quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
Decades ago there was a monthly magazine, “Flying”. Every issue had an article titled , “I Learned about Flying from That” (or close). Every small field had a stack of back issues. (And a pot of 5-hour old coffee.)

In one such article the author described the events leading to the forced landing of his Bonanza in a farmer’s field. He commented that the plane’s landing gear was more robust than most people gave it credit for. Lucky for him!

I'm told the single engine Bonanza's landing gear is used on military T-34 trainers, twin engine Barons and Dukes too. Supposed to be very robust and reliable as it's 100% mechanical... no hydraulics.

quote:

Originally posted by aileron:

I'm told the single engine Bonanza's landing gear is used on military T-34 trainers, twin engine Barons and Dukes too. Supposed to be very robust and reliable as it's 100% mechanical... no hydraulics.

Speaking of landing gear, there's something that you should check. Earlier Bonanzas had a soft vinyl cover for the manual gear extension crank handle. Later models had a hard shell cover. Instructing in clients' Bonanzas, I have seen more than a few where an upholstery trim piece was installed incorrectly, holding the hard cover in place, so that in the event of an electrical problem the manual gear crank was not accessible. I know of one pilot who pulled out a pocket knife and cut the cover away.

I always made it part of my pre-engine start check list in a client's airplane, to make sure that the cover was installed outside of the upholstery trim strip so that it could be popped off easily if a manual gear extension had to be done (it always had to be done at least once with each trainee that I had).

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by aileron:

I'm told the single engine Bonanza's landing gear is used on military T-34 trainers, twin engine Barons and Dukes too. Supposed to be very robust and reliable as it's 100% mechanical... no hydraulics.

Speaking of landing gear, there's something that you should check. Earlier Bonanzas had a soft vinyl cover for the manual gear extension crank handle. Later models had a hard shell cover. Instructing in clients' Bonanzas, I have seen more than a few where an upholstery trim piece was installed incorrectly, holding the hard cover in place, so that in the event of an electrical problem the manual gear crank was not accessible. I know of one pilot who pulled out a pocket knife and cut the cover away.

I always made it part of my pre-engine start check list in a client's airplane, to make sure that the cover was installed outside of the upholstery trim strip so that it could be popped off easily if a manual gear extension had to be done (it always had to be done at least once with each trainee that I had).

YES! I had that issue when I picked up the plane form the previous owner. Mine has the soft vinyl cover, but it was trapped under the carpeting and the loop was trapped under the spar cover. I make sure I have access to the handle as it's possible, if not likely, I may need to extend the gear with 50 cranks on the handle.

Thanks

aileron

Great looking plane!

Do I foresee an upcoming change in your avatar to reflect this beauty?

Wow!!!! That looks fantastic! I’ve always been fond of the looks of the V-Tail. It’s one of the best looking non military aircraft out there.

I’ve been trying talk my father into getting an airplane. I know he misses flying terribly. It’s a bit of a tough sell being such an expensive hobby/interest for someone a frugal as my father.

It's definitely gotten a lot pricier.

When I was flying regularly, you could pick up a Cessna 150 for $10-15k in pretty good shape.

And 100LL was only about $2.25/gal.
Looks like it's averaging around $6.60/gal for region SC
http://www.100ll.com/

I miss flying & wish I'd finished my PP, but just don't have the time nor $ for it now.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

When I was flying regularly <snip> 100LL was only about $2.25/gal.

40¢ / gallon when I started, and we looked forward to those occasional tri;s to The Bahamas, where it was 28¢ / gallon.

My first airplane was a one year old Beech 23, paid $6,000 for it.

Slick. Fresh new polish....might even lower your burn rate. Does she feel any different? Beechcraft are typically very smooth with all the filed rivets and smooth surface transitions though.

Let us know how she feels.....

quote:

Originally posted by aileron:

I may need to extend the gear with 50 cranks on the handle.

Mine was 52 turns. If you haven't done it for practice, you should. Couple cautions:

• FIRST, and MOST IMPORTANT, pull the circuit breaker. You do NOT want the landing gear motor to kick in while your hand is on that crank handle.
  
  
• Move the gear selector to the down position (and leave it there).
  
  
• Start cranking, counter-clockwise. Big trim changes, so I always did ten turns, re-trim, add maybe 1" MP power to deal with the increased drag, then repeat.
  
  
• After confirming that gear is fully extended and locked, stow the crank handle. You do not want it spinning around next time the gear motor is activated.
  
  
• Do NOT try do do the reverse -- do NOT try to raise the gear manually. If this was a practice extension, the gear can be retracted normally with the motor, but be sure to confirm crank handle stowed and gear switch in the DOWN position before resetting the circuit breaker.
  
  If it was a "real" extension, done because there was a problem with the electric motor, just leave the gear down and turn it over to an A&P who knows Bonanzas, after landing.

---

One more thing I just remembered, important to verify when buying a Bonanza with unknown maintenance history, ESPECIALLY if ailerons were removed for painting. There are four machine screws holding the aileron fittings onto the wing. These should not be the standard AN type machine screws, they should be special high tensile strength screws. There is a cryptic mark on the head of these screws to indicate the special type. If you're not sure, have an A&P mechanic verify that the correct type are installed on 28LD -- I have seen a number of clients' Bonanzas, Barons, etc. with regular AN hardware that was installed in error. I refused to fly with them until this was corrected and in fact, told them that the airplane was not airworthy and should be grounded.

Update: only 2 months after getting Blondie back from the paint shop, she went under the knife for new avionics. What started as a simple transponder swap turned into a full-blown panel and autopilot update - and I knew better than to get sucked into a big project

Mine looked like that once. I still have a box of pieces that were left over when we put it back together. Never could figure out where they were supposed to go.

Shop job? Or are you able/permitted to DIY it?

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Mine looked like that once. I still have a box of pieces that were left over when we put it back together. Never could figure out where they were supposed to go.

Parts not installed increase the useful load & don't require maintenance :-)

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:

Shop job? Or are you able/permitted to DIY it?

My next door neighbor owns the avionics shop and is a Garmin dealer; he's letting me do almost all the mechanical work, and he's managing the wiring. The project has been almost full time for me since mid-January...maybe 2-3 weeks to go plus whatever rework and head scratching time is required. He'll have to sign off all the work, including my efforts.

Yesterday I was learning how to do 2 -stage paint.

Looks like the primary instruments will be round dials. Excellent. I never developed any affection for flat panel psuedo-instrument displays.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Looks like the primary instruments will be round dials. Excellent. I never developed any affection for flat panel psuedo-instrument displays.

I was strongly encouraged to go all glass, but I learned to fly 50 + years ago, but just don't want to learn to fly all over again. The AI and HSI are Garmin Glass GI 275's, which allowed me to jettison the pesky vacuum system. All the other steam gauges are either new or were overhauled with new dials. I'll post pics when it's all done, 6 figures of improvement

quote:

Originally posted by aileron:

I was strongly encouraged to go all glass, but I learned to fly 50 + years ago, but just don't want to learn to fly all over again. The AI and HSI are Garmin Glass GI 275's, which allowed me to jettison the pesky vacuum system. All the other steam gauges are either new or were overhauled with new dials. I'll post pics when it's all done, 6 figures of improvement

What's your back-up for electrical failure in IMC, if the AI is electric and there is no vacuum system? I assume that the T&B is also electric.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by aileron:

I was strongly encouraged to go all glass, but I learned to fly 50 + years ago, but just don't want to learn to fly all over again. The AI and HSI are Garmin Glass GI 275's, which allowed me to jettison the pesky vacuum system. All the other steam gauges are either new or were overhauled with new dials. I'll post pics when it's all done, 6 figures of improvement

What's your back-up for electrical failure in IMC, if the AI is electric and there is no vacuum system? I assume that the T&B is also electric.

T&B is electric too, but both the HSI and AI (which also present attitude and airspeed since they tie to to the P-S system) have a 3 hour back-up internal battery, and I have a 20A standby alternator. The FAA certifes the system for IFR without the steam gages (AS, VSI, Alt and TC) !!! Hence, why people told me i was crazy to reinstall new steam gages. It's a new world V-tail! The AI and HSI can swap functions;
Google Garmin GI 275 and see what these things can do!

quote:

Originally posted by aileron:

Google Garmin GI 275 and see what these things can do

Impressive! Flight Director, too.

quote:

Originally posted by aileron:
I was strongly encouraged to go all glass, but I learned to fly 50 + years ago, but just don't want to learn to fly all over again. The AI and HSI are Garmin Glass GI 275's, which allowed me to jettison the pesky vacuum system. All the other steam gauges are either new or were overhauled with new dials. I'll post pics when it's all done, 6 figures of improvement

I do a volunteer gig where I occasionally fly the Sheriff’s C182 with a Garmin G500 system (basically an aftermarket G1000). It was only 37 years ago that I learned to fly, but I tend to prefer steam gauges as well. The G500 system is pretty slick, and getting all the information closer together is nice. My problem is that I worked too long in software and I tend to be of the opinion that if it has a computer in it it isn’t a matter of if it is going to screw up, but when. Since our ops with this airplane are pretty much 100% day VFR, it doesn’t matter much because if all the fancy avionics screw up a guy can still look out the window. For a family traveling machine though, I’m a big fan of old school simplicity and its robustness.