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Golden Hawk Paint Scheme 99.9% Done

Kevin Horton

Well Known Member
My RV-8 has been in the paint shop for way too many weeks, getting painted in its RCAF Golden Hawks paint scheme. I finally got a call from Korrey yesterday evening to tell me that it was 99.9% finished. He has some work to do on the wheel pants, as he wasn't happy with the way the body work turned out. But everything else is done, and it just needs some time to cure in the heated paint shop before I can pick it up.

I happened to have a proficiency flight scheduled in the C182 this morning, and for some crazy reason Transport Canada can no longer purchase AvGas in Ottawa. So, if you are flying our C182 you need to be careful to not bring it home too low on fuel. Smiths Falls has the cheapest AvGas in the area, so I stopped there today at the end of my flight to gas up. Smiths Falls also happens to be where the paint shop is, so I walked over there afterwards to see the aircraft.

It is absolutely gorgeous. I am very happy with the way it turned out. I'll pick it up late tomorrow afternoon and start reassembling it on Saturday. I'll post some more pictures after I get it all back together.





 
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Wow, that looks fantastic!!

Are you gonna let Bud Granley do a snap roll on take off with it?:D
 
Kevin - I've been wondering how long it would take for somebody to do an RV in the Golden Hawks scheme. Looks terrific. Now if only you could get some formation pictures with Hawk One - that would be sweet icing on the cake!
 
Now if only you could get some formation pictures with Hawk One - that would be sweet icing on the cake!
One of the Vintages Wings pilots actually brought that idea up a few weeks ago - he thought it would be neat to get a picture of the two aircraft over Parliament Hill. I have no idea yet whether anything will come of it.
 
Looks great Kevin
It will be interesting to get some real numbers as to how much a paint job adds to the empty weight and moves the C of G aft.
Mike
 
Kevin,

The 8 really looks great...just beautiful. I'd not heard of the Golden Hawks before, and had not seen the flag on the tail, so I just did a little Googling around. Saw some really pretty F-86s in GH colors, and read a little history of the team...pretty neat (first military team to do a 2 opposing solo show along with the large formation...cool). Still not sure on the flag, though I think I have it narrowed to either an earlier Canadian National Ensign, an RCAF Ensign, or (my first guess is) a Provincial Flag of Ontario. I'm very interested, out of respect for the history...of the unit, the plane and your country. Hope you get to do that photo-op over Parliment!!

Cheers,
Bob
 
Woooooweeee!

Holy smokes, Kevin! I wanna see the flight suit you'll have to wear when flying it! :D
 
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Looks great Kevin! I mentioned it to Fern when I saw him down in Tillsonburg last week...I'm hoping to bring a Harvard from CHAA to the open house at Vintage in September...are you planning on attending?
 
That looks excellent, Kevin!

You've got your registration painted under the wings, right? 'cause those letters down the tail look awfully small... :)
 
Beautiful Kevin - I know that you've had this vision in mind for quite a few years, and to see it executed so well is going to be very rewarding.

This will always be a very well known - and noteworthy - RV-8!

Paul
 
Regarding the registration marks, both Kevin and I obtained an Exemption from Transport Canada, legally allowing us to have just the small registration marks on the fuselage under the HS (no under-wing markings).
My plane is currently in the same paint shop, and my scheme is the "Golden Centennaries" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Centennaires), which has a close historical connection to the Golden Hawks. Kevin and I are located at the same airport (CYSH), so I'm quite excited about having our planes with these complimentary schemes.
 
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Great job!

Kevin,

I know Jim McCombe, Golden hawk team lead for a couple of years and Al Young, who flew #4 right wing position . They've both been to my house a few times as I did some artwork for them. I'm sure they would be pleased and honored with your paint scheme choice.

I'll see if I kind find their email addresses and forward the pictures to them.
 
Hey Bob

It is the Canadian National Ensign. We changed to our new flag in 1965. You are right, though, it looks a lot like the Ontario flag.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Canada

Thanks Mark...that's a neat piece of history!

Regarding the registration marks, both Kevin and I obtained an Exemption from Transport Canada, legally allowing us to have just the small registration marks on the fuselage under the HS (no under-wing markings).
My plane is currently in the same paint shop, and my scheme is the "Golden Centennaries" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Centennaires), which has a close historical connection to the Golden Hawks. Kevin and I are located at the same airport (CYSH), so I'm quite excited about having our planes with these complimentary schemes.

Phil, that's going to look great too...you guys are going to wow them for sure!!

Beautiful Kevin - I know that you've had this vision in mind for quite a few years, and to see it executed so well is going to be very rewarding.

This will always be a very well known - and noteworthy - RV-8!

Paul

Concur...most excellent!! :D
 
You've got your registration painted under the wings, right? 'cause those letters down the tail look awfully small... :)
I've got an official exemption from TC that allows the small registration marks, without requiring marks under the wing. Putting marks under the wing was my fall back plan in case they didn't give me the exemption.
 
another 'me too'

Looks amazing Kevin.

I've always had a Red Knight colour scheme in the back of my mind for my -8, although that's a year or five down the road. Bit of a combined homage to Canadian aviation history, and to my father who flew T-birds in the 1950's. Plus its red; really really red.
 
Looks great Kevin! I mentioned it to Fern when I saw him down in Tillsonburg last week...I'm hoping to bring a Harvard from CHAA to the open house at Vintage in September...are you planning on attending?
Don,

I wasn't aware of the Open House. I can't find much info on the Vintage Wings site. Is this what is listed as an "air show" on September 18th?
 
KEVIN'S RV-8

:cool:Kevin & Phil


Now if only you could get some formation pictures with Hawk One - that would be sweet icing on the cake! ''
---------------------------------------

If you two guys managed to get that picture above The Canadian Parliament in your respective colors in formation with Hawk One, it will make the Front Page of quite a few Aviation Magazines starting with EAA Sports Aviation.
I gotta fly down to Smiths Fall now Kevin to have a look at it...

Congrats

Bruno Dionne
RV-4 C-GDBH
 
Kevin, looks great! Now, hurry up and get that thing back in the air. I DO hope you'll be flying it to Oshkosh this summer ... bound to draw a crowd.
 
Hey Kev,

Last year I believe it was the open house and now it's turned into the airshow? I plan on being there in any event..hope to see the mini GH there too! Maybe get a shot in form with ya!
 
Kevin, looks great! Now, hurry up and get that thing back in the air. I DO hope you'll be flying it to Oshkosh this summer ... bound to draw a crowd.
I've booked vacation time, and certainly plan to be at OSH, assuming life doesn't intervene in some way. See you there.
 
Regarding the registration marks, both Kevin and I obtained an Exemption from Transport Canada, legally allowing us to have just the small registration marks on the fuselage under the HS (no under-wing markings).
Sweet. When I started building I was thinking of a Snowbird paint scheme, and wondered about the registration issue. I'll keep in mind that an exemption may be possible if Ido end up going that route at some point.
 
That is ...

That is so jaw drop striking and beautiful you are going to have to put a fence around it every where you go! I have never seen anything close to as attention getting as your airplane. WOW!

Bob Axsom
 
Another photo

I got the plane back in the hangar late yesterday, and started reassembly today. Here is a shot with canopy and spinner back on. It looks much better than it did in the paint shop on Thursday, if that is possible.

 
When I started building I was thinking of a Snowbird paint scheme, and wondered about the registration issue

A local chap actually has an RV-8 in a Snowbirds scheme which he painted himself - and it looks great. A closeup of the markings on the side of his plane appears on the Wikipedia article about Vans aircraft:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van%27s_Aircraft
(scroll about half-way down, look on the right side).
This was the first RV I ever had a ride in.

Regarding the exemption - I followed in Kevin's footsteps for this. We appealed to CAR 202.05 (1), which reads:

"Where an aircraft is a former military aircraft or a replica of a military aircraft, the Minister shall, on receipt of an application in accordance with the Aircraft Marking and Registration Standards, authorise an alternative size, location or colour for the display of its marks."

Neither Kevin's nor my aircraft fit the literal words of CAR 202.05, but they were happy to be a bit flexible in the interpretation. By Kevin's suggestion, in my application I made a note about wanting to commemorate the 100th year of powered flight in Canada (last year), which may have helped. When you apply for the exemption, be sure to use the term "replica military" to describe your paint scheme... as Kevin suggested to me, this provides hooks into CAR 202.5.

The exemption, which must be carried in my aircraft, allows for 3 inch reg marks on the tail under the HS. The exemption also describes the entire paint scheme, including all markings, in detail.

When I get my airplane back from paint (hopefully June), if it looks anywhere close to as amazing as Kevin's, I'll be tempted to forget about flying it and just put a red velvet rope around it, turn my hangar into a museum, and charge people to admire it!
 
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Beautiful

Kevin.....congrats on getting through all the trials and tribulations! The aircraft looks wonderful. You have to plan a trip to Brenton to take Sonny for a ride! If that ride could include Stanley in the fall he would be as proud as punch!

It will certainly be a hit at Osh. as well.

Joe Hine
C-FYTQ
 
Kevin.....congrats on getting through all the trials and tribulations! The aircraft looks wonderful. You have to plan a trip to Brenton to take Sonny for a ride! If that ride could include Stanley in the fall he would be as proud as punch!

It will certainly be a hit at Osh. as well.

Joe Hine
C-FYTQ
Hi Joe,

I definitely plan to get back to Yarmouth to take Dad for a ride. I don't know yet if I'll land at Brenton or not - I'll need to take a close look at the field first. My wheel pants sit a bit low for rough grass strips.

I'd like to make it to Stanley, if my work schedule permits. At the moment late summer and fall are looking to be very busy, but I'm hoping the natural schedule slippages will push all these projects later and free up early September.
 
Hi Joe,

I definitely plan to get back to Yarmouth to take Dad for a ride. I don't know yet if I'll land at Brenton or not - I'll need to take a close look at the field first. My wheel pants sit a bit low for rough grass strips.

I'd like to make it to Stanley, if my work schedule permits. At the moment late summer and fall are looking to be very busy, but I'm hoping the natural schedule slippages will push all these projects later and free up early September.

I'd be a little careful of Brenton as well....as we know there has already been one RV on its back there!! Steve's strip was fine the last time I was there, three RV4's landed no problem.

Joe
 
When you get a chance to get down to give your Dad a ride why don't you both drop in and visite here at CLE4. Hopefully by then the RV-10 will be airborne. My grass strip is 2000' by 200' wide and smooth. I plan on making it longer still, in time. It's only been an ongoing project for 15 years now.
Ron
 
Ready to Fly

The reassembly phase took longer than I hoped, but I finally got all the bits back on this evening. Fred, an amateur photographer happened by as I was installing the wheel pants, and asked if he could take some pictures.





There are still a couple of final items to be added to the paint scheme. The missing blue "RCAF" and "Golden Hawks" text above and below the hawk's head will be added next week, I hope.

It was way too windy for the first flight after paint today - the wind was gusting to over 20 kt at 90 degrees to the runway. I'm sure I'll eventually be flying in those conditions, but I've only worked up to about 15 kt of crosswind so far, and it has been over two months since I last flew the aircraft. My schedule is pretty packed tomorrow, but hopefully everything will come together to fly to fly on Friday.
 
Karma ...?

You know, Kevin, there's something very appropriate that two old-timers like us should end up flying to Oshkosh for the first time the same year. We've seen a LOT of fellow builders finish and fly long before us over the years, haven't we?

Looking forward to seeing you there, bud. :D
 
Kevin,
If Van doesn't ask you to park your gorgeous plane in front of his tent at OSH, he's missing a "golden" opportunity.

To paraphrase Billy Crystal, "It looks Mahvelous!"
 
nice looking bird

The reassembly phase took longer than I hoped, but I finally got all the bits back on this evening. Fred, an amateur photographer happened by as I was installing the wheel pants, and asked if he could take some pictures

Nice looking paint job Kevin..... Will look awesome with the Canadian Saber.....good luck in the first flight..!
 
Hey Kevin, I've been researching the colour schemes used by the Golden Hawks, Centennaires and the 100th anniversary CF-18.

The DND gave me the runaround by throwing paper at me which lead to a dead end, however, I have a local expert provide me some colours.

Can you confirm the colours are:

Insignia Red
Insignia Blue
Insignia White
Cheffield Luxor Pale Gold

Thanks in advance.

Vern
 
Hey Vern,

I don't know if you know this, but Jim Belliveau is the man responsible for all of the paints jobs for the CF-18 Hornet demo , Hawk1, and the Golden Centennaire.

His profile at "Air show buzz" can be found here. http://www.asb.tv/profiles/?id=13375

Drop him a line, he may be able to assist you much faster.

Cheers


Don
 
Hey Kevin, I've been researching the colour schemes used by the Golden Hawks, Centennaires and the 100th anniversary CF-18.

The DND gave me the runaround by throwing paper at me which lead to a dead end, however, I have a local expert provide me some colours.

Can you confirm the colours are:

Insignia Red
Insignia Blue
Insignia White
Cheffield Luxor Pale Gold
Vern,

I'm on the road for another week, so don't have access to my files. If you are in a rush, contact the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. Ask for the Library and Archives. They have a file on the Golden Hawks that includes copies of the official RCAF drawings that defined the paint scheme. Those drawings have the Dupont paint colours.

Or, contact Korrey at Kolorfast, who painted my aircraft, and is painting Phil Kaye's RV-9A in Golden Centennaire colours. Or, remind me in a week when I am back home again.

The original gold wasn't a defined paint colour. It was Sheffield Gold powder mixed into clear lacquer. I spoke with a model aircraft maker who painted a model Golden Hawks Sabre, and used the same technique for the gold. He said it was a disaster, as you could see every stroke of the air brush. My aircraft used a Dupont metallic gold, chosen by eyeballing the paint chips against all the photos we had of the Golden Hawks. I have no idea how authentic it really is, but I'm happy with it.
 
Sounds like you may be able to form up a RV Golden Hawk demonstration team pretty soon.

Actually a few years back I was contacted by John Swallow, who saw my website and was interested in my project for two reasons:

1) he is (was) building an RV-7 (he lives in BC somewhere), and
2) he was a pilot with the Golden Centennaires team back in 1967.

It was pretty cool to hear from him.

Regarding the gold, Kevin is right, and I'm not even sure the colour was consistent between the golden hawks and the centennaires which came later. A few years back the aviation museum in Borden restored a Tutor to the Golden Centennaires scheme. I managed to get in touch with them, and the CO asked a technician to go out and read the paint code which was placarded on the bottom of the aircraft. For the restoration they used an automotive paint, but the gold (in my opinion, and the opinion of Flt Lt (ret) Geoff Bennett who designed the original centennaires paint scheme) the result was too coppery - looks more like copper than gold. So I took Kevin's approach and just eyeballed some paint chips. I ended up selecting a different gold colour than Kevin... mine is P6208 Green Gold Metallic. It's a bit deeper in colour than Kevin's, and I thought it might suit my scheme a bit better which has a very dark blue on the bottom half of the aircraft. I may end up regretting this, but I think it will look good regardless of the particular shade of gold that is chosen.
I was out at my hangar on Sat (for the first time in a couple of months) and saw some of my finished (painted) gold control surfaces there... the finish is like glass! I hope to get the rest of the aircraft late this week.
 
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