Jonathan Baron
New member
Bellanca 6561N arrived at Harvey Field in Shohomish, WA at 2:50 PM PST on Saturday after an annual, an unavoidable gear up landing in Albany, Oregon, and ten months of inexplicable anguish. The shop's owner was so anxious to get it home that he had his CFI fly it here and he followed in a mod-crazed Mooney. Yeah, the Mooney got here first, but it had cleared the active just as the Cruisemaster made its first announcement in the pattern. The new prop with rounded tips seems to agree with the beast.
Naturally I assaulted the pilot with questions. Courtney - a panda bear of a nice fella - has spent perhaps too much time in Alaska. He did not recall numbers. "It flew great, and everything was in the green," he said when I asked him for CHTs, oil temps, and such. All he recalled was IAS at 9000 feet, and the power setting he used. To an Alaskan bush pilot, aircraft are tools. To us...well...they're all sorts of things. Mostly they are like horses. We pat them on the nose, speak to them while riding, and treat them with love and respect. We have this luxury.
Yep, there's still orange-peel, but both wings have been repainted, the orange peel is what you see on new cars these days, and the paint layer is deep enough to allow me to sand and rub it all clean. Yeah, it's ultimately not fair. Ah, but compared to leaving it another nanosecond at Reliant Aviation, I feels okay to me. Besides, it's making good speed (indicating 160mph at 9000) and all is in order except for the transponder. I just want to fly, fly, fly it and leave other matters for unflyable times far into the future. It will get a good rub down by its owner this time, instead of indifferent attention at the hands of strangers.
My buddy Russell flew up today to have a look. He recited the list of tools, sand paper grades, and compounds I'd need, offered the use of his compressor at his hangar/shop and paused for a moment at the spinner. Unlike the last time, the enormous round original 14-19 spinner was repaired with no tell-tale repair marks, and had a glass smooth paint job. "Ah, look!" I said, "The shape that appeals to all men."
Jonathan
Naturally I assaulted the pilot with questions. Courtney - a panda bear of a nice fella - has spent perhaps too much time in Alaska. He did not recall numbers. "It flew great, and everything was in the green," he said when I asked him for CHTs, oil temps, and such. All he recalled was IAS at 9000 feet, and the power setting he used. To an Alaskan bush pilot, aircraft are tools. To us...well...they're all sorts of things. Mostly they are like horses. We pat them on the nose, speak to them while riding, and treat them with love and respect. We have this luxury.
Yep, there's still orange-peel, but both wings have been repainted, the orange peel is what you see on new cars these days, and the paint layer is deep enough to allow me to sand and rub it all clean. Yeah, it's ultimately not fair. Ah, but compared to leaving it another nanosecond at Reliant Aviation, I feels okay to me. Besides, it's making good speed (indicating 160mph at 9000) and all is in order except for the transponder. I just want to fly, fly, fly it and leave other matters for unflyable times far into the future. It will get a good rub down by its owner this time, instead of indifferent attention at the hands of strangers.
My buddy Russell flew up today to have a look. He recited the list of tools, sand paper grades, and compounds I'd need, offered the use of his compressor at his hangar/shop and paused for a moment at the spinner. Unlike the last time, the enormous round original 14-19 spinner was repaired with no tell-tale repair marks, and had a glass smooth paint job. "Ah, look!" I said, "The shape that appeals to all men."
Jonathan
