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Back in the sky

Yesterday, I spoke with the shop manager. The annual was finished and he'd signed off on it. There is a part they're waiting on, but it's not required and the plane is good to fly. He also wants me to fly it for at least five hours instead of two, after which they'll check the oil and filter again for metal. They will also send a sample out for oil analysis. I've never had an analysis done, but I've heard enough about what can be learned from one, especially when it comes to aircraft engines like mine, that I'm glad to have it done.

So today I took it up for over 2.5 hours. My goal is to put the 5+ hours or so on it this weekend, so they can take it right back into the shop to check the oil and collect the sample for analysis. Hopefully it will be clear of visible metal. If so, I'm assuming I'll keep flying it and wait for the analysis results. If not, then I'll see what the recommendation is and follow it.

As for today's flight, it ran great and flew great. It's so nice to hop into the plane and know that all those little things that were found during the pre-buy inspection, and those that have cropped up since, are all fixed. I'd like to go into a bit of detail about a couple of these.

  • The red cabin light intended for night use did not require a replacement bulb. It turns out that the wire that connects to the back of the rheostat in the center console had simply come loose. They soldered it back on and it works great.
  • The primer pump now requires virtually no effort. I was surprised at how easy it was to work it now that it's been properly lubricated. I was used to primer pumps requiring some effort, as has been the case in every plane I've ever flown. But now I think that I've never encountered a primer pump that has been freshly lubricated until now.

The elevator trim tab still requires painting; it is currently primer green. They will paint it when they take it back into the shop for the oil test. The part they're waiting on is a bushing for the pilot side yoke. It's a plastic piece that attaches to the panel where the yoke shaft goes through. The passenger side has one, but the pilot side does not. Instead, there's a piece of metal in it's place that looks like it's been there for years, if not decades. So the plane is perfectly flyable the way it is, but it does make some noise with metal moving against metal so we're going to put a new bushing on.

It was wonderful to get back in the air. I could tell that my skills were deteriorating a bit due to disuse, but it all came back pretty quick once I was in the plane again.

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