Progress is happening

Even though I haven't posted lately, progress is in the works. I sanded a lot of the paint off and made arrangements to have a local body shop shoot it. So far, they have shot the upper and lower cowl, the flight controls, canopy and tailcone. Today, we are supposed to trailer the fuselage over and paint it over the weekend.

No photos, with this post, instead, take a look at the photos, at Sandy's blog www.sanleeott.blogspot.com , from last week's mini-vacation in Arizona. I gave a Mistake-Proofing presentation at the National Association for Healthcare Quality on Monday, so we fooled around in Arizona for the rest of the week.

A Paint Job Gone Bad - Rats!!!

After the paint job was done, and much to my total dismay, I discovered there were significant problems with the color match on different parts of the plane. The forward fuselage/wing/canard is one shade and the tail cone, control surfaces, cowling and canopy are another.

Blame is easily dispensed, but in truth, it is shared.

Maybe I should just make a list of the issues, rather than elaborating on each one.

1. The paint booth did not have a clean regulated air supply. This meant that the pressure delivered to the air gun ranged from 70 - 110 psi. Rob could adjust the pressure at his gun, but that was a band-aid.
   
2. We did not have the proper range of tips for his expensive HVLP spray gun. Having the correct tip size is critical to accomodate the viscosity of the paint. My brother forgot to bring the other tips and was forced to use his "retired" HVHP gun, which resulted in wasting a lot of paint.
3. We used two different gallons of custom mixed paint, purchased with a one month interval. The paint shop did not properly mix the second gallon, so it didn't exactly match the first. It should have been a lot closer. However, it would have been better to purchase the two gallons at the same time, then mix them together before shooting. Bouncing up to steps #1&2 above, if we had the right gun and a regulated air supply we would have used a lot less paint and the second gallon may not have been an issue. Everything is connected.
   
4. Due to having the wrong gun, we ran out of the second gallon and were unable to paint the canopy. We purchased a single quart and it turned out that it was mixed way off and was very light. The paint shop remixed another quart, but it is not enough compensation for the extra work involved.
   
5. We shot the fuselage at the end of a long day. It would have been much better to wait until the next day when we were fresher and thinking straighter.
6. The cup used to proportion the paint, hardener, and reducer was confusing to use and not really suited to the paint we used.

Of course, my first thought was to see if I could just live with it. I brought Sandy out to look at the plane and get her opinion. She didn't like it either and said something to the effect that "you'll never be happy with this".

I brought out a father/son team from a local body shop and asked them how to make it right. Chris said the words I really didn't want to hear; "If it was mine, I'd just re-shoot the whole thing. You're not going to be able to blend this properly".

So now, almost a month after the first shoot, I have a lot of the paint sanded off and I will be hauling it off to the body shop this afternoon.

The "lessons learned" post will come later. Have a nice day.

Q-2 canopy for sale

I have a new clear canopy for sale, on Ebay.
Here is the URL http://tinyurl.com/62j6gd



All proceeds will be donated to the Plastic Explosive "Sander's Elbow" fund.

"There is No Such Thing as a Simple and Cheap Paint Job"

That quote was from the counter man at my local paint supply shop, as I returned to buy yet another $100 quart of paint to fix yet another of my screw-ups.

The week of prepping, primer and painting was an exhausting marathon. As I write this, Rob is on the train on his way back to house and family.

Some of the good things were: getting to spend time with my brother, getting the benefit of his years of experience, getting to use the SIU Aviation Technology paint booth, getting help from some of the SIU students, getting rid of all of all that old cracked paint and filler, having Sandy provide critically needed logistics support, and finally, getting paint on the bird.

Some of the not-so-good things were; having the wrong tip on his new HVLP gun for the DuPont Centari and getting runs on the vertical stab, sticker shock at the paint store, and me mis-mixing the paint used on the main fuselage resulting in excessive orange peel which will require extra wet sanding after everything cures.

I really didn't want to repaint the thing, but now that I have, I'm sure I will be happy with it. But, oh man! What a job!

Getting the Primer On It

Moving day! I was able to get my main man, Robbie Hoskins down to direct the painting operation for this little beast. Again, I am grateful to SIU's Aviation Technology department for allowing me to use the facilities. In this case, it is there brand new paint booth.


After a week of sanding the epoxy wipe, I was ready for Rob and his magic paint gun. First, we had to tow it over to the AvTech hangar. Rob couldn't really believe it when I told him how were going to do this.


A little last minute sanding was in order.


We warmed up by prepping and shooting primer on the tail cone and the upper and lower cowl.

Now we had to figure out how to handle the fuselage. With the assistance of several AvTech students we lifted the plane and placed it on a large wooden dolly they had laying around. A few screws fixed it into place.

It was really great having Rob help and he really knows what he is doing. We finished the second day with two coats of primer on the cowling and tali cone, and one on the fuselage!

Doing the Epoxy Wipe

This is a great technique. I first became aware of it when reading an article about Cory Bird and his most perfect Symmetry.

In "the old days" we would apply filler, then use progressive grits of sand paper until we had a very smooth finish. Then we would apply primer, or maybe more micro, to fill all the pinholes. Then we would sand it off, only to find that the pinholes where still there. Over and over and over.

Using the epoxy wipe method I sanded with 36 Grit, then a quick once-over with 80 grit. The epoxy wipe fills pinholes, pot holes, scratches, gouges and all sorts of other sins. It also does a great job of hardening the soon-to-be-painted surface.

Today, we filled the forward fuselage, the tail cone, upper cowling, lower cowl and the upper surface of the canopy. I used West 105/206 epoxy and applied four skim coats.

The idea is to apply it, then squeegee off as much epoxy as you possibly can. When it gets tacky, repeat. With all the components I was working on, I just kept rotating through. It took us about 4 1/2 hours. It really helped having Sandy mix while I was working. It was warm in the hangar - 88 F degrees.

I also wanted to keep track of the weight I was adding. We kept track of every cup mixed and I figure we added 2.2 lbs.


Now, I'll sand it all with 180 Grit and it's ready for paint.

Sanding

Over the years, we have learned better sanding techniques than were called out in the original plans. I'd thought I'd cover some of the main sanding tools that I now use. (As always, click on the photo the the full size image).

Again, the main idea is to lay your filler material on THICK, then sand down the high spots until you just reach the fiberglass. There are two excellent on-line descriptions that describe best practices.

Chapter 25: The Contouring Process

and

Finishing a Composite Airplane

1. Sand Paper The first strong recommendation is to buy only automotive body shop quality paper. I think that the 3M paper is the best and longest lasting and is my preference, by far. I get my paper at a local automotive paint shop supply store.

Almost all of the work will be done with 36 grit paper and I keep a good supply on hand. I really like the stuff that comes with the adhesive backing. It's 2" wide by 16" long.

2. Small Sanding Blocks Try and avoid doing any sanding, at all, with just your fingers - always use a sanding block. If you use solely your hands, the paper will follow the contour of the thing you are trying to sand down and you will not get a smooth surface.

I make extensive use of the rubber sanding blocks - there are both 6" and 8" available. I stick the paper to both the curved and straight sides.

For fillets and the like, I simple stick some 36G on a piece of cardboard tube.

I have also used this single stick board for many years.

3. Long block I used some shelf board I had laying around and cut it to 32" and mounted a section of aluminum angle for a better grip. This length allows me to use two 16" sticky back strips. With fresh paper, this is a great tool and really cuts into the micro.

I strictly use 36 grit on the whole plane until I get the contours that I want. When I have that desired shape I switch over to 80 grit. All the 80 grit does is to knock off the highest cuts left by the 36G.

All sanding should be done at 45 degree angles.

Don't worry about deep scratches, pin holes, deep holes or black holes. The next step will take care of it all,

Next, comes the epoxy wipe!

Good to Be Home

I did Oshkosh for the whole week. Saw lots of folks and did lots of stuff.

Paul Fisher and his boy, Roy came out and helped with pyro. Yes - those are real sticks of dynamite!

When we shot the wall of fire, Doc and I peered over our standard issue cardboard blast protection. Roy ducked a little.

The minor irritation of the week came from some Vari-Eze driver who showed up with the Plastic Explosive label on his plane. He must not know who he's messing with.

Now, back to sanding.

Off to Oshkosh

I have flown my little Quickie into Oshkosh 19 times and this year was to be the 20th. Oh well.

Sandy will be missing the big event. Since I wasn't planning on going, she made other plans.

I was pretty much resigned to skipping it all together this year, when Ken Robinson came along and asked me if I would like to fly his 1955 C-182 up to Wisconsin. Ken has been the benefactor of the SIU aerobatic team. Just to sweeten the pot, he is throwing in an armband.

So, how could I say no? I'll be tenting under the wing of the C-182 for a couple nights, then I'll transition to a hotel room with Rich Gibson and the Pyro crew.

One of the best things about having Race 22 at Oshkosh is just hanging around my plane and see who shows up. I get to see old friends, remote Quickie builders, former students and others - I'll miss that this year.

But, like the Chicago Cubs - Wait till next year!

The Sands of Southern Illinois

The coating of gray primer really helps you to see what needs to be sanded next.

Small Update

Just another photo or two of the filler.

I went around with my sanding grinder and knocked off most of the high spots and clumps. (Making lots of dust!). I went to Wal-Mart and got a couple cans of cheap gray primer and sprayed the fuselage. I found this is a big help to find the low spots while sanding. I would have preferred a darker primer, but I didn't want to chase around for it.

I think I'm beginning to develop "sander's elbow".

Getting ready for paint - again

So now that I'm committed, I may as well jump in with both feet. SIU has been a great resource, and even though I'm back in my own hangar, I'm able to tap in. This time I was able to hire one of the AvTech student workers to help do my dirty work. Corey Steinkoenig has been a big help.

I had to do some clean-up inside the tail cone, to we tied it to the door and lowered the cone over Corey. That worked well - especially for me.



The rest of the day was spend preparing the fuselage for a major filling operation.





The second day, We applied the filler. We used the West system with the slow hardener. Good thing, since the temperature was 95 degrees F in the hangar. We could actually feel the micro start to exotherm as soon as it was mixed and we really had to work quickly.

The Prime Directive of the filling process is "Put it on once, sand it off once". I think we got it on thick enough.

Changing the Angle of the Dangle

A zillion years ago the Quickie community struggled with ground handling issues. All sorts of things were blamed, including "deck angle". People thought handling issues could be corrected by changing the tailwheel bracket or tail spring to raise the tail and thus reduce the deck angle.

Well, it turned out the real culprit was the main wheel alignment. This was expounded upon by a fellow named David Gall in what is now called "The Gall Alignment" and is a whole other topic.

If you look at older photos of my plane, you can see that the tail spring angles downward. All this really accomplishes is to increase drag and this will be the best time to correct it. It's pretty simple surgery and no time like the present. I did have to relocate the lower rudder phenolic bearing, but that was pretty easy, too.

Dorsal Fin

On the spur of the moment, I decided to add a little dorsal fairing. Pretty simple and quick. I just got an old block of foam and notched it to kind of fit the vertical fin. I always start with a block much larger than I think I'll need. I mixed a little TAP plastics X-30 foam and brushed it on the foam and on the fuselage, then jammed it in place.

After it set for in place for about 15 minutes, I broke out Mr. Sawzall and started carving away. I'll put one layer of BID over it, and I'll be done!