Thursday, May 20, 2010

Paint and Interior

We are finally approaching completion. The interior is finished and will be installed after the painting is complete. Following the completion of the interior, the panels were removed to prevent any possible damage during the paint stripping process.

The instrument panel is complete and the new interior panels have been installed. Note the map pocket on the lower pilot's side, as well as the carpeted center console.

Custom painted door frame with the interior panel attached.

Rear side panels - pilot side.

Pilot and co-pilot seats. Note the new adjustable hardware. This really helps my partner in the airplane who is over 6' tall - this will be the first B35 he is able to comfortably fly!

And a nice pocket on the back of the front seats.

High-back seats for the rear passengers. All seats are fully supported with "Comfor-Foam".


Following the interior work, the aircraft went to SunQuest Air Specialties for the custom paint job. The aircraft was completely stripped, treated for corrosion protection and all minor imperfections were repaired. The photos below show the progress of this process.










During the stripping process, next to no corrosion was found and the skin is in excellent shape. Some minor defects from previous hail damage were repaired. The ruddervators were the original magnesium and we were delighted to find that they were essentially free of any corrosion. Unusual in a 60-year-old airplane!

All control surfaces were removed and will be separately treated to prevent corrosion, re-balanced and reinstalled.

Target completion date is June 14th!