Barney 2.0

It had to be flown again…to check the airspeed indicator working, and to make sure the voltage regulator was “turned up”…whatevet that means.  Anyway, it flew fine, other than a fouled plug on run up.  Got that cleared up, and we departed runway 29 to the southwest to fly by Jack’s house.  He took a picture of us flying by, but I don’t think it turned out.  He said it was in the bottom corner of the frame.  I’ll see if he can send it to me so I can post it, if it’s any good at all.  Back at Bloomington, we set up for a left downwind to runway 29, with winds 260 at 10.  Archers are so nice to land.  Barney is a purple pig of an airplane, but it flies, so I’m happy!

0.5 logged.

I flew Barney today!

Yep, I flew Barney. It’s a 1977 Piper Archer II, and I’ve never flown an airplane so purple.

…and it has a Barney sticker on it!

This airplane is owned by a nice lady who has an adorable dog that flies with her frequently. We just completed an annual on it, and it needed a test flight to calibrate the standby vacuum system after it’s 2 year IFR check. It also had a new cylinder put on.

Doug, the A&P that did most of the work on it, went with me to record the numbers. Everything during the run up was normal, and we taxied on to runway 11 (winds 070 at 6) for a north bound departure. I kept waiting for the airspeed to move…it never did. Not a real big deal, but we would need to punch thru a cloud layer to do our test on the standby vac system. We were able to do the 2,000 and 4,000 foot numbers before getting a clearance, but getting to 6, 8, and 10k, we would need to be IFR to get on top. With a clearance obtained, we were on our way thru the 1,500 foot cloud layer that started at 4,500, and topped at 6,000ft. I used the altimeter as the primary pitch instrument, and the turn coordinator & compass as primary bank/wings level instruments. Reason? Well, we were on and off the primary vacuum pump for the two tests at 2 and 4k. The AI and DG were erect, but I didn’t want to trust them because I didn’t know if they were up to speed or not. I used ground speed and winds aloft info to guesstimate my airspeed.

We wrote down the numbers at 6, 8, and 10k (took FOREVER to get to 10k), then got a clearance to descend back in to Bloomington. With the power pulled back, the standby system works flawlessly, and is what it’s designed for. At full power, it does not work, but with the throttle pulled back, it’s a fantastic system.

At 4,500ft, we broke out of the cloud layer, and I cancelled the IFR clearance to return to Bloomington VFR. I again used my ground speed along with wind info from the tower to guesstimate the airspeed, and when to put in some flaps. We landed with two notches of flaps, with a nice and smooth touchdown and roll out on runway 2, winds were calm.

I really enjoyed this flight since it presented some challenges, and gave me a good chance to use my partial panel skills. Now, if the weather had been low, like 1,000ft or so, I would not have made this test flight, but with a 4,000AGL ceiling, and a 1,500ft layer to get thru, I felt comfortable doing so.

The airspeed problem was diagnosed as soon as we were back at the shop…it was found that the static and pitot lines were hooked up backwards. There’s nothing on a pre-flight that will reveal that problem…ALWAYS test flight your airplane on a VFR day after an annual…you never know what they will miss, or hook up backwards.

1.1 hours logged.

New prop check

Today I had to do a test flight in a 1976 Piper Lance that used to have a two blade prop on it.  It was subject to that Hartzell hub AD last year, and most people opted to buy a new prop under the program from Hartzell, and the owner of this airplane was no exception…though he went for a three blade prop to replace it.

My friend Grant went with me for this half hour jaunt up around the lakes.  I’m not a big fan of the Lance line, mainly because of the wing.  The hershey bar wing on an airplane this heavy just doesn’t like to fly slow…meaning takeoff and landing are a bit more challenging.  This is the same wing that I had on my Cherokee 140 and 180, but those airplanes are much lighter.  On takeoff, we had a bit of a gust from the right, and the wing wasn’t quite ready to fly, but the nose wheel was off.  We sorta lifted in to ground effect, but had to ride it out as the right wing sunk just a bit with the gust.  Winds weren’t bad at all, at only 11 knots right down the runway (R20), but the gust was just enough to scoot us a bit.  Got the airspeed up, and we flew on out of ground effect easily.  Gear tucked, and we were on our way upstairs.

The new prop is very smooth.  This airplane used to have an annoying vibration that I attributed to the prop.  Since that vibration is gone, I assume I was right.  It still has another low frequency rumble that feels like it’s airframe related.  We’re gonna look at it, and see if there’s a gear door out of alignment or something.

Anyway, Grant had fun.  We did a couple turns around the lakes, then headed back to the airport.  I flew a long final, and set it down just past the numbers.

Still not a fan of the Lance, but I’m always thankful for any chance to fly when I don’t have to pay for it!

Check out the late 70’s panel color in this thing!

The airplane from the outside is quite nice looking in 1976 BiCentenial colors…it has all the LoPresti mods on it!

0.5 logged.

Would it quit???

This morning I took a Cessna 152 on a maintenance test flight…EXPECTING an engine failure. It didn’t quit…here’s the story-

This was not a particularly dangerous flight, as the airplane just had an annual, it runs fine, and everything checked out, except one item. After a runup, the prop is hard to turn, not stuck, but it was like it was binding up when the engine was warm. After it cools down, it turns as it should. The main problem with this particular airplane is it’s lack of use. In the last three years, it flew 10 hours. The owners annual it each year, but rarely fly it.

Back to the flight. Taking off in an airplane, expecting the noise to go away is quite different from taking off, expecting all to go well, then be completely surprised if it goes quiet. The mechanic that worked on the airplane went with me, and if he is comfortable with it, I didn’t have a problem with it. I had an exact plan in my head ahead of time to assure landing on a runway with no power. There should be a plan on every flight to take planned action in the event of a failure. But because it’s not all that common, we are surprised if it does happen. This time, I knew it MIGHT happen, so I was readily prepared to deal with it.

I preflighted the airplane normally, but gave an extra look at the prop, and moved it more than I typically would. I HATE moving propellers, even though I know for sure the keys are out of the mag switch and everything is off. Props scare the crap out of me. It moves freely, as expected. We jumped in, straped in, and fired it up. After a call to ground telling them what we expected to do, which was climb to 2,000ft, and circle the airport in a close right hand traffic pattern, we were given clearance to taxi to runway 11. Winds were 100 at 14. Off we went. As I said in the second sentence above, it did not quit, and it actually ran perfectly. The oil temp and pressure never fluctuated, and the RPM’s stayed as constant as a fixed pitch prop will allow. If we were to have a problem, indications on the oil temp and pressure gauges would give us a clue. It was not a situation where the engine would suddenly stop. The oil temp would rise, the pressure would drop, and we would have a steady decrease in RPM. Nothing happened.

Doug was satisfied with what he observed after the second circuit, so we called the tower to let them know we were done. They asked if we could bring it in tight for a short approach to get in before the RJ traffic turned final. No problem! I love those approaches! I had a Saab 340 on short final in front of me, and I turned in close behind him (aware of wake turbulence…stay above the path of the Saab), and S-turned down final to allow him to exit the runway. I touched down just past the numbers, and made the first taxiway. Got a nice “Thanks” from the tower, and we taxied to the hanger. As I shut the engine down, that RJ was just touching down. Guess I didn’t have to expedite as quickly as I thought, but it was good practice, and fun.

So, the engine didn’t quit, but after we shut it down, the prop was very stiff. It would turn, but not like one would expect. It needs to be flown more is the diagnosis. I’ll volunteer…

0.5 logged