Yoke
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2017
- Messages
- 260
- Reaction score
- 57
Wow...... Is all I can say. The experience will be one I remember for the rest of my life. It has been a life long dream to have a plane to call 'mine'. I've only been an owner 3 days now and it feels awesome.
I took the Southwest bird from BNA to MSP last Tuesday. Stayed the night at MSP then drove a rental the 65 miles down to Owatonna MN where the plane was going through annual, including the address of SB1006. The plan could not have worked out better. I arrived at Langer aviation, and met owner, mechanic and jack of all trades Brent Langer who was finishing up the ELT battery installation. We talked a good bit about the plane as he has been her wrench for the last 4 years under then current owner. We went over her head to toe. With the bulkhead out for the ELT work, I got a good look at the airframe tube and it was sweet as molasses. I paid bills for a period working as a structural sheet metal mechanic for the Navy and have seen my share of airframes and this Cherokee was impressive.
After reviewing the logs and going over the plane, I called the owner and told him I'm ready for a test flight, The owner is a FAA Inspector with a host of ratings so the test flight also served as a checkout to meet my insurance requirements. Winds were 22 knots with a 25/30 degree crosswind component. The flight went well. Funds were dispatched, and by 1600, I was airborne for Bloomington Illinois for the night. Foreflight showed 292 miles with a nice 12kt tailwind, 2 hrs 29 minutes en-route. She took 20.3 gallons from the fine folks at Synergy Aviation then it was off to the hotel. A few celebratory brews at Buffalo Wild wings ended one of the most epic days of my life
Next morning I was off at 0830 for home plate in Dickson TN. 270 miles. 2 1/2 hours later I landed to find the wife and my brother waiting. As I shut her down, out comes the airport rats. An old Piper rep, local mechanic etc, as they were intrigued by the original paint scheme
Some things I noticed and have already discussed with the wrench are
- Tach needle flutter- I set power at 2450 and it would flutter roughly 50 rpm. Not a fast flutter but just a slow steady wiggle for lack of better wording. Mechanic is going to loan me a device to set on my dash so we can compare the readings from it counting prop revs and compare the results to what my tach indicated. He said maybe my tach needs replaced. I also mentioned the engine does not redline. He thought that could be a result from the pitch of the prop.
- Same for amp meter. Just a little flutter
- On day one, wind was on the tail for the most part. Day 2, at 5.5K, wind was roughly 300 at 14 kts, I had to hold in right aileron for hours. Burned a little more fuel from the left tank trying to get some relief. Rolled in some rudder trim and that helped, but skidding along with some right aileron kept me on course. Took on average an extra 12-15 degrees applied to heading to fly my course.
- Static on comm radio. Its like the squelch in on when not transmitting. Its clear when ATC talks, and when I respond. But when not transmitting, just and endless static. Not on all frequencies but on most.
Other than that, so far those are my list of things I noticed
Thanks for a great advice I received from so many of you here. Especially the importance of the SB1006
Attached are some pics
I took the Southwest bird from BNA to MSP last Tuesday. Stayed the night at MSP then drove a rental the 65 miles down to Owatonna MN where the plane was going through annual, including the address of SB1006. The plan could not have worked out better. I arrived at Langer aviation, and met owner, mechanic and jack of all trades Brent Langer who was finishing up the ELT battery installation. We talked a good bit about the plane as he has been her wrench for the last 4 years under then current owner. We went over her head to toe. With the bulkhead out for the ELT work, I got a good look at the airframe tube and it was sweet as molasses. I paid bills for a period working as a structural sheet metal mechanic for the Navy and have seen my share of airframes and this Cherokee was impressive.
After reviewing the logs and going over the plane, I called the owner and told him I'm ready for a test flight, The owner is a FAA Inspector with a host of ratings so the test flight also served as a checkout to meet my insurance requirements. Winds were 22 knots with a 25/30 degree crosswind component. The flight went well. Funds were dispatched, and by 1600, I was airborne for Bloomington Illinois for the night. Foreflight showed 292 miles with a nice 12kt tailwind, 2 hrs 29 minutes en-route. She took 20.3 gallons from the fine folks at Synergy Aviation then it was off to the hotel. A few celebratory brews at Buffalo Wild wings ended one of the most epic days of my life
Next morning I was off at 0830 for home plate in Dickson TN. 270 miles. 2 1/2 hours later I landed to find the wife and my brother waiting. As I shut her down, out comes the airport rats. An old Piper rep, local mechanic etc, as they were intrigued by the original paint scheme
Some things I noticed and have already discussed with the wrench are
- Tach needle flutter- I set power at 2450 and it would flutter roughly 50 rpm. Not a fast flutter but just a slow steady wiggle for lack of better wording. Mechanic is going to loan me a device to set on my dash so we can compare the readings from it counting prop revs and compare the results to what my tach indicated. He said maybe my tach needs replaced. I also mentioned the engine does not redline. He thought that could be a result from the pitch of the prop.
- Same for amp meter. Just a little flutter
- On day one, wind was on the tail for the most part. Day 2, at 5.5K, wind was roughly 300 at 14 kts, I had to hold in right aileron for hours. Burned a little more fuel from the left tank trying to get some relief. Rolled in some rudder trim and that helped, but skidding along with some right aileron kept me on course. Took on average an extra 12-15 degrees applied to heading to fly my course.
- Static on comm radio. Its like the squelch in on when not transmitting. Its clear when ATC talks, and when I respond. But when not transmitting, just and endless static. Not on all frequencies but on most.
Other than that, so far those are my list of things I noticed
Thanks for a great advice I received from so many of you here. Especially the importance of the SB1006
Attached are some pics
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