On Jan 26, 1:05*pm, km wrote:
Dear Group,
I was talking to a paint guy who paints airplanes. He is going to
paint my glider in PU or AU (After I do all the prep work of course).
He ask if I would like to use a clear coat. Someone else with an
aviation background ask if a clear coat would work better than a
single stage. I know that 2 stage paint jobs are common on power
planes but I have never heard of this on a glass sailplane. One could
probably clear the wings fuse and horizontal but I think the control
surfaces would be too heavy (On the AS products I understand it is
difficult to keep them within limits).
My question is has anyone ever used a two stage paint job on a modern
composite sailplane? Or seen it done? Thanks

Sprayed paint may have a nice shine, but it isn't as smooth as is
needed for the performance most are looking for. In a good glider
repair shop, AU will be shot on until "orange peal" is showing
everywhere (about 4 medium to heavy coats), then after curing, the
last coat will be sanded off using 600 wet followed by 800 wet, then
buffed out to make it shine and perform as we want. An auto paint shop
will shoot on 2 medium coats and they don't want to touch the paint
after that. When told what we want,think we are nuts!
JJ