National Aeronca Association Bulletin Board

Has anyone gotten an estimate from a reputable AP for recovering a Champ/Chief? Minus the final paint, I'm curious as to what people are charging to do this? On Barnstormers there is a fellow in Ohio that claims he will recover a Champ. He says his shop rate is $30. per hour. Sounds pretty reasonable considering the amount of work involved. I'm guessing the materials alone would run 4K or 5K.

John,
I'm sure it's at least in the $12,000 ++ range. I'm guessing materials alone run close to $4000 depending on what process you use. That part is pretty easy as all the major covering companies have a price on a Champ, Chief, J-3, etc. Once you pull the covering it seems to expose a lot of warts that were hidden: cracked bulk heads, rusted tubing, cracked ribs, maybe a spar that's questionable (been there and done that). The prep takes a lot of work.
$30 is a darn good price in this day and age but the time can add up as well as the materials.

MikeB

John,

Believe you are retired? I would personally try to work a deal where you would help with the restoration.

First it saves you money, and second you would be involved in the process, which teaches you about your airplane and if there are any questions you are there to help.

Another thing is that you can do one wing at a time, or the wings this year and fuselage next year. It does not have to be all done at one time.

Joe A

I know most people do not want to hear 2 years, but if you want to do it reasonably priced heres how. Like joe said, do the two wings one year and the fuselage the next. Have your fabric guy cover the main structures. Thats the hardest part. Then you can apply the tapes and build the layers of "dope" up. The time is in the tapes and spraying which you can do. I did my chief in roughly half the money by doing the taping and spraying myself.

I agree wholeheartedly on the above comment to see if you can make a deal to work with the guy. I'm in the process right now of helping a bud completely rebuild a Pacer. As a helper I am learning so much & it's so much easier to work the coverings & tapes with two people as opposed to one.

John, we figure 1000hrs to recover a Champ size airplane up through color. (The color coat makes up about maybe 5% of the time.)

400hrs for the wings
400hrs for the fuselage
200hrs for the tail/gear/misc

That includes; disassembly, primer over wood/metal, MINOR repairs, covering, painting, reassembly. This gives you a nice plane that could win trophies at local fly-ins but probably not Oshkosh. A Gold-Lindy award will cost about 2000hrs. (Crop Duster can be done in about 500hrs.) You can see how the time invested dictates the finished outcome.

If you've got the mind-set and time available, re-covering yourself will be better and more rewarding in every way. If you want a taste of what it's like; take a weekend covering class from Stewarts System, Poly-Fiber, or EAA Sportair Workshop.

nkh

Ummm! When are we going to the covering on a certain Champ in Georgia?? Or maybe you'll be looking for a sedan now.

Mike

MikeB wrote:Ummm! When are we going to the covering on a certain Champ in Georgia?? Or maybe you'll be looking for a sedan now.

Mike

If he keeps fooling around like this with his wife he will need a DC-3! Yes you are right but he needs to finish the Champ FIRST and get it in the air!

A Sedan would be perfect for him, but now with this "new addition" he is even making noises that he is too busy to come to Middletown this year. We need to talk him into coming for at least ONE day!

Joe A

I'll have to skip the Sedan and go straight for the 6 seat C185. With the 4 of us, plus the dog and gear, I'll need something big.

Still plugging away on the champ; even if it's only a very little here and there. Lately it's been one house project after another to get up to speed for the kiddo's.

nkh

A hangar recently collapsed on my airplane. Avemco totaled it and paid me IMMED! The original fellow who rebuilt it said he would charge 20,000.00 to recover and paint it. He said "To do it RIGHT, it will cost 20." (right to him is absolute perfection, leading edges like glass, no runs, 3 colors, perfect edges,etc.)In his younger years he owned a mercedes, cadillac body shop and knows his painting! JP

jc...reminds me of a guy who once said he put one hundred grand in a car rebuild. (a mopar) point being, you can get carried away and never get your money back.

I can relate to the above with my L16 project. The only satisfaction being I'm returning another Aeronca from the 'dead' .

MikeB

Mike I can relate to as I'm sure his workmanship is similar to the fellow who did mine. This guys own airplane is a show stopper. He has won prizes with it. The cockpit he does is also perfect. Its fun to land somewhere and have one or two say " Geez! , I've never seen one that nice." You may see his airplane by going to taylorcraft aircraft photos and scrolling to #6- N95916. picture taken at Mayville Ny, 2009. (He's 80 years old, flys two three times a week, flys on skis, etc. He has restored both Champs and T-Crafts. (95916 was involved in a fatal in the pattern collision, 1977, the fellow in the other airplane was killed. He bought it and indeed brought it back from the dead!) He's done three T-Crafts, all painted EXACTLY the same. JP

JC,
Mostly I was referring to the amount of money I'm spending to bring it back from the dead. I'd never tackle another job like this: too many parts missing, too much work and I'm getting too old. She'll never be a trophy winner but hopefully decent transportation in about a year.

MikeB

I have an idea Mike is being a little modest. I will bet it will be a show stopper! JP