Twin Commander
General Category => Airframe => Twin Commander Turbine => Topic started by: donv on April 24, 2019, 12:51:33 pm
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I got a quote of approximately $44,000 to paint my 980, in a relatively complex scheme (factory scheme was $42,500). Does that seem about ballpark? And, anything special I should ask for, or things I should ask about?
This is a reputable paint shop fairly close to me, so going to Mena to save a few thousand doesn't make much sense, as I would burn up all the savings flying there and back. These guys have painted Commanders (and, in particular, Jetprops) before.
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Sounds about right, but at the upper end. I got quotes between $18K and all the way up to $50K when I checked. If they do a nice job for that then it's worth it if it's close.
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It's Sunquest Air in Everett, WA.
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DonV- we took our 980 our to Oklahoma. Let me get you a name and pricing.
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Were the 980 numbers and little stripes on the winglets painted, or stickers?
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There’s a custom shop in Peoria, IL that does fantastic work. They have been painting Commanders for over 40 years. Satisfaction guaranteed! ;)
Seriously ... I grew up around aircraft paint shops. I have painted planes myself and feel like I could write a book on those experiences. But one thing I have learned for sure is that there is no short cutting the process for quality and a Commander 980 or the like takes 600+ hours of labor to do right. You can get a $25k paint job and it may even shine but there are going to be compromises made. Some irreversible.
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Don, Byerly did my paint job and it looks fantastic. I did 4 colors with a complicated scheme and it cost 50k or there abouts.
I have no regrets, they polished a bunch of things I never thought of, like tail skid, drain post on bottom of engine.
The plane looks awesome. I get compliments every where I go.
Don’t skimp on the paint. It is all in the preparation and they do a great job.
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I can attest that Steve's paint job is first class.
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Are there any tools for paint scheme design out there? I could hire a scheme designer, and maybe that's what I need to do.
Byerly would be a good option, but flying across the country for something I can get 45 minutes away doesn't make much sense to me... I'm sure they would do a great job, but from what I can find out, SunQuest has painted a lot of Commanders, with fine results.
I'm still vacillating between the stock 980 paint scheme and a more custom one. My wife says she prefers the factory scheme, but also says how I paint my airplane (within reason) simply isn't something she cares that much about...
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Don, ours was done at Servicenter in OK.
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Don do you have any photos of the original scheme you might use?
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I saw your airplane at HIO this weekend!
The original scheme looks like this:
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I am leaning against doing that, however. I'm thinking of hiring Scheme Designers, who I think did your airplane, to come up with something with more of a solid blue bottom and white top.
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Working with scheme designers was fun. Try working with them, if you cannot come up with something better than the original paint, then just fall back on that. I bet you will end up with an updated original design.
I was in Hillsboro for my sons first MMA fight in Portland. The Rumble at the Roseland. Scary for a Parent.
The fight went to a decision and my son lost. He did really well for his first fight. I kind of hope he stops but I think he wants to fight again.
He is a senior in mechanical engineering and has his private and multi rating. I told him your head can only take so much abuse. He is 22 and bulletproof, what do I know?
I completely forgot HIO was your home airport until I saw aero air on taxi in.
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Steve- see if you can sway him a little more. Have a friend who was seriously injured in that sport.
Don- great pic, where did that come from?!?
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Barry Collman. Hopefully he's not mad that I posted it here.
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Steve- see if you can sway him a little more. Have a friend who was seriously injured in that sport.
Don- great pic, where did that come from?!?
I am hoping when he leaves Oregon State and the gym he trains at he will give it up.
You never now how one decision affects other decisions. I was happy when he decided to not play D2 football in college, although had he played football he would not have gotten into MMA.
So who knows?
Sorry to hear about your friend, things like that remind us how precious every day is.
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Thanks Steve- yeah never know what the ripple effect will be.
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Well, it's off to the paint shop Monday. We'll see how it goes! I'm hopeful they will send some in-progress pictures.
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Well, it's off to the paint shop Monday. We'll see how it goes! I'm hopeful they will send some in-progress pictures.
Don - make sure you get EXACTLY what you expect out of the layout. Nothing worse than crooked stripes on a new paint job. Stainless Phillips camlocs and all the little details like polishing the hydraulic reservoir door hinge make me smile but I’m a nut job when it comes to paint jobs.
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Thank you for that. Sunquest seems pretty good, and my scheme is pretty simple, but worth paying attention to.
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Are you doing the NOAA colors and pattern?
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Are you doing the NOAA colors and pattern?
No, but something sort of similar. I will have an all-blue tail (I don't have a cool bird logo, unfortunately), and some red accents.
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Make sure you send pics DonV.
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Oh I will. I just dropped her off yesterday at the paint shop, so now I wait... and wait. They said they will send some in-progress pictures.
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Very cool Don. What fun it will be like flying a new plane.
It is great to see people dressing up their commanders.
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Bare metal now! Paint going on next week.
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Show us some pics of the naked bird...
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Okay...
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And here is what it will look like when done...
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Awesome! Great look!
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Nice! I had somehow missed she was in for paint, Don. Where you doing it? And dare I ask what the quote was?
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Will be nice looking paint... and smooth flow
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It's at SunQuest, in Everett, WA.
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Will the US Flag go on the tail still? ;)
Roy
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No more US flag.
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Getting close! If it weren't for Thanksgiving, I would probably pick it up this week, but instead it looks like next week.
Any preflight/test flight suggestions? Since the controls have been off, I intend to do a full and complete control and trim check. Any other specific things I should look at?
These guys have painted lots of Commanders, so that makes me a bit more comfortable.
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Back in the hangar!
The process was surprisingly smooth. I did a very thorough preflight (with a control check from both inside and outside), but no issues. There were a couple of small paint spots that they quickly addressed, and overall I'm very happy with how it turned out. Everything worked on the way home, so all is good!
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One more, back in the hangar!
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Looks amazing, Don!
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Awesome Awesome Awesome!
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Looks nice Don! Neat paint scheme.
I'd get some air in those struts on the mains though before flying it, i am kind of chicken to fly it when they are that low, as i am scared of it getting stuck or jammed up in the wheel wells without the extension would be my luck.
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Left strut is really low. I'm going to pump it up in the next day or so. Right one is not so bad.
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Paint looks very nice Don... And that strut is looking pretty low for sure
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Strut has already been addressed.
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DonV- whats on the winglets? '980'?
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"Twin Commander 980"
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Fantastic!
It looks like a new machine. The solid color on the tail was a great choice.
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Great new shot on flightaware Don-
https://flightaware.com/photos/view/2457-56f2a7f1167d6ff8f1e6b355640394613fcc444e/aircrafttype/AC95/sort/date/page/1
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Beautiful!
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Another new paint job on a 980... love the '980' on the tail!!!
https://www.airliners.net/photo/Untitled/Rockwell-695-Jetprop-980/5719723?qsp=eJwtjbEKwkAQRP9lay1EsEgXsTcEG8vlbogHZ%2B7YXSEh5N9dD7vhzWNmo1Bmw2KPtYI6UrCEFx2osvBbqdtIMCU1YUtl7oN9OLs3jMfb%2BHRPi9h1dRLZ0IeAaoh/fpcI%2BVXQ0CYnvzh5gAwt0/niPCatmdsGjFOmff8CW3cyVg%3D%3D
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Another new paint job on a 980... love the '980' on the tail!!!
https://www.airliners.net/photo/Untitled/Rockwell-695-Jetprop-980/5719723?qsp=eJwtjbEKwkAQRP9lay1EsEgXsTcEG8vlbogHZ%2B7YXSEh5N9dD7vhzWNmo1Bmw2KPtYI6UrCEFx2osvBbqdtIMCU1YUtl7oN9OLs3jMfb%2BHRPi9h1dRLZ0IeAaoh/fpcI%2BVXQ0CYnvzh5gAwt0/niPCatmdsGjFOmff8CW3cyVg%3D%3D
First 980 I ever flew! Glad to see it's doing better than it was when I flew it. I ferried it from Oregon to Texas when Evergreen International owned it. Del bought it as a race team support airplane for his younger son, and I think the flight I did was when they sold it.