Let'sgoflying!
Touchdown! Greaser!
There are not many things I have done once each year, for 17 years straight - other than celebrating birthdays, anniversaries & other such calendar events.
This month was the 17th annual inspection for my Viking; I have had her since 1999. I bought her at 'Viking mecca'; from Mr. Jim Miller of (now defunct) Miller Flying Service at Plainview Tx. He would not negotiate on price, but he did allow me $30K in trade on my (souped-up) 150 and was the consummate gentleman all through the process.
The annual procedure is quite routine now, I follow the factory list of inspection and service items (one which I have modified through the years with my own additions); this involves opening all the wing covers (and experiencing the beautiful fragrance of... a furniture shop); there is always a ton of cleaning/eyeballing/testing firewall forward, as those 300 horses make a lot of vibration and heat. I added borescoping this year; everything looks ok according to the gurus, yay.
She has some quirks! Always check that alternator mount bushing for wear; that left front engine mount which always takes a beating, how are those mixture and throttle linkage bolts this year? The gear gets a lot of tlc at this time too... but it is a very simple system. I have the bushings, bolts, and seals on a schedule. It is rare to find a surprise at annual time. Once I found an exhaust leak on the non-cabin air side.
I have found a few things on preflight through the years but only once can I recall it end in a cancelled flight. Very rare to be stranded away with her. Once in Canada I stripped a mag gear and had to get it overhauled on the road (since then I have needlessly carried a spare mag everywhere!) Once in Gastons I blew the powerpac and slogged all the way home with the gear pinned. Midland, Tx - two greens on landing; busted gear light switch so I pinned the gear again but got home like that. Oh, another time a half hour out of San Angelo I lost all the hydraulic fluid and the gear would not come back up - leaky 50¢ seal.
I think that's about it; considering the many hours and miles traveled it is not bad.
We have seen a lot of the US together! Mountains, both oceans, the plains, lots of desert, many major cities, and several outback type places. From west Texas we have been to Miami; to California (BigBear, Harris Ranch, Catalina Island for lunch, Death Valley overnight, Yosemite - hiking to the top of HalfDome); many of the highlights of southern Utah (Bryce, Arches, LkPowell, Antelope Canyon, hiking to the top of Zion); Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, and Sedona in Az. A couple trips to the Baja, Mexico, to Toronto and Vancouver Island, Oshkosh, skiing many times in NM, the mountains of Idaho this spring (Stanley). We have been in many dust storms; in 50kt surface winds, landed on snow covered runways; gravel, grass and dirt runways; carried a little ice (Pine Bluff, AR); plenty of ifr and rain. Never gone missed although several times broke out at minimums. Skirted a couple of hundred west Texas thunderstorms, flown over open ocean for a hundred miles. Back and forth to in-laws who knows how many times, including with their poor cat (objects to any altitude changes). To weddings and funerals, to doctor visits, to take various tests, to visit faraway friends, and on many vacations. I got my comm & ifr tickets in her.
The seat in that airplane is the most comfortable seat I have ever sat in; airplanes or living room furniture included. And in general I feel really comfortable in that airplane, although I have not flown most of my hours in that airplane; of all airplanes I've flown, she is the one I have most hours in.
To conclude, I thank you fine Viking. You continue to serve me well and even if you fail tomorrow, you owe me nothing. You have been faithful, capable, reliable, inexpensive all these 17 years. I do not know what the future holds and understand that we all age. Perhaps we will be together for a while longer; that is my hope!
This month was the 17th annual inspection for my Viking; I have had her since 1999. I bought her at 'Viking mecca'; from Mr. Jim Miller of (now defunct) Miller Flying Service at Plainview Tx. He would not negotiate on price, but he did allow me $30K in trade on my (souped-up) 150 and was the consummate gentleman all through the process.
The annual procedure is quite routine now, I follow the factory list of inspection and service items (one which I have modified through the years with my own additions); this involves opening all the wing covers (and experiencing the beautiful fragrance of... a furniture shop); there is always a ton of cleaning/eyeballing/testing firewall forward, as those 300 horses make a lot of vibration and heat. I added borescoping this year; everything looks ok according to the gurus, yay.
She has some quirks! Always check that alternator mount bushing for wear; that left front engine mount which always takes a beating, how are those mixture and throttle linkage bolts this year? The gear gets a lot of tlc at this time too... but it is a very simple system. I have the bushings, bolts, and seals on a schedule. It is rare to find a surprise at annual time. Once I found an exhaust leak on the non-cabin air side.
I have found a few things on preflight through the years but only once can I recall it end in a cancelled flight. Very rare to be stranded away with her. Once in Canada I stripped a mag gear and had to get it overhauled on the road (since then I have needlessly carried a spare mag everywhere!) Once in Gastons I blew the powerpac and slogged all the way home with the gear pinned. Midland, Tx - two greens on landing; busted gear light switch so I pinned the gear again but got home like that. Oh, another time a half hour out of San Angelo I lost all the hydraulic fluid and the gear would not come back up - leaky 50¢ seal.
I think that's about it; considering the many hours and miles traveled it is not bad.
We have seen a lot of the US together! Mountains, both oceans, the plains, lots of desert, many major cities, and several outback type places. From west Texas we have been to Miami; to California (BigBear, Harris Ranch, Catalina Island for lunch, Death Valley overnight, Yosemite - hiking to the top of HalfDome); many of the highlights of southern Utah (Bryce, Arches, LkPowell, Antelope Canyon, hiking to the top of Zion); Monument Valley, Grand Canyon, and Sedona in Az. A couple trips to the Baja, Mexico, to Toronto and Vancouver Island, Oshkosh, skiing many times in NM, the mountains of Idaho this spring (Stanley). We have been in many dust storms; in 50kt surface winds, landed on snow covered runways; gravel, grass and dirt runways; carried a little ice (Pine Bluff, AR); plenty of ifr and rain. Never gone missed although several times broke out at minimums. Skirted a couple of hundred west Texas thunderstorms, flown over open ocean for a hundred miles. Back and forth to in-laws who knows how many times, including with their poor cat (objects to any altitude changes). To weddings and funerals, to doctor visits, to take various tests, to visit faraway friends, and on many vacations. I got my comm & ifr tickets in her.
The seat in that airplane is the most comfortable seat I have ever sat in; airplanes or living room furniture included. And in general I feel really comfortable in that airplane, although I have not flown most of my hours in that airplane; of all airplanes I've flown, she is the one I have most hours in.
To conclude, I thank you fine Viking. You continue to serve me well and even if you fail tomorrow, you owe me nothing. You have been faithful, capable, reliable, inexpensive all these 17 years. I do not know what the future holds and understand that we all age. Perhaps we will be together for a while longer; that is my hope!
