The Cessna 120-140 Association Forum

My 1946 140 is in excellent mechanical shape and the fuselage is without any cracks, dents, etc. She flies straight, and the engine doesn't leak a drop. However, her paint job sucks and she is a bit homely. The passenger door and the upper and lower engine cowling were not with this aircraft when it was painted, so she looks like a "beater."

I have the opportunity to get it wrapped by a friend who wraps upscale cars for cost, which makes it VERY attractive financially! I've been looking at various boards and websites and from my research it looks like as long as I am not operating under Part 23, and i am not covering the aircraft with "shrink wrap" (like Oratex) I should be fine, as this is cosmetic work, like replacing your registration number decals. I do NOT plan on applying wrap to the wings, flaps, or ailerons. Only the fuselage and tail surfaces. I do plan on putting the registration number on the wings reminiscent of the early aircraft. I'm planning a completely white wrap, and some vintage striping. I've attached pictures of her and an illustration of what I'm thinking about.

FYI I do plan on tearing her down and doing a complete restoration some day, but not today, LOL. Basically, I want to fly her until she needs new fabric and then bite the bullet.

Has anyone done this, and if so, have you had any issues with annuals, etc. ?

Thanks!

I think she looks nice with the red nose and red numbers.

If she were mine, I'd just go to the paint store and get a match to the blue stripe mixed in a rattle can and paint the stripe across the door.

Lots of wrapping on experimentals....not sure about using it on Cessnas, etc. Maybe John Cooper or another IA will chime in on this.

Above all, keep having fun flying!

Steve H

Not me, I'm more into 60's rock and country.

Ha...........me too!!!

Seriously, I don't know much about wrapping, or rapping either, but I have this mental image of a plane spiraling down out of control with this sheet of thin plastic wrapped around the tail surfaces and streaming out behind.

If it works on an airliner I bet it will work on a 140! I was very seriously considering having my striping done with vinyl. Mine is blue very similar to yours, I want it red and more in the spirit of a 140A scheme... Haven't fully decided if I'm painting or wrapping in the spring...

This stuff simply does not just peel off willy nilly... I may wrap the leading edge of my wing and tips with red vinyl. No different than N numbers on the fuselage, tail or wings...

I'm considering the same, anyone have any idea on cost with wrap vs paint? I have already stripped my 140A and thinking of the same scheme with a red leading edge and wing tips and the small stripes down the side.

8474 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 24, 2020 1:56 pm I'm considering the same, anyone have any idea on cost with wrap vs paint? I have already stripped my 140A and thinking of the same scheme with a red leading edge and wing tips and the small stripes down the side.

I'm not sure on costs, all I know is if its paint, its going to be sweat equity, as I will strip and and repaint the cowl from aluminum on up, as that has a lot of failing white, the fusealage is in good shape, so I plan on simply wet sanding the existing blue striping to eliminate any ridges from where it was painted before and simply set my red ones up slightly (1/8") larger than the existing and reshoot it with the infamous $15 HarborFreight Aviation Purple gun, and then buff it out...

I'm fortunate in that my white is a GM white so I can get paint mixed to it so all matches, and with some wet sanding and buffing any minor differences should be able to be polished away to the naked eye...

My airplane had the original scheme so mostly aluminum with just the 2 stripes down the side, so it was actually pretty easy to strip. I'm going to look into wrapping as from what I can gather on the internet it is both cheaper and faster than paint. Probably not as durable if you have to leave it outside but I have a hangar so will hopefully outlast me.