On Saturday, November 14, 2015 at 10:43:25 AM UTC-8, Robert M wrote:
On Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 7:15:39 PM UTC-7, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
Any idea how much weight the urethane paint option adds to an 18 meter glider?

Not removing all the gelcoat will likely result, over time, in the cracks coming back through the urethane paint.

Removing all the gelcoat and then priming and spraying urethane paint should not result in a weight gain. Especially on older glider where there are some areas of very thick gelcoat.

It is all in how the work is done.

Robert Mudd
Composite Aircraft Repair
Moriarty, New Mexico.

I believe the OP was asking about getting a new glider with the optional polyurethane in which case the factory sprays the paint over the gelcoat and not about a refinish.