Painting a seriously dented aircraft

A

AA5Bman

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He who ironically no longer flies an AA5B
So… I bought this seriously ugly Cessna 206. It’s a former wilderness charter/cargo dog and shows it. It’s a classic case of “don’t judge a book by its cover” as the plane is pretty solid (with some known deferred maintenance that we’ll take care of), but it’s powerful, got a newly overhauled engine, is light, flies straight and true and whoa - does that engine pull!

But the exterior… woof! The paint is faded and barely hanging on. Bare metal exposed all over the place and dents, dents, dents! I bought it obviously knowing it would be a labor of love and intended to repaint it, but now that I’ve had it a while I’m kinda scratching my head: a few of the skins need to be replaced, and we’ll do that. But to do a really great job of prepping this thing for painting would require replacing virtually every skin, or removing dents from nearly every surface and I’m wondering if that’s at all realistic (it’s not).

So, what to do - does anyone here have experience painting a seriously dented aircraft? Does it just look like crap after completion? I’m kinda considering coming up with a utility-style scheme or “leaning into” the backcountry feel (call it “great outdoors chic”) and going with the character of the aircraft. Or, are there painting strategies or schemes that might help hide dents that could maybe be used strategically to cover the worst parts? Or maybe dent removal is more affordable than I realize, or some other solution?

Would love to hear your thoughts - TIA.
 
AA5Bman said:
So… I bought this seriously ugly Cessna 206. It’s a former wilderness charter/cargo dog and shows it. It’s a classic case of “don’t judge a book by its cover” as the plane is pretty solid (with some known deferred maintenance that we’ll take care of), but it’s powerful, got a newly overhauled engine, is light, flies straight and true and whoa - does that engine pull!

But the exterior… woof! The paint is faded and barely hanging on. Bare metal exposed all over the place and dents, dents, dents! I bought it obviously knowing it would be a labor of love and intended to repaint it, but now that I’ve had it a while I’m kinda scratching my head: a few of the skins need to be replaced, and we’ll do that. But to do a really great job of prepping this thing for painting would require replacing virtually every skin, or removing dents from nearly every surface and I’m wondering if that’s at all realistic (it’s not).

So, what to do - does anyone here have experience painting a seriously dented aircraft? Does it just look like crap after completion? I’m kinda considering coming up with a utility-style scheme or “leaning into” the backcountry feel (call it “great outdoors chic”) and going with the character of the aircraft. Or, are there painting strategies or schemes that might help hide dents that could maybe be used strategically to cover the worst parts? Or maybe dent removal is more affordable than I realize, or some other solution?

Would love to hear your thoughts - TIA.
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Don't paint with a shinny finish. A roller paint job sounds in order here if you decide to paint it.
 
Man....sounds like my kinda plane, love the 206.!! It's not yellow, is it.?? Is the majority of the dents on the horizontal stabilizer?

What are the plans, gonna keep it or paint it for resale?
 
AA5Bman said:
So… I bought this seriously ugly Cessna 206. It’s a former wilderness charter/cargo dog and shows it. It’s a classic case of “don’t judge a book by its cover” as the plane is pretty solid (with some known deferred maintenance that we’ll take care of), but it’s powerful, got a newly overhauled engine, is light, flies straight and true and whoa - does that engine pull!

But the exterior… woof! The paint is faded and barely hanging on. Bare metal exposed all over the place and dents, dents, dents! I bought it obviously knowing it would be a labor of love and intended to repaint it, but now that I’ve had it a while I’m kinda scratching my head: a few of the skins need to be replaced, and we’ll do that. But to do a really great job of prepping this thing for painting would require replacing virtually every skin, or removing dents from nearly every surface and I’m wondering if that’s at all realistic (it’s not).

So, what to do - does anyone here have experience painting a seriously dented aircraft? Does it just look like crap after completion? I’m kinda considering coming up with a utility-style scheme or “leaning into” the backcountry feel (call it “great outdoors chic”) and going with the character of the aircraft. Or, are there painting strategies or schemes that might help hide dents that could maybe be used strategically to cover the worst parts? Or maybe dent removal is more affordable than I realize, or some other solution?

Would love to hear your thoughts - TIA.
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https://www.reddit.com/r/northernireland/comments/zz0fss/short_brothers_sc7_skyvan_built_in_belfast

Nobody will see the dents!

-Skip
 
These two Scottish Bulldogs are local to me and one is co-owned by a good friend. Never been sure what to make of the paint jobs, but they are distinctive. (If I had an airplane, I'd want maximum visibilty - same reason I don't drive a gray/silver/grey car.)
20220727-GDK04659-AirVenture.jpg
 
Dents weaken monocoque and semi-monocoque structures. That 206 is semi-monocoque. Maybe you and your mechanic are a bit casual about that.
 
A) I'd listen to Dan's advice.

B) I'd replace the necessary skins and paint it primarily white because white doesn't show waves/dents as badly as other colors. Or I'd paint it in such a busy scheme it makes the eye focus on the busyness of the scheme, rather than the wavy/dented skins.
 
Maybe I oversold the dents - dings might be more appropriate - but I’m not worried about airworthiness. Yes, @Zeldman, the worst part by far is the horizontal and also flaps due to rocks spinning off the wheels, both will be replaced. Multiple A&Ps have all worked on it and signed it off, none has mentioned anything even remotely related to airworthiness.

Anyway, the bad ones will be replaced/reskinned, but there are still little dings and blemishes all over the place that I don’t think it will make sense (or need to be) fixed. But this plane is never going to have a buttery-smooth finish to start from.

Matte finish is and interesting idea. I’ll have to think about that. Maybe matte down low where most of the dings are, shiny up top? Could be cool. I can only think of a couple matte-finished planes and they’ve all got a military vide, can anyone this of a different example? All-over white did occur to me, we have a couple of those at our airport now but I always assumed it was just a budget thing. Any other ideas I’d love to hear them.
 
I actually flew a few hours to go see the above beauty. That was not the most objectionable feature I found. The owner could have save us both a bit of trouble on this NDH C210. :mad:
 
Assum8ng nothing is structiral or compromising the aerodynamics I would fill the dents using an epoxy based filler with microbaloons to keep the weight down and then have the airplane wrapped instead of painted
 
kmacht said:
Assum8ng nothing is structiral or compromising the aerodynamics I would fill the dents using an epoxy based filler with microbaloons to keep the weight down and then have the airplane wrapped instead of painted
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wraps are not permitted on certificated planes as they hide defects and trap moisture.

a dent is stretched metal. it needs to be repaired not covered. denting of stringers or formers (or even being close to them) is a concern.

buy some sheet metal and put a new panel on. find an IA that will agree to the repair first.
 
AA5Bman said:
Maybe I oversold the dents - dings might be more appropriate - but I’m not worried about airworthiness.
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FWIW: have your mechanic review every dent per the applicable mx manual for servicability. Repair all dents that are unserviceable. Then paint the colors you want and put a 20 foot viewing limit on it. I preferred a standard white base color and could at times "mask" the underlying defects with creative accent striping, etc. Plus would never use body filler on any aluminum skin area outside of a coat of sandable primer.

pfarber said:
wraps are not permitted on certificated planes as they hide defects and trap moisture.
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They can be installed on TC'd aircraft however if wrapping entire aircrafte requires an STC. Adding vinyl accent stripes, logos, reg numbers, etc. over portions of the aircraft are permitted with a mx record entry.
 
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"Adding vinyl accent stripes, logos, reg numbers, etc. over portions of the aircraft are permitted with a mx record entry."

Those are not wraps now, are they? No, they are not.

An STC is not the same as 'I ordered this kewl new wrapz from 'Wacky Willies Wonderful WIld aiplanez wraps' now is it? No, it is not.

"if wrapping entire aircraft requires an STC"

Actually the FAA doesn't have a set % only a vague 'significant portion' statement. So you can run afoul with something much less than wrapping an entire airplane. So can you wrap an entire horizontal stabilizer? What about just the rudder? Only the FAA knows and that's most likely gonna be FSDO dependent.
 
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pfarber said:
Only the FAA knows and that's most likely gonna be FSDO dependent.
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Not quite. The FAA issued a policy memo on this exact topic in 2012. The memo specifically exempted logos, decals, and wraps over limited areas of the fuselage and empenage.

The FAA also determined due to the wide variance of potential safety issues for entire aircraft vinyl wraps that they do not fall under a field approval and required approval under a STC, ATC, TC. And to make sure the policy memo was applied equally they included in the AFS300 job aid.

So the info is publically available to those who have a need to know, and the FSDO has no direct requirement to be involved. And as an FYI, vinyl wraps are widely used on aircraft at all levels. Perhaps as an "A&P" you might want to research a bit on a topic before you post again.;)
 
robin ardoin said:
Like this marvelous example of exemplary workmanship?

View attachment 139465
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My first vehicle looked like that. A ‘66 Chevy half-ton with Bondo showing through the paint in multiple places, plus brush strokes (!) at some spots where the paint had been touched up.

And as it turned out, the body and paint was the best part of the truck. A quart of oil every 150 miles, both front brake hoses ruptured, heater didn’t work, and finally a front wheel bearing failed. Sold it for a hundred bucks and bought a brand-new Toyota pickup.
 
ateamer said:
A ‘66 Chevy half-ton with Bondo showing through the paint in multiple places, plus brush strokes (!) at some spots where the paint had been touched up.
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I had '56 Chevy 3200 with a 235, three on the tree, and a floor push pedal starter. I sanded all the rust off of it and all that was left was a frame ... :biggrin:
 
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Get a 4” foam roller, some olive drab green paint and embrace the “it’s going to look a bit rough” mentality. Then spend the money it saves on fuel and non cosmetic repairs/overhauls.
 
Zeldman said:
Duct tape is cheaper and really gives a plane that ''bush'' look...

View attachment 139512
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I honestly don't think I have ever seen any metal airplane that didn't have a least a few deformations somewhere.

I feel confident that there isn't a single aircraft on any flight line or just rolled off the assembly line that an experienced mechanic or QA couldn't find fault, armed with nothing more than a flashlight and mirror.
 
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Bullet hole stickers for the smaller dings:

1743592473391.png

"Chuck Norris was here" stickers for the dents:
1743592172224.png

Coyote sticker for the really large dents:
1743592264760.png
 
Think ratrod and just fly it the way it is.... It worked in the hot rod world.
 
The hot rod kids call it a "patina". Bush plane chic? The matte paint will go a long way to make the dings more subtle. While im sure bondo is frowned upon, some careful use of a high-solids primer can help with some waviness along with flat or matte finish. Or you could pop rivet some skins cut out from PBR cans over the bigger dents... Congrats on the flying Power Wagon!
 
Ever see the wrinkles on the tail of a 757?

Didn’t think so… don’t worry ‘bout ‘em.

Tools

PS I brought this to the attention of the check guy I was flying with on my first trip. Turns out it’s normal and they ALL got it. Pretty sure it didn’t start that way.
 
Flat olive drab with invasion stripes. If anyone asks about the dents, tell them the Germans did it during the war, shells just bounced off it. Anyone that asks will probably believe that.
 
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