On Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:06:58 -0700 (PDT), Gene Seibel
wrote:

On Jun 26, 5:22*pm, Charles Talleyrand wrote:
My kid and I just washed the plane. *Even after washing it, there are
still chips of paint missing, a bit of rust, a drip-stain of fuel, and
so on. *The panel looks like it has been modified every once in a
while since 1966. *My plane is relatively nice compared to the other
ones on the field, but it's still in worse cosmetic condition than my
car.

None of these problems is a safety issue, and none of them could be
fixed without spending significant time and/or money.

One of the reasons we own airplanes is pride of ownership.

This makes me sad. *Makes me want to sell and rent.

Our '66 is cosmetically challenged. Sometimes it depresses me for a
moment or two, but the second we start that takeoff run, nothing but
flying is on my mind. My money is going into hours in the air. That's
why I bought it. I notice that most of the people who have commented
about the condition, age, or speed of my airplanes don't even have one
and fly far less than I do or not at all.

an old pilot's aphorism: The air has no eyes!

the bloody stuff also has no respect :-)

Stealth Pilot