Our Story

Ryan Smith, founder and president of RCS Aircraft Refinishers and RCS Yacht Refinishers, is the 4th generation in his family to work in the yachting industry.

Coming from such a long line of workers in the industry, Ryan is especially proud of the fact that RCS has consistently been named one of the top Refinishing and Refurbishing facilities in the nation.

Ryan began learning his trade at the age of 13, where he first learned to wash and wax cars. Boats were soon added to the mix, as were buffing wheels, rubbing compounds, and various products to perfect his craft. 

After becoming proficient with those tools, Ryans passion for aviation grew as he maintained and upgraded his own aircraft. He felt these aircrafts should have the same high level of fit and finish as the boats he refinishes. Ryan’s dreams were to restore these vintage aircrafts to better than new standards.

He learned the procedures to properly strip and paint aircrafts, remove, refit and install high end aircraft leather interiors, remove and install engines, heaters, and perform the maintenance to keep our aircraft in the best health. Then he developed a resurfacing and fairing process using very specialized fillers, fairing compounds, primers, world-class paints, varnishes, and topcoat finishes to create absolute perfection! 

Ryan and his team put the same amount of hard work into every one of their customers’ projects as they did learning their trade.

RCS Yacht Refinishers’ state-of-the-art facility has been providing premium yacht and aircraft refinishing, refurbishing and scheme design services since 1993.

Serving airplane owners, Lake St. Clair and adjoining waterways, we strive for perfection when it comes to your plane or boat. We have the capability to accommodate King Air’s, light jets and yachts up to 50’.

From design and custom completion services to partial and full refurbishments, we will work with you to explore all options for improvements and upgrades to your aircraft and yacht.