My latest PITA project... Beechcraft T-34 touch up paint

[Tim Hancock]

I do a handful of annual inspections a year for some local guys essentially just to fufill the currency requirements to keep my FAA IA rating (so that I can continue to legally work on my own airplane). One of the airplanes is a Beechcraft T-34 military trainer that was "restored" in the 80's and is owned by two local guys who have fun attending/participating in fly-ins/airshows with it. They have been pestering me for the last couple years to do some minor paint work on it. This year they finally conned me into doing it. The airplane won't fit in my paint booth and I refuse to paint in my main hangar room for obvious reasons.

The front and rear turtle deck flat/satin antiglare paint was pretty weathered and the front landing gear had flaking/chipped paint (both of which had been previously touched up with rattle cans ).

Man what a pain in the arse! I spent at least 6 hours just masking the damn thing off for a ten minute turtle deck paint session outside Saturday morning when there was no wind or bugs.

Now I have the front gear partially disassembled and stripped. It will be no fun trying to mask everything off to epoxy prime/paint in place, but the owners did not want me to do a full out disassembly of the gear to do it right. Why do I let myself get talked into these crappy jobs?

[sc_rufctr]

Looks like a lot of work. Well done.

What type of paint would have been on the plane when it left the factory?

[widgeon13]

Tim, I wish I had friends like you. I still haven't painted the wing on the Maule.

Nice job on masking, too nice a plane not to do correctly.

[Seahawk]

Love the T-34. I flew the C model in flight school, the "Turbo-Weenie" and have about a 50 hours in the B model since our local flight club had one and a good friend of mine was qual'ed in it.

Great little ride...I would love to have one.

Nice work, Tim.

[romad]

Tim
How did you get a IA as a part time mechanic?

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

What type of paint would have been on the plane when it left the factory?

I am not sure what the original paint type was. This airplane was stripped bare and painted with Imron 20+ years ago. It has held up well except for stone/tow bar chipping on the nose gear and weathering of the flat black turtle decks which is to be expected.

That said, a previous mechanic or someone had already touched these trouble spots up previously and he basically did no prep work and used a rattle can. Makes it tougher to fix. I feel bad spending so much time to fix what to the owners, seems so trivial.... Oh well, they will be happy with the end result even if the bill gives them heartburn.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by romad

Tim
How did you get a IA as a part time mechanic?

The IA part was relatively easy.....
I was able to keep busy enough with my home based part time repair business for three years after obtaining my AP to qualify to take the IA test (I went to the Baker school/test center in Nashville where I got a rare 100% on my IA test ). 4 annual inspections per year and a fixed base of operations (my home grass strip/shop) keeps me current per the regs.

The AP ticket was more difficult to get. I am a mechanical engineer by day, but working under the supervision of a local IA, I was able to document the 30 months of experience required to obtain an AP w/out attending any kind of adult school for A&Ps. I was able to use both time I assisted with repairs on certified aircraft as well as time spent building experimentals. My time sheet spanned about ten years. I got high 90's on my AP written tests and I suprised the local FAA guy by breezing through the oral/practical (he was sure I would have problems compared to the kids he teaches in A&P school... he was dead wrong and told me so afterwards )

[romad]

You are a rare bird my friend. Your in northern Ohio right? Who was your examiner for the A&P

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

they will be happy with the end result even if the bill gives them heartburn.

This is the only way to make it right from your side, unfortunately.


( That strut looks like a perfect candidate for sandblasting and powder coating, too bad the owners can't see it that way)

[Dantilla]

I'm currently prepping to do some touch-up on my Bonanza's wings. I wanted to complete the work last Summer, until I broke my hand. I've had bare aluminum and green primer bugging me since then. It's finally warming up enough to start squirting paint.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

This is the only way to make it right from your side, unfortunately.


( That strut looks like a perfect candidate for sandblasting and powder coating, too bad the owners can't see it that way)

I used paint stripper on these gear parts after degreasing the bejesus out of them and got them down to bare metal. I then etched and alodined them. Tonight I will mask () then spray them with epoxy primer. Tomorrow I will paint them with Imron. Thursday I will re-assemble. Friday the customer will hopefully fly it home... then I will stay up half the night prepping for a party my wife and I are throwing on the following day.

It is not rocket science, but prepping/painting airplanes while they are still assembled is not my idea of a fun way to spend my "spare" time.

I know, I know... life could be worse, but a guy needs to vent sometimes.

[romad]

I love that airplane.
Painting airplanes is no fun......did my share disassmebly, and assmebly in my Kal-Aero days.

[cashflyer]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

( That strut looks like a perfect candidate for sandblasting and powder coating, too bad the owners can't see it that way)

Is powder coating approved in the Beech SRM ?

[azasadny]

Tim,
You do great work and this plane will look fantastic when you're done!!

[Tim Hancock]

Partially disassembled and paint stripped last night.





Masked and epoxy primed tonight (sprayed in my shop ). Pulling the masking paper will be scary after paint tomorrow.... I really hope I got it masked good enough as masking the open gear doors, linkages and upper pivot assembly was sketchy at best.

[crustychief]

It looks like it is a lot closer to flying than mine

[smokintr6]

Tim,
This is probably a stupid question; if you repaint the entire aircraft do you have to update the weight and balance?

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by smokintr6

Tim,
This is probably a stupid question; if you repaint the entire aircraft do you have to update the weight and balance?

To be honest, I don't know. It would have minimal effect, but it could indeed slightly alter the numbers. I would have to research the regs to know for sure.

[RZG77]

I think I remember a weight and balance being done on my plane after it we painted it.

[944Larry]

Nice looking work Tim. Great old plane too! One of the great (probably only) things about getting old is all my friends got rid of their planes. They will nickel and dime you to death wanting you to work on their planes or "sign it off for me if I do the work". Some people are competent to do the work themselves, some are not.