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Primer and seal coat?

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AOP

In Remembrance 2023
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A question has come up about the primer used on the fuselage tubes and the brush on seal coat on L-4s. We have all seen the 1943 films made by Penn State at Lock Haven "The Construction of Light Aircraft"



It has a graphic demonstration of a guy with a garden hose sloshing the bare metal fuselage with yellow Zinc Chromate primer. I have seen several photos of stripped tail feathers, but the metal parts are covered in white chafe tape, so the color of the primer used is not visible. The brush on seal material used on the cotton fabric is a light green.

There is a fellow on another forum that says he has proof that the Army in 1942 told Piper to use something other than Chromate primer as it was needed elsewhere. He has come across an L-4 that supposedly has original fabric and has red lead primer and clear seal coat on the fabric.

I have contacted Clyde Smith about this issue and he says that's news to him, and wanted to know if anyone in the community has heard of such a thing?

The question is, did Piper continue to use Zinc Chromate primer after 1942, or did they change to red lead? Was the seal coat on post 1942 L-4s green or clear?

Please get back to me if you have any information or if you have seen original tubes and fabric. Thanks

Paul Smith
 

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