bbarrett
New member
My 14-19-3, N8861R, flew this afternoon for the first time since Thanksgiving weekend of 2015. As some of you know, I had a gear up landing after getting distracted on a go-around due to a coyote on the runway (yes, a coyote in Auburn, sigh). It was a bad time to discover that the avionics shop had mis-wired the gear warning system while installing the GTN650 and PMA450 a month before (sigh).
Dan Cullman and Russell Williams convinced me to do the repairs myself and keep 8861R flying. A huge thanks to Russell, Dan, and Dan Torrey to helping me along the way, as well as a very patient IA who looked over my work for the last 13 months and ended up signing a bunch of paperwork. I couldn't have done it without all their help and encouragement.
Western Skyways did the engine overhaul (and I got to experience Superior's Millennium cylinder shortage last spring) and it looks and runs great. I ended up having to replace two ribs and the trailing edge on the flaps and repair where the strobe light punched through the belly, but most of the repairs / inspection was going through the nose landing gear, which took most of the abuse in the landing. While everything was apart, we replaced the strobe and nav lights with Aeroled LED nav/strobes and the landing/taxi lights with Whelen Parmetheus Plus units. Oh, and replaced a very, very, very flat spotted nose wheel tire.
One other update that was way simpler than I expected was installing BAS's inertia reel shoulder harness seat belts. A machinist on the field built some mounting blocks to clamp to the horizontal structure behind the front seats and I used the cover plates BAS sells for their Stinson kit. The seat belts look pretty good, are comfortable, and should be much safer in an accident. I put off installing shoulder harnesses for years because I thought it would be difficult, but it was really one of the simpler upgrades I performed and I shouldn't have put it off for as long as I did.
First flight went better than expected. Need to fine tune the prop governor upper limit a little bit and diagnose a slightly flaky left magneto, but the plane flew straight and level on the first try and all the important stuff worked perfectly. Now to find some more calm, clear, and dry days in the Seattle winter to finish breaking in the engine.
Dan Cullman and Russell Williams convinced me to do the repairs myself and keep 8861R flying. A huge thanks to Russell, Dan, and Dan Torrey to helping me along the way, as well as a very patient IA who looked over my work for the last 13 months and ended up signing a bunch of paperwork. I couldn't have done it without all their help and encouragement.
Western Skyways did the engine overhaul (and I got to experience Superior's Millennium cylinder shortage last spring) and it looks and runs great. I ended up having to replace two ribs and the trailing edge on the flaps and repair where the strobe light punched through the belly, but most of the repairs / inspection was going through the nose landing gear, which took most of the abuse in the landing. While everything was apart, we replaced the strobe and nav lights with Aeroled LED nav/strobes and the landing/taxi lights with Whelen Parmetheus Plus units. Oh, and replaced a very, very, very flat spotted nose wheel tire.
One other update that was way simpler than I expected was installing BAS's inertia reel shoulder harness seat belts. A machinist on the field built some mounting blocks to clamp to the horizontal structure behind the front seats and I used the cover plates BAS sells for their Stinson kit. The seat belts look pretty good, are comfortable, and should be much safer in an accident. I put off installing shoulder harnesses for years because I thought it would be difficult, but it was really one of the simpler upgrades I performed and I shouldn't have put it off for as long as I did.
First flight went better than expected. Need to fine tune the prop governor upper limit a little bit and diagnose a slightly flaky left magneto, but the plane flew straight and level on the first try and all the important stuff worked perfectly. Now to find some more calm, clear, and dry days in the Seattle winter to finish breaking in the engine.
.
