Light Sport & Antique Aircraft Detailing.

Light sport aircraft and vintage tailwheels are a special category — they live on grass strips, get flown for pure joy on Saturday mornings, and accumulate the kind of patina that only comes from low-and-slow flying. A 1946 Piper J-3 Cub has fabric-covered wings that need fabric-safe chemistry. A 1950s Cessna 170 has aluminum sides and a butyrate dope finish on some panels. A modern Carbon Cub EX-3 has polyurethane paint on aluminum, more like a modern Cessna 172. We treat each one according to its construction — and we respect the fact that the owner often built or restored the airplane themselves. The cabin is small, the panel is simple (or built with a Garmin G3X Touch retrofit), and the airplane is light enough that we can reposition by hand if needed.

Fabric-covered aircraft (Piper J-3 Cub, Aeronca Champ, Citabria, fabric-covered Cessna 140s, Stinson 108) require Stits/Polyfiber-approved cleaning chemistry only. Water-based detergents can swell fabric. Solvents attack dope finishes. We work fabric panels gently and never wet-wash. Tailwheel aircraft have a different weight distribution — we secure the tail before climbing on anything. Grass-strip dust and bug residue accumulate from low-altitude flying. The cockpit is typically Naugahyde, period vinyl, or cloth — not the high-end leather of modern singles. We treat every detail as a chance to make a 70-year-old airplane look as good as the day it left the factory.

Texas reality check. Texas has a strong light-sport and antique community — pilots flying J-3 Cubs out of grass strips in Boerne, Fredericksburg, and across the Hill Country. Carbon Cubs and Bearhawks for backcountry trips to ranches and remote strips. Cessna 140 and 170 owners at Stinson, Hondo, and small private fields. Spring through fall is flying season; winter is when many vintage planes get detailed and refurbished. Antique fly-ins at Fredericksburg (T82) and Llano are regular events.