The painting of N614EF

It's been almost two months, since we dropped off the RV-7A in Hibbing. Not being able to fly (at least as PIC), and still needing to put a few bucks together to pay for as much of it as possible without adding to the outstanding loan on it, I told the great guys at Midwest Aircraft Refinishing to take all the time they needed to get it done.

But, I admit to being a little antsy about seeing the final product, of course, and George Virnig was good enough to send along some pictures.

Here's how it looked a couple of days ago:

There was a time when I considered painting the plane myself. I bought a larger air compressor than I really needed for construction. I bought the EAA book from Ron Alexander on how to paint your own plane. But I slowly came to realize that I couldn't possibly do anything dumber. I don't have the patience for the prep work that's required, I don't have the equipment or facilities, and I sure as heck don't have the expertise.

Not like the guys in Hibbing do.

Need proof?  Here's what George sent me today...

For reference, let's go back to the original design.

Things seem to be coming together nicely. I have an FAA physical next Thursday and pretty soon I'll have a determination whether I can get a special issuance to fly again.

A lot of people have asked me, "is the plane still for sale?"  Ask me next Thursday.

Paint update

The good folks at Midwest Aircraft Refinishing are about ready to start shooting paint on N614EF.

I heard from George Virnig today with some questions that came up as they were laying out the paint lines for the transition from the paint to the polished aluminum.

The fiberglass fairing on the vertical stabilizer/horizontal stabilizer presents some challenges. George said the original design didn't follow the line on the fairing and he felt it would look better if it did.

Sold.  I don't really have a huge emotional investment in the design. Like so many other things on the project, I rely on the expertise of others. George and his crew know more about paint and design than I do, and I'm willing to let their expertise guide the outcome.

That's what makes me a natural born leader, you see. :*)

Here's some pictures.

By the way, next month, the Twin Cities RV Builders Group is going to have a get-together and display all the RVs that have been painted at Midwest. Hopefully, I'll be one of them, but I'm still not sure I want to park next to this beauty that stopped over to Eau Claire on Saturday for breakfast. It belongs to Bernie Weiss. My guess is I've got 403-B's with less value than what this cost.