Any polished Mooneys out there?

[bonal]

Agreed on the swirl marks but definitely getting close. I wonder if a wire antenna would look better than the shark fin on top like the one closer to the tail.

[Wildhorsesracing]

That is correct - we have only done the coarse polish (Nuvite G6) with the compounding polisher and still have two finish polish levels (Nuvite C & S) with the cyclo polisher left.  I truly believe it will never be finished, there will always be a spot that "needz moar polishin'..."

This site was very helpful:  www.perfectpolish.com/

I am also planning on using the California Custom polish to maintain it as it didn't seem to get the deep shine with so much of the dull aluminum but I think it will restore the polished aluminum back to shiny status.

Edited September 22, 2015 by Wildhorsesracing

[HRM]

That is correct - we have only done the coarse polish (Nuvite G6) with the compounding polisher and still have two finish polish levels (Nuvite C & S) with the cyclo polisher left.  I truly believe it will never be finished, there will always be a spot that "needz moar polishin'..."

I think you have come to the answer of your original question 

You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!

[Shadrach]

Start to finish...

[Super Dave]

That's going to look great when you're finished, nice job.

 

I've always been partial to the simple accent stripes and painted cowl tops on Globe Swifts and Cessna 120/140s. To my eyes, It just looks "right" on a polished plane. I also think the classic small vertical N#s look best on a polished plane.

[Wildhorsesracing]

Start to finish...

That video pretty much sums it up - although we chose to hand wet sand with 1000 then 1500 grit to avoid taking the marks off of the rivets.  This is my daughter all suited up to sand the bottom of the wings:

 

[carusoam]

I like the fancy paint shop stripes.

bring the arrow head up to the front of the cowling if you can bridge the gaps.

 

best regards,

-a-

[Wildhorsesracing]

Met with the painter today - trying to decide which scheme to go with...

[MB65E]

Looks awesome!! I really like what you are doing. Trend setting vs the 13k paint job!!

In the "if it was mine" category, and I wanted the Leading edges painted...

I would have a half of a scallop  from the leading edge the inboard portion of the wing root. Much like you have on the tip but inboard. I wouldn't do two colors on the wings unless it was just some trim on the tips maybe green and white like the mid 70's 201's were with the 2 piano keys (tips and ailerons) I really like the darker green metallics!! Trimmed in white I think it would be really pretty. Unless I flew to Mexico more than 2x per year, I would do small Registration numbers on the tail, like others have said, more old school like. 

Also, so many Moonies have been painted with the trim system all out of whack. Then the stripes look silly! I would make sure to paint the stripes with the trim system in the landing position. (Unless you retrim for T/O post flight). That way the long likes you have will line up. 

The Luscumbe pictured is what I was talking about regarding the inboard scallop. 

I'm going to need to fly up and see it when it's done!!

best,

-Matt

[Hank]

Don't forget to paint the top of the cowling! Assuming that you want to be able to look out the windshield . . .  

[bonal]

That looks like the Luscombe that's based at 1o2

[MB65E]

The pic was from the Paris Airshow. I just grabbed it from a link from the Airshow. French registration.

-Matt

[Mooneymite]

The pic was from the Paris Airshow. I just grabbed it from a link from the Airshow. French registration.

Wow!  That's a long flight from 1O2 to Paris in a Luscombe! 

[bonal]

Wow!  That's a long flight from 1O2 to Paris in a Luscombe! 

That's funny. it was early and I did not pick up on the big foxtrot on the wing.

Edited October 7, 2015 by bonal

[Wildhorsesracing]

My painter hasn't had time to paint it so I got some vinyl and took her flying. She was smooth as silk, jumped off of the runway and climbed like I have never seen before.  She was truly a joy to fly.

 

 

[Guest]

10 hours ago, Wildhorsesracing said:

My painter hasn't had time to paint it so I got some vinyl and took her flying. She was smooth as silk, jumped off of the runway and climbed like I have never seen before.  She was truly a joy to fly.

 

 

Jim, 

Have you considered using vinyl graphics instead of paint?

Clarence

[jetdriven]

On September 22, 2015 at 7:05:39 AM, Shadrach said:

It's not the segments, it's the swirl marks. It looks a tad busy because in the areas where it should be mirror finished there are signs of aggressive polishing. It will never look quite right until the swirl marks are gone. All of the hard work appears to have been done. It needs a thorough and consistent final buff.

A drum polisher will take those swirl marks out.   

[Wildhorsesracing]

I bought a cyclo polisher and it did the job nicely of taking the swirls out.  I am looking into a drum polisher to help keep her looking good. 

I was going to use vinyl for the numbers and graphics but have already curled the edges of the temporary numbers with the polisher.  That's why I decided to go with paint.

[Yetti]

I was thinking about doing some updates with vinyl....  rivets and vinyl don't seem to match well

[Wildhorsesracing]

I have flown her twice now and have noticed that I might have picked up some airspeed.  I would normally see 140+ and both flights this past weekend had me closer to 150.

[jetdriven]

Several papers show that a polished metal wing is fastest.  A filled, painted wing is next, and an unfilled painted wing is slowest of all.  Actually a peeling, unfilled, painted wing is the slowest because. That's what I have.  

[Wildhorsesracing]

7 hours ago, jetdriven said:

 Actually a peeling, unfilled, painted wing is the slowest because. That's what I have.  

That's what I started with, you could get paint slivers by running your hands over my wings.  That may be why I saw a decent increase in speed.

[aviatoreb]

7 hours ago, jetdriven said:

Several papers show that a polished metal wing is fastest.  A filled, painted wing is next, and an unfilled painted wing is slowest of all.  Actually a peeling, unfilled, painted wing is the slowest because. That's what I have.  

That's interesting - can you post such a paper?

I would guess that a filled unpainted wing would be fasted - following your smoothing process.

In the name of speed demoness - why are you painting your wing if unpainted is faster?

[jetdriven]

I'll find links.  I like shiny paint 

[amillet]

Is that a smoke generator on your right wingtip?