Looking for a good paint shop - Southeast

Micah Powell

Micah Powell

Filing Flight Plan
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Apr 25, 2020
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MPowell
I'm looking for a paint shop within reasonable driving distance of my airport KCNI (Ball Ground, GA) that also does good work and is reasonably priced.

I know that's a lot to ask for.

My plane is a Piper Warrior II and I will be doing a full strip and paint. There isn't any surface corrosion that I can see and I will probably just end up doing something basic. White with 2 stripes. It is a Piper Warrior after all.

Has anyone had any experience, good or bad, with paint shops in the southeast? Any recommendations or warnings?

Thanks
 
The EPA has shut down or doubled the cost of all the good paint shops in the U.S. Canada still has good paint shops and at a good price. Mexico not sure I would take a plane down their, also no idea of a price in Mexico to paint a aircraft.
 
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Flew in to CNI a few weeks ago to grab my sister. Nice airport.

While not within short driving of there, Hawk Aircraft in Zephyrhills, FL painted mine recently and I’m very happy with the quality/price. The owner, Joe, is a straight shooter. Considering the nature of a paint job, I was okay traveling several states away to get it done right. Hopefully someone with current N GA experience chimes in...I don’t know of any paint shops there.
 
Thanks, I'll reach out to them. There are some shops here in Georgia but all of the quotes I've gotten so far have been quite high.
 
The lowest quote I've gotten so far has been from East Coast Aircraft Painting at $12,500. That's doable for me but it's in Deland, FL. That's also where SoCal Flying Monkey got his plane painted and from his videos, it looks fantastic. However there are a few bad reviews online for them.
 
Talk to Don Smith at Cartersville. Nice guy, does good work.
 
Some pro pointers:
Remember Florida has no sales tax on aircraft maintenance, don’t know about Georgia, but keep that in mind.
You can’t compare other peoples quotes, there are a lot of factors into what a paint job costs:
Color (Red is most expensive)
Number of colors.
Design...2 tone or 1 color? Stripes?
Metallic paint?
Touch up the gear or strip and paint it?
You can’t judge a paint job from a picture....you need to see it up close.

Expect minimum of 2 months to complete for a good shop. They’ll tell you 4 weeks, but that’s a best case scenario. I know someone whose plane been at Hawk for 4 months.

If you didn’t provide the above information then I question the validity of any quote you got.
 
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kyleb said:
Talk to Don Smith at Cartersville. Nice guy, does good work.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I found his website and left them a message. Didn't realize there was anyone over there that did paint.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
Some pro pointers:
Remember Florida has no sales tax on aircraft maintenance, don’t know about Georgia, but keep that in mind.
You can’t compare other peoples quotes, there are a lot of factors into what a paint job costs:
Color (Red is most expensive)
Number of colors.
Design...2 tone or 1 color? Stripes?
Metallic paint?
Touch up the gear or strip and paint it?
You can’t judge a paint job from a picture....you need to see it up close.

Expect minimum of 2 months to complete for a good shop. They’ll tell you 4 weeks, but that’s a best case scenario. I know someone whose plane been at Hawk for 4 months.

If you didn’t provide the above information then I question the validity of any quote you got.
Click to expand...

Didn't know that about Florida but that would make a big difference.
 
MooneyDriver78 said:
If they’re formally known as “Florida Aircraft Painting”, you’d be better off getting a kid off the streets and handing him some rattle cans.
Click to expand...

They are not formally known, nor even formerly known ;). Entirely new operation occupying the same spaces. I stand by my recommendation.
 
$12500 is a decent price. The surface area to be painted is equivalent to 3 Chevy Suburbans. To paint a Suburban will run between $4-5k, single color, not red. Add in strip, and whatnot. I'm in JZP, and probably could have done it last winter, but I'm now booked 'till next June. But I can't compete with $12500.
 
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