As promised, I added paper and masking tape to finish preparing the right wing for spraying.
Then I sprayed the first of our Aerothane. I learned several things, some of which I’ll include here. First, I set up the fresh air box inside the hangar, near the HVLP turbine. This was acceptable, but it makes much better sense to put it outside and upwind. Next, the paint both that I built really isn’t big enough to comfortably paint the wings. It’s 10 feet wide, and the top arches are made with two 10-foot pieces. If I were to do it again, I would have made it wider, taller, and longer. Each bay should be 4 feet long, but I used 1/3 of 10 feet, since I was trying to minimize waste in the 10 foot lengths. Here are a few more lessons from later sessions that I’ll include here for easier organization and reference. First, standing or sitting on the fresh air hose will greatly diminish the flow of fresh air, and as such, is a bad idea. Also, the hose can become kinked if it gets twisted around very much. On the topic of diminished flow of fresh air, I also found out by experience that leaving the air compressor switch on is a bad idea. Since the paint booth uses two lights, a big fan, the HVLP turbine, and the fresh air box, our limited electrical circuit can’t handle much more. When I forgot to turn off the compressor, all was well until it leaked down enough to turn on. The lights dimmed, the fans slowed, and a few seconds later the breaker tripped and it all shut off. This is problematic in the middle of a paint job! Finally, it’s a good idea to keep plenty of extra clean gloves and rags in the booth, since the gun cleaning process usually consumes one or two.