BOSS Aircraft Refinishers

BOSS Aircraft Refinishers completed the paint job on my B 55 Baron on April 10th. I must say that I was anxious as I drove to Salisbury to view the final product. Words cannot express the satisfaction that I experienced with Bill and his staff. They are second to none in delivering a superior product. Attention to detail is apparent in all aspects of the process. They performed sheet metal work where needed, replaced elevator control surfaces due to excessive corrosion, inspected all hinges, connectors, etc. It flies, feels and looks as if I now have a new aircraft. Absolutely a beautifully performed job, truly a professional team is every way. Anyone looking to have their plane painted CORRECTLY, call Bill Lucey at BOSS Aircraft Refinishers. –George Parker

As a business owner, one of the better compliments anyone ever gave me was “You did exactly what you said you would do.” Let me echo that same sentiment to Bill Lucey and his team at BOSS Aircraft Refinishers. I use my airplane constantly in my work, and I had real concerns about getting the project completed on time. When I dropped N2659R off at KRUQ, Bill’s team started prepping it for stripping before he and I had even completed the paperwork. Bill kept me informed throughout the entire process, sending photos as the work progressed, communicating continuously as questions came up. The project was on-time and the price was fair with no surprises. Quality of workmanship and attention to detail were first class, and the end result is absolutely beautiful. —Richard Embry, Troutman, NC

Just picked up my airplane after being in the paint shop. My wife and I could not have been happier the day we arrived back at KRUQ near Charlotte, NC and saw our airplane transformed from bare aluminum and grey primered fiberglass into a work of art. We were thrilled and almost speechless. We knew we had made the right choice when we left it and this was the confirmation. The paint scheme and paint were perfect! My fiberglass mistakes and imperfections were corrected. All the hardware was replaced with stainless steel and all the exposed aluminum pieces were polished! Knowing I am a builder, Bill Lucey, owner of BOSS Aircraft Refinishers, knew how particular I would be about reassembling my airplane. He had his team assist me in getting it back together. I even learned a few tricks from the professionals! They made sure I was happy and had everything I needed to get it ready for the flight home back to KPHF. From start to finish they made me comfortable and ensured I was the “boss” and was getting exactly what I wanted. My dream of building and flying my airplane reached its pinnacle thanks to the team at BOSS Aircraft Refinishers. –Kent Stitt, Newport News, VA

Wow!  I have been repeating that word over and over since picking up the airplane!  I flew in a 50 year-old truck of an airplane and picked up a brand new, showroom quality gem of a sports car!  My 1962 Cessna 180 looked every bit of its age when I dropped her off — dents, scratches, a lot of surface corrosion, bumps, and bruises.  When I picked her up, my jaw dropped to the ground!  What a beauty!  Not only did you fix the dents, scratches and corrosion to “good as new,” you added a lot of detail to the plane to improve its look — the new silcone seals around the windows, polishing the pitot tubes and static ports.  Just amazing!  The only way I could truly identify that it was my airplane was by opening the doors and smelling the ’62 seats!

Your team’s attention to detail is what truly topped off this experience.  I didn’t want to get my expectations up considering the condition of the plane I was dropping off just 6 weeks ago.  Your reputation had been first class when I hunted you down and reserved a date for the job.  You truly exceeded my expectations, though.  By keeping me posted every step of the way, it seemed as though mine was the only plane you were working on.  As I continue to look closer and closer at the airplane, I’m extremely thankful for the great job you did!

Since flying the airplane back home, the plane continues to receive a lot of attention.  Before the paint job, I don’t remember getting noticed much — now that’s all changed!  You may want to warn your future customers to expect the extra attention! Wow! Thanks again for a great experience and a great paint job! –Mark Hession, Lakeland, TN

I picked up my Cessna Aerobat from BOSS Aircraft Refinishers in November after a complete refinish. In addition to the paint, BOSS also replaced the glass, seals and welting on the door windows, and repaired some previously undiscovered damage to the right wing skin.

I could not be happier with the results. A month later I still get tickled looking at my “new” airplane. The colors came out just the way I wanted: a very bright, vivid red and pure, brilliant white. I chose to duplicate the original checkerboard paint scheme (it’s an Aerobat). That means no computer-generated graphics. It all had to be hand-masked. It’s a lot harder than it sounds – all the checks have to line up and the corners have to meet precisely. BOSS did a perfect job. Even on the tail, where the pattern tapers, everything is absolutely perfect.

The paint job is completely blemish-free. I inspected it very critically when I picked it up, both in the hangar and outside on a sunny day. I looked right along the skin everywhere. Nothing required correcting. The “N” numbers all lined up (I’ve seen jobs where if you sighted down the fuselage one or more numbers were high or low). The fiberglass in the nose bowl was in bad shape and the pilot’s door was bowed at the lower rear corner. BOSS fixed both as good as new.

What really impressed me were all the little things that BOSS did. They put non-skid on all of the steps where before it had only been on the strut foot rests. All of the nuts and bolts and other hardware on the control hinges were replaced. The windows all have new silicone sealing. They even polished all the bare aluminum: prop, pitot tube, and static port!

One of the best things about the experience is how the owner, Bill Lucey, does business. Simply put, he operates in a business-like manner. I got one quote from another firm that was $XX,000. No substantiation, no description of the operations, paint used, etc. – just a price to the nearest $1,000. Bill furnished a detailed breakdown in his quote. I knew just what I was getting and how much it was going to cost. After he started work, Bill kept me fully informed with email pictures of the progress. As unexpected items arose (e.g., a new ELT antenna, the aforementioned wing damage), Bill provided an estimate of hours and a quote for the material and got my approval before proceeding. At the end, he delivered on-schedule and on-budget. There were no surprises, which is refreshing in general aviation.

On the way home I stopped in Lynchburg, VA, to refuel. The lineman said that mine was the best looking 150’s he had ever seen. That made me feel good!

I cannot recommend BOSS Aircraft Refinishers highly enough. –Mel Etheridge

In September 2010 I joined the “those who have” club and bellied in my 1978 V35 Bonanza. Purchased in 2001, I had over 1,600 hours and 1,000 landings in her without an incident. Now we needed some fixing up for sure. After the structural repairs were done it was time to look for a paint shop.

Several months earlier I had been thinking about paint due to the tired look of the original tan and brown paint. I had shopped around and most places were just too far away or way too expensive. Being in North Carolina I wanted to stay in the Carolinas or Virginia. I had talked to Bill Lucey about a paint job during my search but now I had to paint because of the accident. Another call to Bill and I decided to visit his shop to see his work.  We looked at several paint jobs he’d completed and some in various stages of completion. I was impressed with Bill’s knowledge and the attention to detail. I also needed to replace the original interior (burnt orange plaid) so we decided to do it all at once. Bill said his interior guy Charlie could do a good job and we looked at his interior work as well. I was very interested in having one shop do the paint and interior to save down time. I was sold on the paint and interiors I saw and scheduled the remake of my pride and joy.

Bill and Charlie were very helpful in picking out schemes and colors for the paint and interior. Job was finished in about 6 weeks and the final product was everything we’d hoped for. Most paint and interior jobs look great at 20 feet but this one looks better the closer you get. I’d say as close to factory new condition as a 1978 plane can get. Everyone that sees her asks “who did the paint and interior” usually followed by a thumbs up. After several months I still can’t find a flaw and we are very pleased with BOSS Aircraft Refinishers’ work. I can’t think of any reason why I wouldn’t recommend Bill and his staff at BOSS for aircraft paint and interior. –Jeff Peedin

I wanted to take a few moments to relay my deepest appreciation for a fine job done on my plane, 231EB, a 1979 Turbo Mooney. With the OEM, 1979, paint still in place clearly it was time to repaint this marvelous machine.

Having never engaged a company to repaint my plane, this was a new experience for me. I knew there was nothing catastrophically wrong with the plane that the paint may be hiding but I could not be 100% sure there was nothing wrong … Indeed, nothing catastrophic but several little to medium things surfaced. This is the impressive part. Not only did you do a great job with laying up the design from Scheme Designers, but you outdid yourself with ID’ing and fixing all the things that surfaced when you “stripped her down.” In the end, I walked with a beautiful plane and one that was much tighter than when I arrived. These unforeseen fixes and improvements sat well with me because there is not a day that goes by where I am not obsessing over the plane and to know the bird is better off regarding items I would never have seen is truly peace of mind. So, thank you for you and your team going the extra mile.
Finally, I REALLY appreciated the time and detail you put into my plane. The “status” pictures and emails you sent diminished the 500 miles between your shop and where I live. It was great to see the progress.

I really appreciated you sourcing all the material you did and at best price and you even sent me off with extra paint and decals in the mail, post departure; which could have easily slipped through the cracks.

There was a lot to do and you truly needed the time to do a great job. Finally, the plane performed perfectly when flown home – all systems were go. And to most, the important part … (drum roll) … on budget! Given what was done, the value was tremendous and certainly appreciated by yours truly.

Great job, Bill, and know I am getting a lot of “ramp compliments!” –Rob Baldwin

From the beginning of my project to build a GlaStar seven years ago, I researched paint schemes and painters. The advice I received ran the gamut from doing it myself, auto paint shops to high end, high priced corporates. As I finished the build phase I still had not decided on a paint shop. That was until I saw the work of art done on Sportsman N899TR by BOSS Aircraft Refinishers. Wow! I signed a contract, sent a small deposit and entered into a relationship with BOSS that has been a total delight.

I gave BOSS Aircraft Refinishers owner Bill Lucey an estimate of when I could deliver the plane for painting. After several delays on my part I finally called with a delivery date request. Bill immediately honored the request and fit me in. I asked if they could finish in a month…they were done in two weeks even though they had five other planes in various stages of repair and paint. The results were stunning. They replaced dozens of aluminum screws with stainless steel and fitted nylon washers to protect the paint. They replaced cadmium quarter turns with stainless. They hand sanded, buffed and polished my aluminum door handles until they looked like silver. I sent an initial scheme to Bill and as it progressed he emailed photos of the taped mockup to me and his painters Mike and James (craftsmen and artists are better terms for these two) put together a flawless piece of work. When I flew home my hangar mates literally gave the plane a standing ovation. How sweet it is.

If you want to test the true character of a company, hang around for a few days and see how the team interacts and how they react to a customer who is looking over their shoulder. I flew commercial back to North Carolina to help reassemble the plane after painting. Bill offered to pick me up at Charlotte (an hour away). He assigned his IA, Tom, to help me reassemble my GlaStar. Tom is another man in the company who goes well beyond the call of duty. I planned to fly in, spend the night, reassemble the plane the next day and leave. The weather moved in and I spent five days on the ground. So, in this time Tom changed the oil and filter as well as doing all the really tough reassembly work…I let him bleed on the tough-to-reach safety wire jobs. Mike and James came over and repaired the scratches I made in reassembly. I used the airport courtesy car in the day and at the end of the day, Bill took me to local restaurants and then dropped me off and picked me up at my hotel to save me a rental car expense. What a great week! I arrived at Rowan County Airport with a scratched up aluminum and bondo fiberglass plane. I left with a sleek masterpiece and made four new friends whom I deeply admire for the pride they take in their work and their kindness and courtesy to me.

Thanks again guys! –John Eastabrooks

Bill and Team,

I just want to take the time to thank you and your team for the superb workmanship done on my airplane. It is absolutely beautiful. I appreciate all the pictures taken and sent to me throughout the process. It is an honor doing business with you. If anyone ever needs to talk to me about BOSS Aircraft Refinishers, please feel free to provide them with my email and/or phone number. –Jim Sexton

From initial contact via the website, to design, execution and completion, I have been SO impressed with Bill and BOSS Aircraft Refinishers. He and his staff were helpful, knowledgeable, complete, and executed the job masterfully. I brought him my tired airplane and at delivery, felt like he presented me with a brand new one! In my opinion, Bill made an extra effort to keep me informed of the progress of the refinishing project on my Piper Arrow, sending me almost daily updates of the work, with descriptions and photos. My expectations were very high, and were entirely fulfilled. I give my highest recommendation to Bill and BOSS Aircraft Refinishers. –Chris Frederick