This has absolutely nothing to do with Hazeron. I felt like telling a story about my airplane. I fly a 1968 Piper Cherokee Six that I have owned since 2000.
I was flying to Sioux City Iowa last July to get a routine semiannual avionics inspection done. I just got up to my cruising altitude of 5500ft MSL when there was a never-heard-before clunk from the engine. Engine RPMs spun way up past the red line. Propeller pitch control stopped responding, had no effect. It took some adjustments to get the engine RPMs under control enough to return to the airfield, which was about fifteen miles away.
I told the Sioux City approach controllers what was going on. There was an airport just a mile away but the airplane was holding altitude. Weather was great. If the airplane was going to be grounded, I wanted it to be at home with my own mechanic.
After landing I taxied straight over to the shop. What I thought was a propeller hub failure turned out to be much worse. The mechanics at the shop could not imagine what guardian angel kept my propeller spinning. The engine RPMs went up because the propeller drive shaft had sheared clean off, relieving the engine of its load.
The loud clunk turned out to be an oh shit moment. That was the sound of the sheared-off drive shaft smacking against the engine case hard enough to crack it in a high-stress place that could not be repaired.
The airplane has a 540 cubic inch six cylinder aircraft engine. This is an air cooled engine so the cylinder jugs are bolted onto the sides of it, kind of like a Harley Davidson engine. A new engine case from the factory is over $30k and there is a two year lead time to buy one.
By some miracle, the engine shop had a used one that was serviceable that they sold me for a fraction of the price of a new engine case. They cleaned it down to shiny metal, scanned it, painted it, rebuilt the entire engine with new cylinders (another miracle as they are getting hard to find) and other parts, ran it on their test stand for hours, and gave it their blessing.
It was time for the annual inspection so the local mechanics did that while the engine was in the shop. The propeller was getting pretty long in the tooth and it was due for an overhaul. More bad news. The propeller hub was shot. It was a standard two blade propeller and nobody wants them anymore so nobody makes parts for them anymore. It was less expensive to buy a new three blade prop than a new two blade prop. I had misgivings about this because Hartzell's own web site says three blades isn't any better than two; they're just heavier.
A few weeks ago they finally finished working on the airplane. It had to wait its turn and winter is super crunch time for the local airplane mechanics. The shop on our field is inundated all winter long with spray planes getting their annual inspections done; they work on spray planes from all the surrounding states, not just Nebraska.
My wife thought the new prop and chrome spinner looked hot. The old straight two blades were replaced by three modern curved scimitar blades.
The first thing I noticed was the old familiar whup whup whup of the prop at low idle and when taxiing is gone. It sounds more like a lawn mower now, one continuous growl.
The power while taxiing felt ridiculous. I couldn't help but laugh. I'm quite accustomed to that airplane after twenty four years and I could tell this was no small change.
The takeoff roll smashed me back into my seat. This airplane has never smashed me back into my seat. Ever.
I was off the ground in probably the shortest takeoff distance ever. The airplane didn't stop there either; it just kept on climbing vigorously. As I climbed away from the runway I called the shop on the radio but all I could do was laugh maniacally.
I kept that test flight short and close to the field.
Now I am planning that trip to Sioux City once again. Will probably do it within the next week or so, whenever they can get me in. They are the only avionics shop in a wide area so they stay pretty busy.
Then I have to break in the new engine. That requires a good 12 hours of run time, preferably flying at altitude and at a good operating temperature, not frozen winter air. I am planning a flight to Florida and back to get that done. I have some personal business to attend to there so this would be an opportunity to do that. It's that or dinner in New Orleans. The runway at their general aviation airport sticks out into Lake Pontchartrain like a boat dock; I thought the landing was fun but my wife didn't agree.
People speculate that it must be cheap to travel when you own your own airplane. I always tell them it would be cheaper to fly first class everywhere you go for the rest of your life than it is to own an airplane. Buses are cheaper than cars to ride but I don't tend to ride them; I like the freedom that comes with owning a car, and an airplane.
I was flying to Sioux City Iowa last July to get a routine semiannual avionics inspection done. I just got up to my cruising altitude of 5500ft MSL when there was a never-heard-before clunk from the engine. Engine RPMs spun way up past the red line. Propeller pitch control stopped responding, had no effect. It took some adjustments to get the engine RPMs under control enough to return to the airfield, which was about fifteen miles away.
I told the Sioux City approach controllers what was going on. There was an airport just a mile away but the airplane was holding altitude. Weather was great. If the airplane was going to be grounded, I wanted it to be at home with my own mechanic.
After landing I taxied straight over to the shop. What I thought was a propeller hub failure turned out to be much worse. The mechanics at the shop could not imagine what guardian angel kept my propeller spinning. The engine RPMs went up because the propeller drive shaft had sheared clean off, relieving the engine of its load.
The loud clunk turned out to be an oh shit moment. That was the sound of the sheared-off drive shaft smacking against the engine case hard enough to crack it in a high-stress place that could not be repaired.
The airplane has a 540 cubic inch six cylinder aircraft engine. This is an air cooled engine so the cylinder jugs are bolted onto the sides of it, kind of like a Harley Davidson engine. A new engine case from the factory is over $30k and there is a two year lead time to buy one.
By some miracle, the engine shop had a used one that was serviceable that they sold me for a fraction of the price of a new engine case. They cleaned it down to shiny metal, scanned it, painted it, rebuilt the entire engine with new cylinders (another miracle as they are getting hard to find) and other parts, ran it on their test stand for hours, and gave it their blessing.
It was time for the annual inspection so the local mechanics did that while the engine was in the shop. The propeller was getting pretty long in the tooth and it was due for an overhaul. More bad news. The propeller hub was shot. It was a standard two blade propeller and nobody wants them anymore so nobody makes parts for them anymore. It was less expensive to buy a new three blade prop than a new two blade prop. I had misgivings about this because Hartzell's own web site says three blades isn't any better than two; they're just heavier.
A few weeks ago they finally finished working on the airplane. It had to wait its turn and winter is super crunch time for the local airplane mechanics. The shop on our field is inundated all winter long with spray planes getting their annual inspections done; they work on spray planes from all the surrounding states, not just Nebraska.
My wife thought the new prop and chrome spinner looked hot. The old straight two blades were replaced by three modern curved scimitar blades.
The first thing I noticed was the old familiar whup whup whup of the prop at low idle and when taxiing is gone. It sounds more like a lawn mower now, one continuous growl.
The power while taxiing felt ridiculous. I couldn't help but laugh. I'm quite accustomed to that airplane after twenty four years and I could tell this was no small change.
The takeoff roll smashed me back into my seat. This airplane has never smashed me back into my seat. Ever.
I was off the ground in probably the shortest takeoff distance ever. The airplane didn't stop there either; it just kept on climbing vigorously. As I climbed away from the runway I called the shop on the radio but all I could do was laugh maniacally.
I kept that test flight short and close to the field.
Now I am planning that trip to Sioux City once again. Will probably do it within the next week or so, whenever they can get me in. They are the only avionics shop in a wide area so they stay pretty busy.
Then I have to break in the new engine. That requires a good 12 hours of run time, preferably flying at altitude and at a good operating temperature, not frozen winter air. I am planning a flight to Florida and back to get that done. I have some personal business to attend to there so this would be an opportunity to do that. It's that or dinner in New Orleans. The runway at their general aviation airport sticks out into Lake Pontchartrain like a boat dock; I thought the landing was fun but my wife didn't agree.
People speculate that it must be cheap to travel when you own your own airplane. I always tell them it would be cheaper to fly first class everywhere you go for the rest of your life than it is to own an airplane. Buses are cheaper than cars to ride but I don't tend to ride them; I like the freedom that comes with owning a car, and an airplane.
