After Priming
The day after priming Mama’s Chief, we walked into the restoration shop with fresh eyes. Overall, the fuselage looked good. A few places needed touch up where the coverage was light or where the paint gun could not reach between tubes. The other restorer pointed out several areas that needed a bit more work, much like the small findings we discovered the day before priming in Priming Day Prep.
We are working on a 1946 Aeronca 11AC, Chief. It is the airplane my mother brought home in pieces before she and my father were together. Mama rounded up family and friends in order to rebuild it to airworthy condition once before selling it. Decades later, we found it again and are bringing it back to flight.
Some spots would need a small brush. Others would need a tiny can of spraypaint mixed to match. Uncle Paul had also fixed the weld the other restorer discovered earlier. The craftsman looked over the whole structure again to identify any places still needing protection.
The restorer mixed another batch of primer, and we used a spraypaint bottle to reach areas the first round did not quite cover. The round tubes on these old structures can hide thin coverage until everything dries. Walking around with lights and a fresh set of eyes helps. A second set of eyes helps even more.
Once every area had adequate protection, it was time to think ahead to the topcoat that will show inside the cabin once the airplane is assembled. The interior choices are not final, though we have a few guideposts.
Our first interior purchase was the instrument panel. The base panel is metal painted to resemble wood using the woodgrain process pioneered by NCR for metal cash registers. Matching paint to that finish is an art form. The box of paint chips in front of us felt like a kid’s dream in a candy store. After dozens of tries, one chip finally jumped out as a match to the glove box. Success. A sample was made and the full batch will follow once confirmed.
Taking a breath, I felt a little jolt of excitement. This part I understood. Everything leading up to it is progress too, including the work back on A Coat of Primer and a Lot of Love for Mama’s Chief , but this step felt more tangible and familiar than the deeper technical stages of the project.
Paint
Back at the shop, the restorers had just finished using the same type of paint on the other project in the booth, a Gee Bee. Same paint, different colors. The mix was three parts to one, then ten percent reducer. Like with the primer, the restorer mixed the first batch while I mixed the second as he began spraying.
The restorer told me the paint goes on thin and you can continue adding coats after about twenty minutes. After he thought he had everything covered, he brought in lights and filled in a few more spots using that technique.
When he finished, I asked what he had learned after all his years painting airplanes. He paused and said he had been painting for thirty five years and he is still learning. Every new paint and every new gun teaches you something.
Uncle Paul and the other restorer looked over everything while he was cleaning out the gun and said it looked good. Thank goodness.
A Moment to Breathe
The time between sandblasting and painting was a whirlwind. With Mama’s Chief and the other projects in the shop, life had been full throttle for longer than we preferred. Winter weather was forecast and we had been existing rather than living. If you missed that part of the story, the rush began back during our sprint to deliver the fuselage for sandblasting in Sandblasting and Shifting Plans.
At the airport, with a rare moment to breathe, the restorer checked the time. It was 4:30 in the afternoon. I asked about sunset. He answered, 5:25. That was enough time to get up for a moment.
Aloft, autumn stretched out below us. A little color still clung to the trees. Thin trails of smoke rose from leaf piles in yards. On past Veterans Day weekends, I ran my first marathon and said goodbye to my dad on another perfect VFR day. The roads below are no longer unknown to me. They are markers on favorite country routes showing the last hints of this season’s splendor.
We touched down again at 5:25. Sunset. A small pocket of living reclaimed.
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