Loehle Coatings: One Paint For Many Surfaces

Mr. Mike Loehle, owner of Loehle Coatings opened the discussion by stating “I was never happy on anything I ever did, from an easy riser on with professional coatings in paint that was done on fabric especially. So, my passion for my own use became, working with different chemical companies, to come up with my own formulas, not as a chemist, but what worked to make flexible coatings.

Later on, they got into airplanes a 5151 Mustang, and it was actually fabric covered, which was right down their alley for flexible coating, but they also had metal and composite, and Mike Loehle wanted to use the same paint on those instead of using one for fabric and one for metal that most of the covering companies did.  Circa 1988, he came out with the first clear coated airplane at a show, and since then, they’ve been working with the flexible chemical formula, primer, colors, and clears, all of the same chemical family. Interestingly, they don’t have to clean the [paint] gun out to paint primer color and clear. Its all catalyzed, no base coat clear coat, and is flexible as the chemist will give it to them in a can.

When asked how Loehle distinguishes itself from competitors, Mr. Loehle said “there’s a lot of good coatings out there. I don’t use waterborne ‘cause we want our customers to be able to have it go fast, even when there’s snow outside. My last RV, we painted in our production shop, we had snowflakes coming through the roof of the WWII hangar when I painted a lot of the small parts. There are no heated paint booths used with ours [paint] but we’re for amateurs… amateur coating and kit builders. I’ve never had a customer ever complain about our paint.

Further stating “I’ve got lifetime Body Shop guys and aviation paint guys say it's the best paint they ever shot that’s very humbling, but it was my own passion, my own German mix. I can paint in a tent in a rainstorm. I’m a home builder most people don’t have a professional shop, so we painted a three quarter million-dollar Lance Air in a conduit booth made out of plastic over the top of it”. Everything they’ve done was setup for amateurs, but they’ve got pro shops using it [paint] and have never had their own paint booth, even though they’ve done factory kit airplanes. The painting has always been done in pieces, in a dusty wooden prop spray-booth. Mr. Loehle concluded by stating that “it’s wonderful getting back in the game again, after being out of it, for probably five or six years, with Sandy passing, and it’s nice to be back, and I think God wants me in aviation till I’m gone”.

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