Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By AdamFrisch
#1617238
Update. Been awhile.

Plane is now finally out of the clutches of my less than honest former mechanic. A lot of time was wasted and work not completed. Sad to find this out after so many years thinking he was a honest guy. But now I'm back in the reins and she's flying, albeit with a few things left to do. Panel is finished and working well.

Last month I completed first longer xcountry from Los Angeles to Kansas City.

Outboard LR tanks leaking after sitting too long and drying out at mechanic (bladders), so had to rely on the inbords only, which is 237gal. Gives about 3.5hr endurance, so you kind of want to be on the ground after about 2.5hrs. This necessitated 2 stops between LA and Kansas City – something I could probably have done direct had they not leaked.

1st leg, LA to Gallup, NM: SoCal dicked me around a little getting out of LA, but not too bad and was soon cleared to 17000ft. Some IMC over the Rockies and some trace ice in the clouds. Eventually dropped down to 15000ft to avoid being in them all the time – at 15K I was just skimming the undersides. Pretty bumpy. With my leaky cabin, 17000ft was the limit. I would probably have cleared them at FL210, but the cabin press is not there yet. Landed Gallup at 6500ft fuel elev with a quartering tailwind. It was pretty exciting stuff. Low fuel warning light came on on steep final, got me worried I’d somehow burned more than totalizer said. But it was exactly correct to the gallon when I filled her up. Now I know the low fuel warning light can come on when you have steep descent and fuel gets sloshed around. Learn each plane’s idiosyncrasies as you go along. Self serve Jet A1, good price, around $3.50/gal. Of course I managed to soak myself in jetfuel – never fails. Stank the whole rest of the trip. 2.1hrs

2nd leg, Gallup to Garden City: Took off (the right way, into the wind this time) and picked up IFR clearance with Albuquerque at 10000ft. Cleared direct at 17000ft. Old girl climbed like a bat and got up there pretty quick. Still can’t make more than 2.5psi diff, despite some more sealing of inspection panels. But we’ll get there. Only so many places left to look. ATC offered to steer me around the worst parts of the fronts, but the direct track magically took me between most buildups and I didn’t need much deviation. Eventually it all cleared up and sun set behind me and it was pretty nice leg. By now it was night. Landed visual at Garden City and did quick refuel at FBO. Price a little higher, but not too bad. Another 2.1hrs. Here I toyed with the idea of finding a hotel, staying the night and do the last short leg in morning. But I wasn’t tired, so decided to continue. Quickly filed another IFR flight plan and fired up.

3rd leg, Garden City to Kansas City: Decided to stay at 15000ft, so the cabin stayed well below 10000ft for clarity of mind. Beautiful night – all the stars were visible. By now over the flatlands of Kansas. Humming along. Going into Wheeler Downtown Airport in KC, I tracked the ILS to Rwy 3 and then circled to Rwy 1 for landing. Couldn’t get the GS on my primary instrument, which bummed me out. I know it worked last week – why not now? Checked NOTAMs to see if the GS was out of service, but no. Need to troubleshoot next flight. Tower was still there and dicked me around until I ended up in the laps of Atlantic Aviation, despite asking for transient. But at this point I was pretty tired and it was nice to see someone marshaling you into a parking spot, so decided it was worth it for one night. They were really friendly and even towed it to the transient for me the day after. Fuel was no joke at $6.21/gal, though!

Except for all the cabin pressurization stuff, heating not working well etc, she did good. Great climb and good cruise speeds of about 250kts. About 430lbs of fuel burn/hr (which is about 64gal/hr). New Avidyne IFD 540 is intuitive enough, even managed to load some approaches on first try. Hope to have all the niggly stuff fixed soon – it’s been a lot of wasted time. Just happy she’s back flying regularly and doing well.

Some pics:

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First time in hangar.

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It's a tight fit...

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..really tight fit! If the flaps are up she won't go in.

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Eh...

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But my new AC Air T1.5 tug makes it possible to wheel her in alone. Still have to be super careful, and it takes a long time to line her up straight. But there are no bigger hangars at my airport.

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Ready for her first longer trip in awhile.

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Somewhere over Arizona, I think.

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Sunset as I got closer to Kansas.

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Stayed at 15000ft for the night portion. By now it was all clear skies and she picked up a few more knots of speed. Average was about 250kts.

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Here you can see the panel mounted iPad with ForeFlight. Is very nice to have it out of the way and I'm glad I made room for this in the panel.

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Here she is getting made ready for takeoff from Kansas City a few days later. Next stop Tulsa to get the autopilot fixed.

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Jeanne is an experienced ATPL and instructor who used to fly Commanders when she started out. When she heard I was passing through KC, she came out to say hi! Nice lady.
Flyin'Dutch', nallen, Morten and 2 others liked this
By Bobcro
#1617254
Thanks for the very interesting update Adam, my you have been through the wringer with costs , delays and whatever. Will we owners of singles or twins ever learn not to try and turn a pig's ear into a silk purse? I don't think so for it's in our DNA. So do keep us updated.

Once you have checked the obvious places the final pressurisation leaks will be hard to find unless you have someone knowledgeable with you when you fly at max diff. and they can listen with a suitable stethoscope with the carpet out for the cabin floor is the pressure hull.

After a long day of business or flying and the approach were likely to be testing I liked the cabin to be at not more than 8,000 ft and even at that would go on oxygen for the last hour. The red vision is the first to suffer and if faced with equipment failures you are that bit sharper to spot trends and discrepancies.

I'd recommend that you paint some guidance lines outside and into your lovely hangar. You need to be absolutely certain that the mains are correctly on line before you pushback and I'd Araldite a stop block on the floor so you cannot push the nose wheel back too far.

She looks great and I hope that you continue to enjoy flying her for many years to come.
By kui2324
#1617258
Please you've got her back in the air. I agree with BobCro - we have an AC Tug and put tape down on the floor to act as guidance to know where to put the wheels as we don't have a lot of clearance on the wing tips and also have to turn a corner to get her to fit in the hangar. Works really well!
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By AdamFrisch
#1617370
Bobcro wrote:Thanks for the very interesting update Adam, my you have been through the wringer with costs , delays and whatever. Will we owners of singles or twins ever learn not to try and turn a pig's ear into a silk purse? I don't think so for it's in our DNA. So do keep us updated.

Once you have checked the obvious places the final pressurisation leaks will be hard to find unless you have someone knowledgeable with you when you fly at max diff. and they can listen with a suitable stethoscope with the carpet out for the cabin floor is the pressure hull.

I'd recommend that you paint some guidance lines outside and into your lovely hangar. You need to be absolutely certain that the mains are correctly on line before you pushback and I'd Araldite a stop block on the floor so you cannot push the nose wheel back too far.

She looks great and I hope that you continue to enjoy flying her for many years to come.


Thanks. Inflow and outflow valves are all correct - we know she gets full air coming in. The leaks come from the floor, inspection panels but actually mostly on the outer skin. After 50-60 years the seams leak as the goo wears away and dries. There's a video showing it here:

https://youtu.be/kVSFagXKbmw

I will seal all that myself with PRC (interior is already out). I need to remove the old insulation anyway for the interior shop. I have done half the floor already. It's a mess and ideally I'd make a completely new floor as this one has a lot of screws and gunk on it. But just can't take the time and the cost right now. We'll get there.

Yeah, will need to paint guide lines and alos bolt some guide rails to the floor, me thinks.
Last edited by AdamFrisch on Wed Jun 13, 2018 12:39 am, edited 1 time in total.
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By AdamFrisch
#1617484
flybymike wrote:Adam, about time you bought a nice three piece suit I think...... :wink:


No money left for a suit! :mrgreen:

Just to give you an idea of the **** they did to this floor. Someone back in the days poured bondo all over it, probably in attempt to seal it. On top of this, they used gaffer tape around the inspection panels rather than doing it the correct way, with PRC sealant. It's extremely time consuming to clean up. It does respond to paint stripper, but that stuff is nasty to deal with and to breathe in in a confined space. Not looking forward to finishing it.

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By gfry
#1617707
Best bet is find some youth that's keen to get in to aviation and get them to do it.

Mind you after a session of scraping they won't want anything to do with aviation again. You will be making them rich and doing them a favour :D
Flyin'Dutch', Bobcro liked this