Garaggio On Location: Warner Robbins, GA

I had so much fun doing the composite finishing on the Garaggio Ez…. sand, fill, sand, fill, sand, repeat… that I was kinda missing it. So much so in fact, I decided I needed to find some more sanding and filling to do. So I’m helping with this process on a buddy’s airplane. Oh, and if you believe that, I have quite the deal on ocean front property. Let me know if you are interested.

My buddy Mike is at the stage on his Ez that I was about a year ago. All his airframe components are complete and it is time to finish the exterior. He has come to my help many times in the way of answering questions, information, and photos on his website. I have used his photos many times to help me figure out ways to do tasks. His Ez is a pristine example of the breed and his detail and workmanship are excellent.

He was laid up for surgery earlier this year, so his build understandably slowed down. During his recovery, we were chatting on Facebook and talking about what he had to do to get ready for finishing. I told him I would come help him get going on filling and sanding at the end of the year, hoping to light a fire under him. He got all the prep sanding and remaining tasks done in the last few months. So I figure it is time to give him a bit more of a nudge and keep the momentum going to get the finishing done. So I flew down to Atlanta this morning to make good on my offer.

Mike put in five hours in his shop this morning before driving a few hours round trip to Atlanta to pick me up. Then we spent from 7:30 pm until 1:30 am prepping, mixing, and filling.

I’ll save you the dissertation on the technical details of what we did today as it is covered in the posts from finishing the Garaggio Ez. Mike is following my same process so far.

It got to be a long day, especially for Mike. But he was pretty excited for the progress. About every other bucket of filler, he would look at his airplane turning white and say, “that’s so fricken cool.” I said it when I was finishing my airplane; the visual transformation the airplane makes during these steps is tremendously satisfying to me. I could tell it was for Mike too. I can’t wait to see what it looks like sanded out!