Hard to beat 4.5 gallons an hour. Nice airplane, put me in the jealous category. I have a bit of polishing experience helping my buddy who wins the best polish at the Swift fly in when he goes. He has a special creeper that he built to lay under the airplane. I asked him if the judges get under there. He said yes and dam if I didn't see two judges laying under his airplane at the fly in I attended. I love the smell of NuVite in the morning.

A1Skinner wrote:…. I'm trying to convince myself to strip and polish my 206, but reason is trying to sway me to paint.

Airplanes from the 40's & 50's, like Jaudette's Luscombe, look great polished,
but IMHO airplanes dating from about the early 60's just won't polish up like the earlier ones.
I think maybe the formula for "alclad" changed (for the worse) about then.
I've seen mid-60's Cessnas & Pipers stripped & polished and they just don't gleam like the older airplanes.

hotrod180 wrote:

A1Skinner wrote:…. I'm trying to convince myself to strip and polish my 206, but reason is trying to sway me to paint.

Airplanes from the 40's & 50's, like Jaudette's Luscombe, look great polished,
but IMHO airplanes dating from about the early 60's just won't polish up like the earlier ones.
I think maybe the formula for "alclad" changed (for the worse) about then.
I've seen mid-60's Cessnas & Pipers stripped & polished and they just don't gleam like the older airplanes.

My 69 C150 was so bright you could hardly look at it on a sunny day. Polished up as good as anything else I've seen...

Found a pic of this old girl flying in the log books. I'm guessing from the 60's or 70's. I'm going to get her back to that happy place!

Well the polishing goes on and on and on... It's turning out well...









Overall I like the way it is turning out... Ya'll never mentioned what a filthy job this is!

Jim

A1Skinner wrote:

jaudette wrote:

DeltaRomeo wrote:Years ago I tried my hand at polishing an Airstream; convinced myself it was going to stay in less than shiny condition. You really make that look easy and the result is beautiful!

I'm convincing myself that paint is good...

Dammit Jim! Dont say that! I'm trying to convince myself to strip and polish my 206, but reason is trying to sway me to paint...

Just start with a small spot on the back of the fuselage and see how you like it.

Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!

Looking good!

That Luscombe looks good!

I've had a polished airplane for ten years, and I'm pretty much done with polishing. I bet I have north of 600 hours behind a polishing wheel on that airplane, and it never, Never, NEVER ends. I'll keep the airplane, but I'm getting real unconcerned about how the bare metal looks. I'm just not interested in spending the time it takes to keep it looking good, and you either do it or you don't. There's no half-way with a polished airplane.

Anyone thinking about stripping off a perfectly marginal paint job to polish the bare metal needs an intervention and a serious prescription of anti-psychotic drugs. It's the worst thing I can think of doing to an otherwise functional airplane. Pilot Ryan, take note!

Love the Luscombe, your doing an amazing job on the finish from the look of the photos!

Bout 8 years owning a polished plane here...it's only a pain if your OCD. Doesn't bother me at all, nor is it any more work than keeping a trucks paint waxed and in good condition. There's been some cow shit on the bottom of the wings protecting the polish underneath it for years, might try that haha [emoji12]

Thread drift:

A1 Skinner wrote: "I'm trying to convince myself to strip and polish my 206"

Do it! I'll bet a shiny 206 would be really nice looking!

Scalywag wrote: "There's been some cow shit on the bottom of the wings protecting the polish underneath it for years, might try that haha"

You need to avoid landing and taxiing near the water trough and congregation areas

Back the the original: The Silvaire is looking beautifully chromed!

Thanks Guys! Its not going to be perfect, there are scratches here and there, but from 10 feet it'll look just fine! Going to repaint the stripe next week. I find it strangely relaxing for some reason! I'll be done with the polishing today and then I'm moving on to the interior. Then, as Whee suggested, full synthetic vision and a turbine!

jaudette wrote:... I'll be done with the polishing today ...

No, you wont...

Skalywag wrote:Bout 8 years owning a polished plane here...it's only a pain if your OCD. ...

I have CDO...it's like OCD, but the letters are in the correct, alphabetical order.

The perfect polish is a rare thing.
One could spend their whole life
Um, yeah, no...that would be a wasted life.

Buff it shinny once and wash it with Bon Ami to keep it clean and mostly bright. They look better with a little extra character anyway.

Unless you own a Lockheed Electra. Then you pay other people to spend their lives making it perfect for you.

When you go to a fly-in and fill out the little card to hang on your prop, remember to add "Paint makes airplanes fly slower" at the bottom of the card.

Dale Moul wrote:When you go to a fly-in and fill out the little card to hang on your prop, remember to add "Paint makes airplanes fly slower" at the bottom of the card.

HAHA! I'll remember that!

Looking good! Got me surfing Barnstormers for a Luscombe...

jaudette wrote:Thanks Guys! Its not going to be perfect, there are scratches here and there, but from 10 feet it'll look just fine! Going to repaint the stripe next week. I find it strangely relaxing for some reason! I'll be done with the polishing today and then I'm moving on to the interior. Then, as Whee suggested, full synthetic vision and a turbine!

I imagine Speedbird is out there somewhere waiting for a new caregiver.

whee wrote:Looking good! Got me surfing Barnstormers for a Luscombe...

jaudette wrote:Thanks Guys! Its not going to be perfect, there are scratches here and there, but from 10 feet it'll look just fine! Going to repaint the stripe next week. I find it strangely relaxing for some reason! I'll be done with the polishing today and then I'm moving on to the interior. Then, as Whee suggested, full synthetic vision and a turbine!

I imagine Speedbird is out there somewhere waiting for a new caregiver.

That would be way too easy!

Looking good! Your fully laid back attitude to the effort required is almost making me feel like polishing my 182 is actually a good idea. I also see Hammer basically suggesting I need to be committed for even attempting it. Maybe I will see how yours holds up in our nice dry climate for a little while before I decide what to do about my mediocre paint. I do think we're in an ideal place for it, but then again for some reason people are magnetically attracted to putting their fingers all over a polished plane which is where I think most of the care and feeding comes from.

Looking forward to seeing that bird in the air! And bumming rides of course.

The Luscombe is looking great! I do love a polished airplane. I started helping my dad polish his 170 when I was a kid. He had that airplane for 23 years. I love when people would say I was lucky to fly it whenever I wanted... they didn't know how many summers I spent polishing that plane. I think we both got a good deal out of it!

Keep on polishing

So the wood flooring in this old bird was rotted out. I like the marine plywood look, so I decided to make my own...

I decided to go with Walnut and Oak:





Right before I clamped it together:



I think its gonna look old school cool!