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Date: Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:37:59 -0400
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From: "Janie & Ed Smith" <2luv2fly@cox.net>
Subject: Finishing Costs
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Bryan Wullner,

I saw the post by Jeff Edwards that your $9400.00 cost of finishing sounded 
high.  Well, I disagree - sounds too cheap!  If you are paying a qualified 
individual who knows the difference between a "low and high" spot, you have 
only bought about 6 weeks of work and I can assure you that to get one of 
these Lancair fuselages and wings smooth, it will take much more work than 
that!

Maybe the 360 is easier to finish than the IV-P, but I can honestly tell you 
that we have spent over 700 hours sanding, filling, priming and painting our 
IV-P!  That equates to over $20,000 and we still aren't finished.

I know that there are shops that can do that work much faster and maybe 
cheaper, but this bodywork, like all of my other lessons learned while 
building this airplane, didn't come cheap!  This type of work is best left 
to the professionals.  I wish I had sent mine to someone like Brad Simmons 
and just said "fix it" and write the check!  Probably would have been 
cheaper!

There are so many "hidden costs" when doing this type of work.  When you 
check the prices of sandpaper, fairing boards, DA sander, masking paper, 
masking tape, "blue line" striping tape, clean-up thinner, etc, you then 
begin to get a feel for the cost of a quality job.  The paper we used for 
our fairing boards costs over $3.00 per sheet and I couldn't guess how many 
sheets we used!  Tape is anywhere from $4 - $7.00 a roll (depending on 
width).  Paper - well, I tell you - it "ain't" newspaper!  How about the 
costs of filters, so you will have clean air in the paint booth?  See what I 
mean?  The list is endless.

Brad, I know you monitor this list, so let's hear from the experts.  What is 
a "ballpark" estimate to take a IV-P from rough kit form and make it into a 
thing of beauty?  There are so many variables with this type of work, but is 
it $10K or $30K or even $50K??

I know this all sounds like sour grapes and it is - - - because I am in the 
midst of this part of our project and I tell you - - I don't get much 
satisfaction from all the do's and re-do's.  Painting has many more things 
that can go wrong rather than right - I promise you that!  If your body work 
guy does good work, give him a "big hug"!  If he does what he says he is 
going to do when he says he is going to do it, then you have a rare gem in 
the bodywork business.  Most of those guys (or gals) aren't very dependable 
and always have an excuse.  So, if you have a dependable guy, give him 
another "big hug"!

You have to remember - no one will ever see all your hard work of building. 
All they will ever see is the instrument panel, paint job and interior!  If 
the paint looks good, then in their minds "that is a nice airplane".

I don't know if you have ever seen Jeff's airplane or not, but I will bet 
you that he didn't pay $10K for his bodywork and paint!  Right Jeff??  It 
was beautiful when it had just been finished and it still looks good after 
all these years of flying and I suspect it was because it was a quality job 
to begin with and quality materials were used.  It does make a difference.

Would I do it again??  MAYBE!  I have gotten what I wanted - the way I 
wanted it and when I wanted it (mostly).  But, I will tell you this - I will 
be glad when it is over with and I get to fly my creation!  Amen.

Regards,

Ed Smith
Chesapeake, VA
N9JE Building (IV-P)