Making it custom

The past several sweeps aircraft have traversed the airport circuit boasting their new interiors, engines, and panels and typically don’t get their new livery until the very end. This go-around, however, AOPA decided to make painting the aircraft its first priority.

The paint scheme on the AOPA Sweepstakes Cessna 182 was chosen to emulate the Cessna 182 that appeared on the first AOPA Pilot magazine in 1958. From the colors to the paint lines, we wanted to make sure this aircraft looked as much like its muse as possible, and that includes making sure the turquoise color was a perfect match. With the help of Craig Barnett of Scheme Designers Inc and Sherwin-Williams, we think the aircraft looks phenomenal. Sherwin-Williams provides aircraft paint for everything from small kit airplanes to large business jets and helicopters. From matching a corporate color, a customer’s favorite shade of pink, or in our case the turquoise from the AOPA Pilot cover aircraft, Sherwin-Williams custom color-matching service can make it happen.

“We have what I would call more of a standard color card of 333 colors that we know look great on aircraft,” said Julie Voisin, marketing segment manager at Sherwin-Williams. “Some are historical, some are newer, but they all have reasons that they were selected. But, when you’re dealing with high-end assets, color is a little bit, I would say unlimited.”

To match the Sweeps 182 turquoise, we sent Craig Barnett at Scheme Designers a copy of the 1958 AOPA Pilot magazine. After some trial and error, he concluded the best match to be Pantone 2399C. That number was sent to Sherwin-Williams where they created a few sample color chips for us to choose from. Once chosen, the color was mixed and sent to the paint shop.
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No purchase or contribution necessary to enter or win. Void where prohibited. Ends 11:59 p.m. ET on 6/30/25. For complete details, eligibility requirements, rules, and a full list of contributors, visit aopa.org/sweeps. Sponsor: AOPA