It's a Hard Rain.....Gonna Fall

[Jonathan Baron]

I went about acquiring my Cruisemaster is the worst of wrong ways, and it has cost me. First off it had sat for five years. Its previous owner had his own way of doing things. The mechanic I paid to annual it got busted for running a meth lab upstairs in his hangar. The power pack sort of worked, but it was beyond repair. The hydraulic pump was also beyond repair but it worked well enough, as did the power pack, to get me home (Russell did the flying).

Despite what the owner and Santa Monica Propeller said, the prop did not comply with an important AD regarding the clamps. Dan Torrey's borescoped the cylinders and gave it a passing pre-purchase inspection grade. However, and I doubt Dan could have known this, the engine was a rust bucket and ECI rejected most of my original cylinders for a rebuild. The oil thermostat kept the oil temp at 150 degrees - too low to burn off the water, and water was continuously (as I previously reported) fed to the crankcase by what seems to have been a homebrew air oil separator.

The airplane has an orphan engine. Thus acquiring parts to fix things was an unpleasant adventure.

Add that to the expensive series of repairs to assorted elements such as flaps, counter weights, the control system, cables rubbing against the wrong things and so forth and this quickly became an 80k + aircraft.

I'm not whining here. I love the airplane. However I believe that if we all share our stories of our first year or two of ownership it can be a BIG help to those shopping for a Bellanca 14 series aircraft. Good tales and sad ones - both are helpful. Some things, such as the mechanic with the meth lab, are not foreseeable troubles....or are they?

Step right up, one and all, and share your hard won wisdom

Jonathan

 

[cruiseair74372]

I bought my 14-13-2 from a fellow in Florida in April 1999. I new it was in need of a lot of repairs. When you opened the door you were looking at the shag carpet he had in the house. There was romex wire under the pannel and there where a few other problems. The big one we missed was that in 1976 the plane was recovered. They covered over the cotton on the bottom of the wings and did not put all the weep holes where they were needed. 3 weeks after I brought it home the left flap pulled off at the outboard bracket on finnal and the only reason I did not have to go into the lake to get the flap was the spring. From that point on it was a complete tear down to the frame. Trailing eage of the wings, Lower longerons, Tailpost rebuilt, new interior. One thing lead to another. My only saving grace was my best friend is also an IA. He looked at the plane and pulled out a pocket knife and cut the fabric open on the wings. He turned to me and said this is were you start and don't stop untill every piece is removed from the plane. I will say it put some strains on our friendship, But 21 months later Feb 2001 it was done. I now have a little over 500 hrs on the plane and just love it. :lol: 8) :lol: 8) :lol:

 

[lwford]

Oh where are you going my blue eyed son? And what will you do my darling young one? I too love my old Bellanca and was blind going into the purchase. I put about half of what I payed for her into maintanence just to get it right. It was maintained by a Bellanca center that to me is Bull ,as I found they really didn't do much but take the old man's money. After gutting the plane and topping the engine I have just what I need in my old age! It's a hard rain gonna fall. LYNN N9818B :shock: