The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I stripped the paint on my ragwing and found the bare aluminum in good condition and decided to polish. Took about 30 hours the first time now I can polish in about three two and half hour sessions. I do about four total polish jobs a year. I dont mind as I hang out at the airport and watch the planes as I do it. Cant beat the look of a polished plane. Bill K

Other than flying the 170 nothing beats FINISHING a polish job. 64 Vic is in bad need of a shine so I know how I will spend this winter. Black fingernails be damned! Nothing bonds you tighter to your plane than looking at your hands in the evening knowing that you have part of her under your nails.

I failed to get '93D finished in time to fly to Galveston for the Convention hence the "Award" ( ? ) for the most potential.

I have taken photos of the process from 10 years of letting the "natural" patina to become "presentable" to (nearly) finished, polish, newly painted trim and new upholstry.

We have owned '93D over 30 years and the first 10 we faithfully polished evry 6 months. Gradually the enthusiam waned and other intrest piled in on spare time. A six year stint working abroad, with '93D parked in care of Tom O'Connel in Arizona added to the length of time between polish jobs. She sat outside in every element that came along.

To make a long story short this latest attempt at restoration brought many thoughts about falling back on a full paint job to completely eliminate any future self-torture. It also brought back memories of how she looked the day we brought her home to roost. With much local (non-aviators and my sweetheart Deana) help the polish on the fuselage has been completed and the "old" blue trim, refreshed with a new paint job.

BTW - I bought both Nuvite and Rolite products. At this time I have no real "fuzzy" feeling about either product. I went through $100s of dollars of supplies and still believe whatever product you use will only work as good as your commitment. I do believe the Cyclo-Polisher I got from one of our members, who gave up the polishing for paint, works best on a fairly light restoration. The VS 5" rotary had to be used for bringing the metal back to a place where the "Cyclo" could finish the job. Lots of information ws available on the "Vintage Airstream" travel trailer site.

When I see planes like Steve Jacobsen's I turn a little envious but I hope sometime in the near future to be able to park alongside him without embarassment. In reality many observers really enjot the beauty of a polished airplane without knowing the extra effort it requires to keep it looking that way.

I will attempt to post some pictures later.