AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2011 - 100

base coats would be applied, with
breaks in between to allow each coat to
dry; ultimately this is about a three-hour
process.
After waiting two hours for the base
coat to dry, it was time for Paul Howes of
Moody Aerographics in Ocala, Florida,
to take center stage. Moody is one of the
oldest decal and paint-mask manufacturers
dedicated to the aviation industry.
Howes helped the paint shop staff install
the masks that will allow the Crossover
Classic’s four-color paint scheme to
take on the specifications set out by
Craig Barnett of Scheme Designers—
AOPA’s longtime source of paint scheme
concepts.
The 182 has a white primary color,
plus burgundy, blue, and gold accent
colors. Masking and taping for each color
took two hours, and painting each color
took about 15 minutes, with a two-hour
waiting interval for each color to dry. Add
up the application and drying times and
you come up with an optimal paint completion
time of 20 hours. Then came two
final clearcoat applications, which each
took another half hour to spray on, and
12 hours to dry. The clearcoat is important
because it protects the paint from
the damage caused by ultraviolet rays,
dirt, and contamination by fuel, hydraulic
fluid, and other chemical agents.
In all, from start to finish the job took
33 hours, spread over three days. That’s
fast. Of course, completion times can
vary. The more colors, the more complicated
the design, and the more humid
the conditions, the longer the drying and
completion time. Using other paint processes,
the same job would have taken a
week or more. Other time savings come
from the use of masks to delineate the
stripes and N-numbers. It took two hours
to mask off the sweepstakes airplane;
marking the different color borders by
hand would have taken two days. Some
old-school paint shops may look down on
masks, but advocates claim that masking
provides more accurate paint details that
better conform to a designer’s intentions.
The 182 has a white
primary color, plus
burgundy, blue, and
gold accent colors.
Painting the Crossover Classic was a
congenial affair. Sherwin-Williams was
anxious to show off its new product,
a large group of the curious were on
hand, Boss Aircraft Refinishers learned
more about masking, pizza was served,
and yours truly learned that painting an
airplane properly is a science. “The temperature
and humidity have to be right in
order to get the best result,” Voisin said.
In case you’re curious, the temperature
in the Boss paint booth was 74 degrees
Fahrenheit, the relative humidity was
71.8 percent, and the airplane’s skin
temperature was 71 degrees. Almost ideal
conditions.
All that’s left is to let the airplane dry a
bit, then fly it back to AOPA’s home base
at the Frederick, Maryland, Municipal
Airport. Some final tweaks will be made,
then it’s off to the Experimental Aircraft
Association’s AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin,
where our/your newly renamed
Skylane (it’s official: the Crossover Classic
is now N182CX) will once more go on
display. No tornados, please.
Email the author at tom.horne@aopa.
org.
AOPA PILOT • 100 • JUNE 2011
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - June 2011

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