Great Plan, No Flight :(
The plan was to fly to Wilkes-Barre, KAVP. We planned on taking advantage of the crew car or rent a car in order to make the cross valley drive to Forty-Fort. This was going to be the annual trip to take care of my parents cemetery plot. I like to plant flowers and mulch so everything looks great for spring and the typical visitation on memorial day by family.
We loaded up Ziva and headed to the airport. I took on fuel to bring us to 50 gallons and pulled 08Romeo out in the sun. We were ready to go and had garden hand tools, a doggie bag for water and treats and my iPad stowed.
As I was shutting the hangar door Mary had asked me for something, as I reach to hand it to her I dropped my iPhone 6. SPLAT! it hit the metal drain that runs in front of the hangar...the screen was shattered. Ughhh...Strike 1.
08Romeo started as her usual, seven shots of prime and a blade or two then she comes to life. Oil was warmed from the overnight preheat and I chugged and plugged the flight plan in the 530 then saved it. We taxied out to runway three-two and did our run up. Hmmm...left mag drops way off, not fifty or a hundred off , I mean drop of the tach. I tried to clear the plugs three times on that mag but no luck. Just for kicks I tried the right mag but still couldn't clear the plugs. I figured it had to be the left mag took a vacation. I turned us around and taxied back to the ramp. Strike 2.
Ocean Aviation was able to take a look right away. I chatted with the guy for a short time but I could tell he wanted no assistance from me. Not a problem, some shops are that way. The guy was very nice and gave me a run down of the troubleshooting process. With that I walked over to the terminal and waited. We were not really locked into a time schedule but I did want to be home by 3pm if I could. If the car shop called that's doing my inspection on the Cabrio I wanted to be able to pick it up before closing. All part of a plan to get two of the three cars retitled tomorrow and get our new drivers license for Maryland.
Looking at the clock as I paid the bill it was 11:40ish. Doing some quick time calcs I figure two hours north (2pm) then an hour and a half to/from the cemetery and gardening (3:30) followed by the flight home and getting 08Romeo back in the hangar another two hours (5:30). The shop closes at 5pm so instead of pushing the schedule and hauling butt across the valley and back I called Strike 3 for timing.
I taxied 08Romeo back to her hangar and tucked her in. Mary and I will give this flight thing another try Saturday with the flight to Hatteras, NC (KHSE) to meet up with Beech Aero Club members. We will reschedule the flight to KAVP next week sometime, after my oil change at 58M.
4 comments:
Sorry to hear your plans went awry, Gary. So what was the issue? Mag problem? Fouled plug? A shorted wire?
When I saw the photo of your iPhone, I heard the voice of my high school physics teacher in my head. Our desk surfaces sloped enough that it was a common occurrence for calculators to go sliding off and hit the tiled floor with crack. He would interrupt whatever he was lecturing about to quip, "they don't bounce very well, do they?"
I hated it when he said that.
I once accidentally dropped my iPhone 3GS out of a plane..... (on the ground. It ended up looking like yours). You can get the glass replaced for around $100.
Fouled number 4 plug on the bottom. I have never seen such a drop off on the mag check. I thought it might have been a fouled plug but I couldn't get it to clear.
Yes, the phone slipped right out of my hand as I held it out to Mary...it was like slow motion. I heard it crack....not a good start to my day.
Covered under the warranty so they sent me a new phone Thursday early afternoon. I had to pay a deductible but the phone is good to go!
Glad to hear that it was a minor issue, Gary. In 11 years, I've had exactly one fouled plug in the Warrior. It was bad, just like you describe. I could not clear it by running the engine. When I pulled the plug, I found a perfect little sphere of lead shorting the electrodes.
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