Control Line: Aerobatics
Wynn Paul
Camouflage (How to cover up your mistakes)
Suppose it's June 1 and you haven't even begun a new airplane for the summer. You have last year's 12-pointer hanging on the wall: the wing is straight, you have a good engine, you know how to fly this plane — but it'll be lucky to get 10 points at the Nationals. Your friends keep saying, "Build something new, you can't fly that old wreck again!" Well, maybe you can.
You could repaint the entire plane. This requires liberal use of alcohol and K2R Spot Lifter to remove fuel contamination and make the surface ready for paint. You'll probably need to sand most of the old finish off and make spot repairs in areas such as fillets around the cowling, dings in the wings, around the canopy, and perhaps the wingtips. To give the impression of a new plane, change the overall color (remember: reds and blues are difficult to spray over). You may also have to switch to epoxy-type paints to get good adhesion to the old surfaces.
Minor surgery and cosmetic changes
If you don't want to repaint the whole airplane, or if you want to combine repainting with some minor surgery, consider these alterations to give the look of a new plane:
- Cut off and replace the fin/rudder, wingtips, or cowling with different shapes.
- Hack off the old canopy and add a bigger one, or add a "fake" simulated canopy to hide sloppy cockpit work.
- Add a second canopy for a dramatic change.
- Build up eye-catching wheel pants (if it will still make weight) or redesign wheel spats.
- Use small, tasteful modifications (fillets, trim changes) to freshen the appearance.
A lighthearted example: when a wing fillet was cracking at the fuselage joint, David Gierke used press-on letters to spell out "stress crack" with an arrow.
Canopies
If you add a new butyrate (clear plastic) canopy, consider spraying the inside a medium dark blue or green. This cuts down visibility so judges won't see a messy cockpit interior.
Trim, lettering and outlining
- Outlining trim stripes with black Rapidograph ink not only covers up fuzzy lines but looks sharp.
- If you use press-on letters, distribute them evenly over the plane. Don't put them all on the top — when the judges turn the plane over, a big difference between top and bottom could count against you.
Adhesive coverings and emergency fixes
Plastic adhesive coverings (MonoKote, etc.) are great for emergency cover-ups. They can patch rips and tears as well as bad fillets. A well-known World Champion has used a MonoKote patch over his adjustable tip-weight box for years. The patch may not look perfect, but it looks better than a damaged area.
Cowling repair (step-by-step)
If you're reconstructing or rebuilding a cowling:
- Use about four applications of K2R Spot Lifter (or equivalent) to remove as much fuel soaking as possible.
- Cut out completely fuel-soaked sections and rebuild with scrap balsa patches.
- For large holes, you can use fiberglass resin and micro-balloons, but for most repairs balsa patches are sufficient for the average person.
- If you must use filler, apply a thin layer of hobby filler rather than thick globs; this lets you finish-sand to shape without removing too much wood.
- After getting the cowling shaped, apply several brushed-on coats of Aero Gloss clear dope. For rebuilt, fuel-soaked cowlings, this is the best way to get paint to adhere to repaired places; it's often necessary even when using epoxy-type paints.
- After the Aero Gloss coats, you can switch to other dopes or epoxy-type paints for the finish.
Time estimate and final thoughts
You can probably achieve a complete repainting of a stunt plane in about two weeks of concentrated work. You may even come up an ounce or two lighter after the repaint — it has been done. At minimum, an overhaul will freshen up the plane and, with a few cosmetic changes, might even fool your flying friends.
For information on Stunt or on PAMPA, contact: Wynn Paul 1640 Maywick Dr. Lexington, KY 40504
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
