or your plane which happens quite often. I enjoy polishing my plane as I am at the airport which is my favorite places to hang out. After trying several other methods first I settled on the NuVite method that Dan Wood described. Don't get the wrong idea all 170's look great especially when flying. Bill K

N170CT · Post by **N170CT** » Thu Oct 19, 2006 7:15 pm

Re: Polishing an airplane....

Several years ago, someone posted a question on one of these airframe websites which went something like:

"I'm thinking about removing the paint and polishing my airplane. Any suggestions on how to proceed???

Response was: "First, seek mental help."

FWIW
chuck

Post by **GAHorn** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 2:04 am

3958v wrote:Miles I have been married for twenty years and "My Chick" likes a polished plane best so thats what I have and I plan to keep her and the plane. Seriously I Have always driven around in work pickup trucks that are full of fuel tanks and other work tools so its nice to go to the airport and hop in a sharp airplane and go out flying. Its also nice when you land and people come out and take pictures or your plane which happens quite often. I enjoy polishing my plane as I am at the airport which is my favorite places to hang out. After trying several other methods first I settled on the NuVite method that Dan Wood described. Don't get the wrong idea all 170's look great especially when flying. Bill K

I love the image of a woman with a Cyclo in her hands and things in motion like a pair of ferrets-in-a-bag....

blueldr · Post by **blueldr** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 2:49 am

GEORGE,

HOW DISGUSTING! TWO FERRETS IN A BAG, INDEED! I HAD NO IDEA THAT YOU WERE A PRACTICING VOYEUR.

Post by **GAHorn** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 3:13 am

Hey! Talk about dees-goos-ting! It's you guys out there in Californ-eye-aye that brag about falling in love with "pep boys!"
Over here in Teks-as we make those kind live down in the Montrose district, but we don't promote that lifestyle!

Haydon · Post by **Haydon** » Fri Oct 20, 2006 4:06 pm

Uh, I don't think George means in Colorado......more like Houston.....

Dave Clark · Post by **Dave Clark** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 1:13 am

One other thing.... The alclad on the original skins was a bit thicker than on the metal you can buy today. So if it has been repaired take care with it.
Dave

morrisond · Post by **morrisond** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 3:37 pm

If you were going to have an plane professionally repainted, and they stripped it for paint, how much more work would it be to completely strip it and have it polished? About the same cost as repainting?

If you lived in Canada how often would you have to repolish it?

How much weight would this save versus repainting?

Thanks

N2865C · Post by **N2865C** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 5:08 pm

It all depends what you find underneath the paint. Unless you are really rolling in dough you aren't going to have the plane polished for you. Polishing is a labor of love reserved for the obsessive-compulsive personality type

...... If you find your aluminum in good condition and not overly scratched from previous paint jobs, I would estimate about 120 hours of your time for the inital polish for a good quality job. It's all a matter of degree. The nicest polish job I ever saw was on a Luscomb. They reskinned the entire plane! On the other hand, I have seen planes just stripped and left that way.

How often you polish depends on lots of factors. How nice do you want your polish job to look? I have friends that polish once every 10 years or so whether it needs it or not..... and it shows. But polished planes don't fly any better than oxidized planes. I think as a minimum you would want to polish at least once a year to keep corrosion at bay. The more you polish the less time it takes..... Only people with polished planes will understand that last statement

.

I live on the coast and polish 3 times a year. 1 major about 20 hours and 2 minor at about 10 hours each. It used to take longer, but the longer you polish it the better condition the aluminum is in and the less time it requires to polish. I would rate my polish job as an 8.5 out of ten. http://cessna1200.tripod.com/id31.htm
These sites have some good info on polishing:
http://perfectpolish.com/
http://www.nuvitechemical.com/

My best guess based on others who have stripped and weighed their planes is that you would save about 15 or 20 lbs polished with a standard paint job vs. all paint.

morrisond · Post by **morrisond** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 5:20 pm

Your plane is beautiful. Great Web Site. Do you have any close up shots of you panel?

Paul-WI · Post by **Paul-WI** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:15 pm

And if you want some practice, feel free to come up to Wisconsin and I will "let" you practice polishing on mine - I am still working on the 1st pass of polishing. And polishing the plane does make it lighter - just from the weight you will loose from polishing

Paul

morrisond · Post by **morrisond** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:21 pm

As I've put on 30 lbs since I started to learn to fly and gave up my morning bike rides, polishing my own might be an good idea!