Sometime ago, a fellow lancair pilot mentioned a
wonderful experience he had dealing with a company called Planemakers in
Sarasota, Florida. They are best known for building a composite kit
called the "Seawind".
I had finished flight testing my L-IV-P, and was in
desperate need of the finished body work and paint.
I contacted John and Chris, the owners, and made
arrangements to meet with them. I met them in March of this year.
They looked over the plane and then my wife and I visited their shop in
Palmetto, Florida, about 15 minutes from the Sarasota airport.
They had a freshly painted Seawind there and my
wife and I knew immediately that we would be getting top quality body work
& paint job.
Final arrangements were made for scheduling the
body work and paint.
Well I am extremely happy to say that I picked up
my freshly painted plane this past weekend and was in utter
amazement.
My expectations were simply exceeded when I
saw my plane. I did not think it was possible to bring my
plane from where it was, to what it looked like upon delivery.
In addition, these guys are composite
builders. While my plane was there, they installed grab handles for the
pilot & co-pilot, re-wired my headset plugs, and came up with an ingenious
idea to replace the kit supplied Andair fuel selector cover. I had an
even larger "to do" but was anxious to get flying again - no worries, I'm going
back!
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I would
encourage anyone in need of paint, body work, or any other assistance, to see
for themselves the transformation that Chris and John did to my plane.
There web site is www.planemakers.com
. Click on the "What's New" section. You will see all of the
SeaWinds - scroll to the bottom and you will see my plane - N798CB going from
an "ugly duckling to a beautiful swan".
I have not been paid nor have I received any
compensation to say these kind words on the LML. Sometimes you just find
the right professionals who do what they say they will do for the
price they told you. Simple honesty, that's all, and with a shop rate
of $35.00 per hour - these guys are way below any other builder or painter I
have come across.
If anyone has any questions about my side of this
process, feel free to contact me off of the LML.
Craig B.
N-798CB - L-IV-P 100 hours total, 3 in paint,
upholstery next. !!
|