Paint job on my 182

Morne

Morne

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Sep 18, 2011
Messages
699
Display Name
Display name:
Morne
Back in August I bought a Cessna 182E. Only 400 hours SMOH on the engine, millenium cylinders, 4400-ish TTAF, wheelpants, dual digital com/nav radios, ADF, MoGas STC, monarch fuel caps, nice interior, etc...

About the only drawbacks to this fine bird were no autopilot and a well worn paint job. Here's a picture at time of purchase:

205937_10150265861633650_546033649_7738759_1171692_n.jpg


I can live without an autopilot. In fact, more than one instructor has said that I shouldn't mess with an autopilot at this stage of my flying because it is better to hand-fly and learn than to use the autopilot like a crutch. Fine by me.

I can live without a stellar paint job, too. But a lot of my passengers don't know a thing about all of the good points in my first paragraph - they judge a vehicle with that "how does it look in a showroom" kind of way. So, I decided to get it painted.

The paint shop sent me this picture, she's done but not yet put back together:

388287_10150488364963650_546033649_8830473_1793975652_n.jpg
 
Looks nice! How long did the complete process take? Did they strip it down first?
 
The CAPpies are going to give you hell for flying out of uniform.:lol: You can have a lot of fun playing along.:lol:
 
ajstoner21 said:
Looks nice! How long did the complete process take? Did they strip it down first?
Click to expand...
Well, I haven't picked it up yet so I'll let you know when the clock stops.

I delivered her for a 11/15 start date. Between Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's there was plenty of delay. But being an old finishing hand myself I try not to gripe about the time it takes, even though they quoted me 4 weeks lead time. I'd rather they take the time to do it right than to rush it. After all, this is MY PLANE and I will fly it for years to come.

ETA - yes, stripped all the way down. Again, I believe in things being done right. The cost delta to just scratch and paint wasn't impressive anyway.
 
Looks nice but we really do need to see the interior and panel shots ya know:wink2:
 
Nice job, good to have the dark color on the bottom, except for the nose bowl. Get a big jar of blue touch-up paint for that spot, you'll need it. BTDT. Surprisingly, the rock chips show up more vividly on dark paint than on light paint, even though it would be hard to prove based on the "before" picture.

It's probably a good thing we didn't fly together prior to your purchase. I would have told you that my three most-important requirements all start with "A." Autopilot, air-conditioning and altitude pre-select. Even if some of them aren't built into the airplane.
 
wabower said:
It's probably a good thing we didn't fly together prior to your purchase. I would have told you that my three most-important requirements all start with "A." Autopilot, air-conditioning and altitude pre-select. Even if some of them aren't built into the airplane.
Click to expand...
You are welcome to fly with me anytime we meet up at a fly in!

You're a pilot at a VERY different stage of the game as I am. Autopilot and altitude pre-select are wonderful, but it is better for me to hand-fly and engrave that muscle memory nice and deep. Besides, since I am starting my instrument training I should be hand-flying the approaches anyway, right?

Now air-conditioning...totally agree! At least here in NE Ohio you don't need it 8 months out of the year (but those other 4 months....UGH).
 
N801BH said:
Wait till he gets the " cease and desist" papers from the USAF..:sad::sad:.
Click to expand...
No emblem on the bird. I told the paint shop to leave it off. They've painted both CAP and Border Patrol birds in this scheme.

If I wear all blue am I impersonating a cop? Not without a badge I'm not.
 
Morne said:
No emblem on the bird. I told the paint shop to leave it off. They've painted both CAP and Border Patrol birds in this scheme.

If I wear all blue am I impersonating a cop? Not without a badge I'm not.
Click to expand...


I was just kiddin.:yesnod::yesnod::yesnod:

The good news is......... if you fly it into Mexico no one will steal it.:no:

The bad news is........... you will be shot at on the way down there. :yesnod::yikes:.

Ben.
 
nice paint, I like it.

Do you know the layers used: primer, finish, clear???
 
Hmmm........
No picture when I load this thread. Maybe the USAF is already at work here.
 
Can I ask how much it cost? It is very likely a Cardinal RG repaint is a few years in my future...

Did you change your N number?
 
spinfire said:
Can I ask how much it cost? It is very likely a Cardinal RG repaint is a few years in my future...

Did you change your N number?
Click to expand...
When it is all done, and I have an itemized invoice, I'll let you know.

A 182 costs about 10% more than a Cardinal RG to paint (I had priced out buying a 177RG that needed paint and so got a quote before this 182 caught my eye).

I did not change my N number. I had considered it, but given the headache of just getting ownership changed into my name I didn't want to mess with it.

Some day years from now, when I think about buying another plane, perhaps I'll reserve a custom N number 12+ months in advance and keep it handy for any potential repaint. Of course, by then the characters "Three One X-Ray" might be so engrained into my radio voice as to be inextricable.:D
 
Yup, those 35 - 40 year old paint schemes look funny to our modern eyes - weird shades, etc...
Wonder what this paint scheme will look like to the modern eyes 40 years from now?

denny-o
 
Morne said:
I can live without an autopilot. In fact, more than one instructor has said that I shouldn't mess with an autopilot at this stage of my flying because it is better to hand-fly and learn than to use the autopilot like a crutch. Fine by me.
Click to expand...

Very smart. Here is why you need to get very good at hand flying first...

The pilot was trying to fly an ILS approach and the accident occurred after the pilot reported he was having trouble performing a "coupled" approach and that he was trying to "get control" of the airplane.
Click to expand...

http://www.flyingmag.com/low-speed-loss-control
 
Must have been hard to give up the avocado green!:yikes: Looks great! Autopilots are great, but I well trimmed 182 will fly pretty much hands off.:D You'll miss it on really long trips, but 1-2 hour VFR trips are a breeze in a Skylane.;)
 
FWIW, the little ice-chest A/C units are quite effective.
Morne said:
You are welcome to fly with me anytime we meet up at a fly in!

You're a pilot at a VERY different stage of the game as I am. Autopilot and altitude pre-select are wonderful, but it is better for me to hand-fly and engrave that muscle memory nice and deep. Besides, since I am starting my instrument training I should be hand-flying the approaches anyway, right?

Now air-conditioning...totally agree! At least here in NE Ohio you don't need it 8 months out of the year (but those other 4 months....UGH).
Click to expand...
 
Morne said:
Now air-conditioning...totally agree! At least here in NE Ohio you don't need it 8 months out of the year (but those other 4 months....UGH).
Click to expand...

You really don't need it then, either - Just climb. Cool, dry air awaits you up there. :yes: Generally up here in the Midwest, even as low as 4500 can be quite comfortable even in the middle of summer.
 
nddons said:
Yea, but I bet he could park at Warbird Island at Airventure! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Erm... I sure hope not! :hairraise:

(Hint: "Warbird Island" is a spot on the Warbird arrival - It's an island in Lake Winnebago just north of Fond du Lac. I wouldn't try to go there in anything other than a seaplane!)
 
Since my bird is now 50+ years old can I get into the "vintage" parking or whatever it is called?
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Erm... I sure hope not! :hairraise:

(Hint: "Warbird Island" is a spot on the Warbird arrival - It's an island in Lake Winnebago just north of Fond du Lac. I wouldn't try to go there in anything other than a seaplane!)
Click to expand...

Oh, duh. I should have known that. I work the flightline but am generally the guy hanging around the "green dot".
 
Heh. At the very least you'll turn a couple of heads with the CAP / BP paint job. I like it.
 
Morne said:
Since my bird is now 50+ years old can I get into the "vintage" parking or whatever it is called?
Click to expand...

Yes. I believe this coming year anything from 1972 or earlier counts as "vintage." See the NOTAM when it comes out. But if it's 50 years old, you could have been parking in Vintage for a while now.
 
1972? Holy cow. That means most every plane I've flown is vintage. That means I'm vintage. schist
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top