By Timothy P. Wood, EAA 188045
My passion, with encouragement from family, fellow EAA members, and friends, allowed me to attend EAA AirVenture for several decades plus a few years. Each event presents significant opportunities to learn from and share knowledge with fellow members. 2021 will be very special, seeing friends again!
My Taylorcraft BC-12D was not “show” quality, but I did wax and shine it as time allowed prior to each event in which it was able to participate. Butyrate doped Ceconite can be polished to a significant shine, but a full metal aircraft can be “blinding.”
My photos of but a small portion of the highly-polished examples presented at Oshkosh are included here.
Please understand that if your metal aircraft has Alclad skins, the protective coating is very thin (.0015” in many cases, per Alcoa’s web site) and some research is necessary before polish.
Luscombe, Ercoupe, and many others that have been polished through the Alclad. The only remedy is replacement of said skin. EAA has a plethora of resources to assist members through the process.
Pursue your dreams, but do your homework lest the degradation of your project could result in wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Also note that photographing convex or concave polished skins could be like the carnival mirrors that make you look significantly more or less “girthy” than you actually might be!
