A Man and His Airplane

I'm still waiting for my engine to be re-installed on my plane so, in the meantime, I rented a 172 this past Saturday to keep my hand in and make sure I didn't get too rusty. Because it had been long enough since I'd rented a plane from Snohomish Flying Service, I had to take an instructor with me. While the FAA has no problem with me hopping in a 172 and taking it up, SFS has their own currency requirements driven, I suspect, mostly by insurance requirements. Other than the added cost, though, I didn't mind as it gave me someone to talk to and share stories with as we were flying around. While we were up there, something pretty cool happened. After we took off we headed southeast toward Snoqualmie Falls at about 3000 feet. We flew past the falls then turned around and headed back. This plane, N734LQ, is equipped with a Garmin GTN 650 GPS navigator with ADS-B In, so it can display nearby traffic. Ross, the instructor, noticed an interesting-looking plane heading in our ...

About a week or so back, I was poking around the Power Flow website because I was wondering how much they were going for these days. While looking at the page they have for my particular airplane, I noticed that it addressed a potential issue with the carburetor: On the O-360 powered Beech 23 series airframes, the original carb furnished with the airplane is often set too lean. Since our system works by burning fuel in the mixture that would normally be pumped overboard unburned, these aircraft sometimes require that the carb be rebuilt/enrichened to take full advantage of the performance benefits offered by the Power Flow System. Mine is a B19 which originally came with an O-320, and of course a Power Flow had already been installed, but I wanted to make sure the overhaul shop knew about this since the carb was being rebuilt as well. I wanted to make sure they didn't set it too lean. So I called them back last Wednesday to make sure they knew about it. And, since it was almost fo...

About a week ago I opened the website for the overhaul shop that has my engine and... there was no website. I was presented with a simple dialog asking for a username and password. Normally, when I see something like this, it's usually caused by something getting messed up in the website configuration. Maybe they're using software such as Wordpress, attempted to install an update, and it got screwed up somehow. A few days later, I checked again and the same thing occurred. I became a bit concerned; another possibility is that they suddenly went out of business, in which case I needed to find out quick so I could get my engine back and make other arrangements. So I called them up to see what was going on. It turns out all is well. From what I could gather, after over thirty years in business, they've decided to transition the business to a parts supply shop. They'll finish up the work they already have scheduled, of course. As part of this, they decided to rebrand, and t...

While the engine is off, we're going to do a few other things that are a lot easier without the engine in the way or that just make sense to do along with the engine work. The biggest one is probably taking off the engine mount, cleaning it off (probably via sandblasting) and painting it. The large bushings that the engine attaches to will also be replaced but that would be done regardless. They will also overhaul the alternator and oil cooler at Snohomish Flying Service, while the carburetor and magnetos will be overhauled at the shop in California. I'm also going to get a quote on a Surefly Ignition Module. For those unfamiliar with it, the Surefly SIM is an electronic ignition module that replaces one of the magnetos. It provides several benefits including lower maintenance and improved fuel efficiency. The reason only one magneto is replaced is that, being an electronic ignition system, it requires power from the airplane's electrical system. Should the alternator fail,...

I just got the news that the shop at Harvey Field is bringing my plane in to begin removal of the engine. It's finally happening. I don't know how much longer it will be before it's back in the air; that will depend mainly on how long it takes the overhaul shop to get to it. But at least progress is finally happening.

Just a quick update to let you all know that... there is no update. My plane is still sitting in its hanger waiting for the shop to take it in and pull the engine. In the meantime, I need to get back in the air again in some fashion. A long weekend is coming up; maybe I'll try to get signed off in the 152 again.

There haven't been any developments in the story of my airplane's engine. I'm still waiting for the shop to pull it in and take the engine off. While I'm waiting, I've decided that, if I can't fly my plane, I'll fly someone else's and get some training. Several weeks ago, I went up with an instructor to refresh my night flying knowledge and skill. Today I went up in a Cessna 182 and got my high performance endorsement. The main differences between a 182 and a plane like mine or a 172 are that it's a bit larger and heavier, it has a considerably more powerful engine, and it has a constant-speed propeller. I've long known the basic operating principles of a constant-speed prop, but this is the first real practical experience with one. Well, I did go up with a former coworker in his 182 back around 2004 but that doesn't really count. It was a lot of fun! It's definitely a different experience. And even though he signed off on my endorsement,...