"Controls, free and clear"

Doug and I received the plane back from John Stahr, our painter, over two weeks ago.  However, work and life got in the way, and we have only managed about four half work days since then.  We did get the wings on, the close tolerance bolts in, and the controls surfaces connected and rigged.  We also got a rare treat today:  SUN.  But by the time I finished what work I could get done today, though, the sun was pretty low on the horizon, casting shadows which obscure the photographic points I wanted to make.

The story behind our paint scheme is this: Doug wanted a silver plane, and Doug's Mom wanted a very visible plane.  In Oregon, grey or silver wouldn't be one's top choice for visibility.  (We get our share of cloudy days, after all).  John Stahr's solution was to paint the belly, the underside of the wings, the cowl, and the wheel pants and fairings a dark grey, and transition to a very glittery silver on top.  This gives us the best of all worlds: visibility and the silver look Doug wanted.  It also matches the Hartzell prop, though this was, in all honesty, a happy coincidence.  The silver stripes were another of John's ideas.  They make the plane look like it's flying even when it is standing still, and reshape the visuals of the wings to be less "Hershey bar" and more tapered looking.  I happen to think it looks stunning.  The photos don't fully show the glitter in the silver paint.

Canopy open. View from right front quarter

Moving shadow out of photo!

With canopy closed

Detail of wing stripes

Oh, and one more thing.  I really like how the canopy latch fairing idea turned out. Remember we had to hide a small crack in the canopy. While we were at it, we decided to eliminate the gap that occurs as the canopy latch protrudes back. As my junior high shop teacher said, "if you can't hide it, flaunt it". The screw is a temporary one. The final will be silver colored stainless steel.