"Gus Rasch" wrote in message
om...
Group,

I am considering the purchase of an older glass bird in my local area.
It has sat for quite a while and the finish is not the best.
Specifically, someone shot Imron over the original gelcoat at some
point in the past. (rather than take it down and refinish it
correctly.) The Imron is now lifting/flaking in a few areas. (mostly
the wing tips/upper surfaces)

Obviously one option would be to completely refinish the glider in
gelcoat. I doubt the glider is worth putting 15K worth of gelcoat on
though.

I figure the next option is to sand it down really well, do all the
surface prep, filling and smoothing I could and then shoot more paint
on the old gal. My concerns with this option is just how well I could
expect the paint to hold up or look good over the gel coat.

Third option....sand her down and fly her UGLY. I could put a bag
over my head everytime I pulled her out and waited in the tow line.
Of course this option costs nothing and I think it would be a
perfectly flyable ship with a well sanded gelcoat and showing her age.
Kinda like going to prom with your mother.

Any thoughts, ideas or opinions? (About the glider not prom or
mother.)

Many thanks,

GR

I don't know how bad the finish is on your prospective purchase but the best
advice may be, "ignore the finish and fly it the way it is." The advice I'm
getting is that it won't hurt anything if you keep it dry and protected from
UV. Others may giggle at your ugly glider but you will be enjoying the
performance for a LOT less money.

The gel-coat on my Nimbus 2C is probably worse the glider that you are
looking at but it flies fine. I had the chance to fly in close with another
beautifully finished Nimbus 2 for a couple of hours and any difference was
undetectable. I may still want to re-finish it but improving the
performance alone doesn't seem a good enough reason to do so.

Following up on the re-finish ideas, I'm thinking of stripping the old
gel-coat myself as JJ suggests but let an expert do the rest of the job.
Anyone have thoughts on that? How much money can you save?

Bill Daniels