414 Back Home - Yeah

Lance F

Lance F

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Apr 9, 2005
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Lance F
Three and a half weeks ago I had a turbo fail in flight and diverted to KAEX Alexandria, LA. I wrote that up earlier.

Yesterday afternoon I was finally able to return my 414 to its hangar in Covington, GA. I’ve been in general aviation for a long time, and those three weeks are an ode how blessed I am to be part of our small general aviation world. Let me explain.

  1. When we determined we were stranded 463 nm from home, a friend immediately flew out there in a Mooney to pick us up.
  2. I needed a replacement turbo. Jimmy Garland at S&S Aviation came up with a serviceable one at a fair price.
  3. I needed a mechanic with the experience to replace the turbo. A BeechTalk forum member lives in the area and directed me to a mechanic that had the expertise. He was too busy to take it on, but directed me to another mechanic that said he could.
  4. I shipped the turbo and some other parts to that mechanic who drove an hour to my plane and removed the failed turbo.
  5. He got busy at his regular job and was not going to be able to put the replacement turbo on.
  6. I called a local to me mechanic who I’d been friends with for many years and had worked on my Mooney and 414, and he said he could go out there with me the next day which was this Tuesday.
  7. My son flew us out there in his twin Comanche. It was just too big a job to finish in one day, so everyone stayed overnight in Alexandria.
  8. Yesterday morning we finished. My son flew his twin Comanche home, and then after very careful inspections and a short test flight we flew an uneventful flight home.


This was a very stressful and expensive problem. But without the help of this community and the many helpful and giving people in it, I don’t know if I’d have ever got my plane back. I’m very grateful to everyone that did help and am looking forward to how I can give back.
 
Glad it all came together and got fixed!
 
Congrats on getting the plane home,I’ve found that most times people in G/A are willing to help you out if they can.
 
I don't dare ask the tally (I do have an idea though, and it does makes me shudder at the thought of carrying that kind of costs just for an AOG) for a turbo replacement as-shipped, plus out of state labor, R/R while off-station, plus lodging and incidentals associated with multiple trips out of state. Makes my mag AOG look like charity work by comparison. And that one took about the same time to get sorted out. Nothing complicated, but the same common denominator: nobody wants to tackle these jobs, and that's even when they know they have you over a barrel off-station mind you. Not indicative to me of a healthy segment.

To your second point, agreed, POA was a decent resource at the time, and folks were very willing to send out leads for the local area. That good will is certainly ever present in the community.

Glad to hear it's over.
 
A. Sue’s doing well. She moves slowly and carefully but gets around fine. Not sure how we’ll manage back and forth from lodge to cabins at Rough River. Just have to make it happen
B. I still have one probably large invoice yet to come. So don’t know full financial damage. Definitely a lot more than swapping a turbo at my home field. Would have been a lot more if not for the GA community’s help. But it’s fixed and home. Life goes on.
 
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