Is it best to wait for some of the test hours to be flown off before painting or paint before first flight... I am getting lots of opinions from different builders... I am building a 701. The kit is so straight forward that it seems like an easy answer. Please share thoughts and experience...

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Hi Thomas, I to am building a 701. I plan to paint before first flight, reason being once I start flying I am not going to want to stop.

Pat
I painted my 701 when all the major components were completed. I'm glad I do not have to disassemble the plane to paint it now or have to find a big enough enclosed area to paint the total assembly. However, there were some features that could not be riveted until final assembly and it left me some unpainted rivets and hardware on the exterior. If I were building a show plane then I would wait until total assembly. Alot of my outside hardware is not painted the color of the plane but I did seal them with a clear coating and I made it consistent so it looks natural. I have never had anyone (even other builders) comment negatively on it. It's was all in the availability of space and time for me. A friend of mine built an RV-4 and he said it was a pain to have to stop flying to paint his plane. He disassemble it to paint it.

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