Skip to main content

She's almost done!

I went out to the airport again yesterday to check on the progress and take some more pictures. When I arrived, the engine was already mounted and the mechanic was getting close to finishing the job of hooking everything up. I chatted with him and also with Preston. I'll summarize the current status.

The annual is complete. There were a couple of things that need to be fixed, but overall it wasn't bad at all. The most expensive thing is the nose wheel that I described in my previous post. The tire and tube also need replacing, and they already have them ready to go for when the replacement wheel arrives. The main gear tires were replaced a couple years ago, shortly before I bought the plane, so now it's the nose tire's turn.

There's a bracket that holds one of the pilot-side brake master cylinders that needs to be replaced. It's a very simple thing that they can fabricate on the spot. If I understood correctly, there's a reinforcement plate behind the firewall where one of the engine mount bolts goes that needs to be replace, also something they can fabricate easily. Other than that, it's all good.

The bolts holding the engine to the mount are the old ones which they're using for now to hold in place, but they will be replaced with new ones. I think he said the same for the bolts holding the mount to the firewall.

There are no guarantees, of course, but it's possible it will be done sometime this week. If not, it'll probably be done the following week. Regardless, I think I'll take week after next off from work and, hopefully, I'll be able to get some good break-in time in. Assuming the weather cooperates, of course.

Seeing that engine mounted on my plane, I felt that it was finally real, that I was within sight of the end of this long and frustrating wait. Fingers crossed everything will work out over the next two weeks.

Here are some pictures:

First, here's the nose wheel. Though it's not quite in focus, you can see where the crack is; it's on the side of the hole where one of the bolts that holds the two halves together screws in.

Here are some photos of the engine from various angles. The mechanic is visible in a couple of them.








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My engine is so pretty

I went out to the shop today to take a few pictures of my engine and plane before the engine is remounted. The baffling and some other stuff has already been attached to the engine. The engine mount is not back yet. Since the nose gear is attached to the engine mount, the plane is currently sitting on the main gear, and a couple of supports just behind the firewall, and under the tail. Here are a few of the photos I took. The engine looks lovely, to me at any rate, especially since I know those are new cylinders.
2 comments
Read more

She flies again!

It's been a long and sometimes difficult road to get to this point but today I flew Ariel for the first time since last March. It is difficult to describe the emotions I felt after I stopped in front of the hangar and shut her down after the flight. I about broke down crying. I've waited for this for so long, and had to deal with so many frustrating setbacks that it sometimes felt like I'd never fly her again. Following the instructions from Preston, I flew her for half an hour at 3000' feet over the airport in case something went wrong. I ran the engine at 75% power (maybe a bit more, but that's okay) for as much of the flight as I could. The engine started right up, and I thought it sounded better than it had before. It seemed smoother, somehow. When I took off, I had one notch of flaps in, and she flew off the runway on her own without me having to pull back on the yoke. It was as if she was eager to get back into the sky. The flight was completely uneventful, as...
1 comment
Read more

The family that flies together...

The weather wasn't great today, but it was nice enough to go for a local flight, and my wife went with me for the first time since 2004, shortly after I got my private pilot license. It was a bit windy, but there was little crosswind so we had no problem taking off from Harvey's relatively short runway. As we climbed, it became rather bumpy, with the wind changing direction several times. It was a bit better when we got to 3000' MSL, but still not very smooth. I kept the flight short. I headed southeast for a ways, then turned north, then came around the north side of the airport to the west, and finally headed back in to land on runway 15. Despite it being a bit windy and gusty, I made a landing that I'm very proud of, touching down smoothly and slowing in plenty of time to exit at the taxiway, instead of having to go to the end of the runway. Overall, Ariel performed beautifully. I love that plane more every time I fly it. The flight was only about 25 minutes, but I w...
1 comment
Read more