VOR Work

Just a quick update, finally got some time to get back in the air on Saturday, flew for about 1.5 hours.

Finally got to work on some VOR navigation and the plane did really well.  As the flying season is approaching I'm hoping to get up and out more and more.

Breezy Landing Practice

So this was the first time I've been able to fly the plane after the annual and the second time I've actually flown it solo.  I decided to try a quick trip around the pattern with some pretty gusty winds to sharpen up my high wind landing procedures.

Winds were gusting 18-22kts.  I purposefully came in a little faster than normal with only 2 notches of flaps instead of 3. 

You can see how bad I floated this was mostly due to the extra speed and the fact that the wind was blowing directly down the runway.  It also serves as a good example of how well these low wings will float on you if your not careful.

Mountain Flying

Cody was able to take the Cherokee on it's longest trip to date.  All the way to the mountains of East Tennessee from KEQY to 6A4 to enjoy the beautiful scenery and to practice a little mountain flying. 

Annual Complete

So we finally wrapped up the first "flying" annual and it went about how I expected. I had said all along that the first 2 years of flight would be about making sure the plane was operating at 100% and that safety was always paramount. That being said, I knew going into this annual that I would be replacing some parts.

I opted to pull the mags off and send them off to be checked and refreshed. I wanted the points inspected since as best we could tell these were the original 1972 mags.
The impulse coupler on the left mag was indeed about to fail and could not be repaired so I opted to replace the left mag completely. The right mag was repairable and was fully overhauled with new points and given a fresh paint job and cleaning.


We removed the non-working ADF and that damn antenna (I hated that thing) and fabricated a very nice blank plate for that space. Now my iFly can mount there and be out of the way.

We removed and repaired some of the fiberglass on the front nose cowling and did some touch up paint on that as well. Also repaired the 'swoopy' part on the tail fin.
I also installed a new fire extinguisher and the guys over at www.arrow4graphics.com reached out and donated a full set of placards for PA-28 140. I will wait and install those when I get it painted...
The total bill for the mags, 3 full days of labor and the annual itself came up to $3,674. I know that's a big number but to be honest I'm not shocked by it at all.

I swear to you I can hear the plane run smoother. Everyone says I'm crazy but it 'sounds' more even like it's a more even spark. I can only assume that the new mags are not only timed more precisely but are producing a hotter spark. We shall see if that translates to better performance.  The first flight back went great and she performed just fine.

http://www.arrow4graphics.com/

Shout out to http://www.arrow4graphics.com/ for donating a full set of placards for the first annual.

Last flight before the annual

Got in one more beautiful evening flight before we have some downtime for the annual.

Finally got a good landing in at PYG which I always have issues with.  Nice sunset flight on a crisp November evening.

Late evening pattern work

What a beautiful cool clear night for some pattern work...no better way to end a great weekend than some flying on a Sunday night.

These planes really perform so much better in a cool environment, noticeable change on the climb out from the 90 degree+ days.

SC Breakfast Club

Another beautiful weekend and another breakfast club.  A bright and early start on Sunday morning for the SC Breakfast club in Camden SC.

Was a really amazing turn out, so many planes we had to park on the grass!

 

With the rest of the Cherokees

AOPA Podcast Interview

Hey all, the AOPA Podcast interview that was recorded a few weeks ago is up and posted!

If you ever wanted to hear the story of the cherokee in audio book format and have 30 minutes to kill then this link is for you!

http://aopahangartalk.libsyn.com/episode-5-1000-cherokee

Our interview is around the 26 minute mark.

Triple Tree 2016

Triple Tree 2016 is in the books!

One of the goals I had set when we first started the plane restoration was to take the plane to the Triple Tree Fly-in which is held every year at the Triple Tree Aerodrome (SC00) near Woodruff SC.  I had been before on Tinker Belle but had never taken my own plane there or been able to camp out.


There was a bit of a scheduling conflict with one of the crew members on Tinker Belle, so I offered to fly down on Friday with Tinker Belle and then the other crew member (who was a CFI) could fly with Cody on Saturday in 86T.  That worked out for everyone as the plane got down there and everyone could get a chance to enjoy the fly-in.

I arrived early Friday morning on Tinker Belle and the grounds were fantastic.  The guys at Triple Tree work really hard all year to make sure their grounds are pristine.  Every time I've been able to visit it's better than the last.

 

Friday evening we attended the "Taste of Triple Tree" dinner and there I was able to meet Mark Baker the AOPA President.  He had read the article on our plane and had heard about us which was pretty awesome.

That night I spent sleeping under Tinker Belle, I had never camped out before so this was all new to me.  

The next day Cody arrived early around 8am in 86T which fortunately missed most of the traffic.  People REALLY started packing in Saturday morning and at last count over 645 planes arrived for the day.  

The AOPA was on site with their crew and asked if we would like a picture taken and put up on their instagram page with the plane at Triple Tree. 

Kinda embarrassed to admit but we actually got recognized a few times by people who had seen the article or had seen me on facebook.   Everyone wanted to hear the story and ask questions about the plane, even had a few people come by for a quick tour.

The guys at https://swiftfuels.com/ were onsite selling their 100LL alternative and we picked up a few gallons for the flight home the next day.  

Sunday morning was a beautiful cool morning with clouds around 5000 feet, a front had come through the evening before which made for a smooth as glass flight home.  Total time was 47 minutes back with a little tailwind.

I'll be honest, words do not do Triple Tree justice, if you are even remotely interested in aviation you need to make it a point to come out during the fly-in.  I guarantee it will be an experience you won't soon forget.

Here is a link to my full album of pictures from the event....so many great memories!

Photo Album

Longest Trip Yet!

Finally after weeks of planning and canceling due to family issues, scheduling and weather we were able to take the little Cherokee on it's first trip to the coast.
We got a late start on Sunday and didn't leave until around 2:30pm which was way later than I wanted to leave. This flight was also my biannual review and I wanted to work on some tower work. Our first stop was to KFLO in Florence SC. There was a big nascar race in town and the airport was pretty hopping. We stopped for a 'bladder break' and went into the FBO. I found a copy of this months AOPA Magazine on the table, about that same time someone recognized the plane N number and asked if this was the same plane from the article. That was a pretty surreal experience.
The plane did really great and I still have a lot to learn about controlled airspace. It's amazing how sanitized the training was for me doing controlled work during training compared to the real world. I realized that during my training we never actually went to a controlled airport, shut down, got out and got back in the plane. I had no idea how to 'get out' of a controlled field.

Here she is on the ramp in KFLO

















Hanging with jets...

The guys down at Florence were great and talked with us for about half an hour before we decided to head on to our real goal which was making it to the Myrtle Beach (KCRE) grand strand.
It was pretty bumpy down to KFLO, but the ride to KCRE was very smooth and what a view we had of the coast line. I have done this trip a few times in other planes but there is just something special about flying over the coast line in your own aircraft that just adds to the excitement. It was shockingly quiet despite being a holiday weekend but we made it into CRE just fine. Unfortunately all of the courtesy cars were out so we couldn't make it anywhere to eat, so we just ate a pack of crackers out of the vending machine. But to be honest I really didn't care because just being able to fly down was great.
The view I've been working over a year for... finally made it

Short final for CRE

It was smooth as glass on the way back, however it was VERY dark by the time we reached Monroe and we learned on final that our landing light had gone out at some point. Landing with no landing light is a lot harder than expected, your depth perception is really off and the ground will come up to meet you quicker than you think. All turned out well as my CFI friend gave me a little assist on the landing back to Monroe and we were back safe and sound. Total time was 3.7 for a total of 250nm. By far the longest trip yet in one sitting.

I replaced the landing light on Monday in prep for our trip this weekend to Triple Tree (SC00) if anyone is looking for a great place to come and camp out with your plane I encourage you to check out Triple Tree. The annual fly-in is this weekend you still have plenty of time to plane to visit! 7000ft grass runway, we are bringing Tinker Belle in this weekend along with the Cherokee.

Long XC

I'm pleased to report that Cody has completed his first long cross country solo in N2886T.  

Beautiful weather today for an early start and early morning flight down and back.  

The plane did well and this was the longest and farthest we've flown it yet. 

This is the world famous Triple Tree as seen from the Cherokee!

Here is Clemson University and Death Valley Stadium.

Past Pilots

I received a nice note from the AOPA which was sent into the "Letters to the Editor" section and wanted to share that here.

August 17, 2016

To the Editor:

Arriving home from work yesterday, I saw the September issue of AOPA Pilot sitting on the kitchen table

so I made a quick grab and headed to the recliner for some reading.  After a few minutes of thumbing

through the pages I ran across an article called "The $1,000 Cherokee" written by Jill Tallman.  Wow, this

excellent piece brought back some fantastic memories.  The reason for this is that N2886T is the aircraft I

completed my first supervised solo with at the now gone Alameda airport (Q64) in Albuquerque.  The date

was May 19, 1976 which was during my sophomore year of High School and my morning aerial

adventure made me show up late for class so I was sent to the Principal’s office.  When asked for an

excuse, I told Mr. Barefoot about what had just transpired and held out my certificate of solo flight.  He

looked it over, gave me a smile, a handshake and handed me a hall pass.

The last time I saw N2886T was on May 21, 1992.  I had flown a Skylane to Tupelo from Atlanta and

noticed it sitting in an area for permanent tie downs.  I walked over to where she was parked and spent

time reminiscing about that special day.  Thanks for helping me make another flight down memory lane

and I wish Mr. Atkins many years of great times and safe flying with the Cherokee I'll never forget.