Paint Process

Every paint  job begins with a thorough inspection, power wash and degrease. From there it is disassembled, and masked inside the cabin and door frames, followed by masking to de-paint.  After  the chemical depaint-process, it is washed again and demasked for the detail stipping and scrubbing, then washed again.  Next begins the solvent scrub, wash, soap scrub, wash, water break, and inspection. This is where corrosion removal is addressed, followed by etching, pre-treatment, conversion coating.  Simultaneously composites are sanded, repaired, surfaced, block-sanded and made ready for primer.Aircraft is then masked to paint and primed. If it is a metal aircraft, dents are filled, and the surface is nib-sanded and thoroughly worked with scotch brite. At this point the aircraft is masked to paint the base coat. The physical environment along with the aircraft is prepared for painting.  After the base coat is applied, layout for the graphics and stripes begins, with specialized tape and masking materials, which is the artistic aspect of the job.  It can take days to perfect the layout before the desired look is achieved.  One this is completed, the layout is manicured with foil and other techniques, scuffed, then masked and painted for each stripe or graphic.  After de-masking, the paint is detailed.  Particular attention paid to gas caps, rivets, stripes, dry spots.  Wing walk and conductive coating is applied. The windows and equipment are masked for prosealing.    Now the controls are balanced and the aircraft is reassembled.  A thorough inspection is performed for paint quality,  and then another, final delivery inspection is performed. The aircraft is function checked for airworthiness.  The entire process takes from 4 to 6 weeks depending on several variables from the condition of the aircraft when it went into paint, to the number of stripes, to the complexity of the design.  It is more profitable for us to complete the job in a shorter time-frame, but the customer must understand we will not rush the job if it means a compromise on quality.

We will keep the owner informed as to the progression of the project with e-mail and photos, and certainly welcome owner inspection as often as they want.   We warrant all our work.  We want our customers to be completely satisfied and to feel that joy every time they fly.