On a cold and snowy morning, my friend and I unloaded the Sling TSi into hangar at KCFO, bringing this build into the next chapter! The paint looks phenomenal! If anyone is interested in the colors, it’s Sherwin Williams metallic colors. - Phantom Gray - Nobel Red - Las Vegas Gold - Black Radiance I was able to get out to Hayes Aviation in Akron, CO to check in on the paint progress. They are finishing up the detail work and about to throw some paint on! They already did the vertical stabilizer and WOW.. I'm digging the base color - Sherwin Williams Metallic Phantom Gray. They'll be adding Metallic Nobel Red to the bottom of the fuselage with a Black accent stripe with some Las Vegas Gold accents. Can't wait to see the final product! If things go smoothly, then I might be able to pick it up late next week and take it to my hangar at KCFO. I'm ready to get back to work! While I was hoping to get my plane back before the end of the year, it has been taking longer than expected to paint.
Several things got in the way.. rivet hole filling, unexpected leave from paint shop folks, and the holidays.. I’ll just chock it up to 2020 luck. 🤷♂️ Either way, I’m hearing some good status updates from Hayes Aviation. Turns out they primed it twice for a better finish and helps identify any initial problem areas. I’m hoping I can head out there the first week of January and they’ll have one side taped up with the lines. Once I approve, they will spray the colors and it should be ready to load up shortly after that! The day finally arrived! I was able to get all the exterior components ready for paint - except the windshield. The Sika primer never arrived on time, so the paint shop will just have to seal that up really good. My son, Ethan, had a blast sitting in the 'big truck' and honking the horn. Glad he did, because he got the neighbor's attention. It was just me out there and I was going to try to figure out how to get the plane in with a winch and pulley system of some sort... Not exactly a one man job. Luckily, I have curious and helpful neighbors that came out and offered assistance! My winch actually ended up breaking at the handle, so another neighbor went and got his. By the end of the event, I ended up with 5-6 people out there. ;-) Finally was able to get the fuselage in and secure it with straps using the side wall slats. The next morning I loaded the wings using the wooden stands I built and secured them against the wall. It's nice to have an empty garage - just in time for snow season. Don't have to clear off the car anymore! When I arrived at Hayes Aviation in Akron, CO, a few hours outside of Denver, he had a full team of people ready to unload the truck. It was bittersweet leaving the plane there, but I'm looking forward to the final result! |
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