pilot's operating handbook and faa approved airplane flight manual

52 Pages·2009·8.73 MB·English

JULY 2008 VOLUME 35, NO. 7
The Official Membership Publication of
The International
Comanche Society
Y
ou Fly
The
Plane...
U
B
G
Programmable Redlines
-
Shock Cooling Alert
1
Differential Alarm
Trend Analysis 6
True Lean Detection
Data Recording...
and so much More!
We’ll
Watch
The Engine
L
5
-
Fuel Flow to .1 GPH
P
Multiple Fuel Alarms
FFuel Remaining & Used
Time to Empty w/ Alarm
Fuel Efficiency
GPS Interface w/ Alarms
Horsepower...and more!
Electronics International
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The Comanche Flyer
is the official monthly member
publication of the
International Comanche Society
Volume 35, No. 7 • July 2008
P.O. Box 1810
Traverse City, MI 49685-1810 www.comancheflyer.com
U.S.: 888-300-0082
Other: 231-946-3712 Published By the International Comanche Society, Inc.
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
CONTENTS
www.comancheflyer.com
2 Letter from the President Dave Fitzgerald
ICS President
Dave Fitzgerald Cover Story: Comanche Spirit
[phone] 4 8788Y – A Comanche by Anson A. Mount &
Cell: [phone] to Love All Over Again Gene Cummings
E-mail: [email protected]
Managing Editor 10 ICS Board of Directors & Tribe Chiefs
Kim Blonigen 2007-2008 ICS Standing Committees
E-mail: [email protected]
ICS Past Presidents
Display Advertising Manager
Genevieve Lyon 11 ICS Technical Directors
[phone] ICS Tool Loan Program
Fax: [phone] CFF-Trained CFIs
E-mail: [email protected]
Trading Post & Classified Advertising Letters to the Editor
Nancy A. Whitten 12 Warning of a Potential Problem
[phone]
How to Reduce the Cost of Flying?
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Technically Speaking
Graphic Design
13 Online Intelligence —
Brandon Hoffman
E-mail: [email protected] One-piece Windshield Installation
Printer Feature
Village Press 16 A “Fuelish” Tale by Don Ostergard
2779 Aero Park Drive
Traverse City, MI 49685-0629 19 ICS Membership Renewal Form
www.villagepress.com
ICS Technical Directors ICS 2008 Cruise Convention
Bill Creech 20 Join ICS to Celebrate
Tel: [phone] (9:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. MST) Comanche’s 50th Anniversary
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected] 22 Shirt Order Form
Dave Gitelman
Tel: [phone] (9:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. EST) Convention News
Cell: [phone] 24 Galveston – Where to Go, What to See
E-mail: [email protected]
ICS Tool Loan Program The Best of the Flyer
Matt Kurke 30 FAA Gives Good Advice by Glen Plymate
10340 Regent Circle
Naples, FL 34109 Fly-In Report
Ph: [phone] 32 Northeast Tribe Heads to Shenandoah by Dick Kuszyk
[email protected] Mountains for its Spring Fly-In
The Comanche Flyer (ISSN 08994223,
USPS 2-324) is available to members; Feature
the $25 annual subscription rate is included 36 Installation of Main Landing by Matt Kurke
in the Society’s Annual Membership dues Gear Bungees
in US funds below. Comanche Flyer is
published monthly by Village Press 39 ICS Name Badge Order Form
U.S., Canada, Mexico
One year $66, Two years $120 41 ICS Items for Sale
Europe and South Africa 42 From the Tribe Chiefs
One year $89, Two years $166
Australia, All other countries 43 Advertiser’s Index
One year $79, Two years $146
Spousal Members Feature
$33 per year 44 Flying the Comanche to the Bahamas by Charlie Littwin
Cover Photo
Gene Cummings’ 1969 PA-30C Piper Twin 46 Comanche Classifieds
Comanche, N8878Y, over Chicago.
Photo Credit: John Hill of Tigerhill Studios Last Laugh
Copyright Notice 48 The Pilot’s Prayer
The act of making a submission for publication is an
express warranty that such contribution does not infringe
on the rights or copyright of others. Nothing appearing
in the Comanche Flyer shall be reproduced or distributed
without the express permission of the publisher. INTERNATIONAL
Postmaster COMANCHE
Send address changes to the above address.
Periodical postage paid at Traverse City, MI 49686 SOCIETY, INC.
JULY 2008 Comanche Flyer • 1
Letter from the President
T
he world we live in today is very complex and as Larry Larkin, the
literally involves millions of people to make it work. Australian Tribe, and
Our airplanes are no less complex. It took many many others, has put
dedicated people, and a lot of engineering and parts to forth an extensive
make the Comanche what it is today. Our society is effort to develop a
likewise more complex than you might think, and there are comprehensive Flight
more volunteers involved than the average member might Training Program to
realize. As president, one of the first things I observed in help make us better
our society is the many members involved in making ICS pilots and optimisti-
run smoothly. In this article I would like to share some of cally get better rates
what it takes to make our society work, and mention just a from our insurance
few of the people that help make it happen. companies. Zach has
For those of you that wonder just what the ICS Officers added several new instructors to the program. He has a
and Board Members do, or are doing, we work with the many new twin Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) available, and
volunteers that spend their time and resources to help make is now in the process of developing one for the singles. The
our society function. It may not be very exciting to read entire program is in seminar form and should be available
about, but this is what it takes to keep our society running. later this year.
ICS Finance and Budget/Bylaws Chair is Don Nelson, who
Committee Chairs
works daily keeping our books balanced and in the black;
ICS Historical Chair, Dale Vandever, has been accumulating and our financial records and rules up to date. At the Board’s
and keeping records of the many activities of ICS through request, he is looking into making an ICS-sponsored credit
the years and has accumulated a considerable database of card available to our members, similar to the AOPA card.
maintenance information. Dale is working on a compendium Our Maintenance Chair is Skip Dykema. Skip has been
on the history of ICS, which he hopes to have in print working with Webco on the UPN action and has put together
sometime this year, or by early next year. That should be a team of some of our best IAs & APs to help support solving
an interesting article! this issue. It’s work like this, quietly being done behind the
Our Communications Chair is Bill Harris. Bill and his scenes, that helps keeps our Comanches flying without
team were instrumental in developing and maintaining the unnecessary ADs and maintenance issues.
ICS website and forum. Enough cannot be said about the The ICS Nominating Chair is Monica Rehkopf who, with
work they have accomplished. We would not be where we her team, has next year’s nomination slots all filled now.
are today, if it were not for their efforts. The announcement and bios of the nominees will be pub-
The Flight Operations Chair is Zach Grant. Zach, with lished in the August Flyer. Thanks Monica, we all know that
the cooperation of the Comanche Flyer Foundation, as well is not an easy task.
Comanche Flyer Submission Guidelines
All members are encouraged to submit articles for publication in the Comanche Flyer. If you have an article about
a maintenance event, trip, piloting technique, or anything else pertinent to Comanche ownership, please share it with
your fellow members.
For those with access to the Internet, please submit the article via e-mail, preferably in Microsoft Word. You may
also include the article in the body of your e-mail message. Include your full name, as you would like it published,
and your ICS number.
Please attach digital pictures, if applicable, in jpeg format. For best results, use the highest resolution setting your
camera will allow. Photo files under 500 kb in size typically do not reproduce well.
Send to: Kim Blonigen, Managing Editor at [email protected]
Articles and photos may also be sent via U.S. Mail to:
Kim Blonigen • 2031 South Beech • Wichita, KS 67207
Although submissions are reviewed for technical accuracy, the information in this magazine is meant for reference
only. Any modifications, alterations, or major repairs to U.S. aircraft require FAA-approved data as a basis for begin-
ning work, and as such should not be based solely on information contained in this magazine. The International
Comanche Society does not endorse any piloting adverse to published FAA regulations.
Submissions are subject to editing and revision unless specifically requested to be published as submitted. The right
is reserved to publish or not, any submission.
Deadline for all submissions is the 20th of the month, approximately 40 days prior to month of publication.
2 • Comanche Flyer JULY 2008
Our Elections Chair is Harley McGatha. Harley says he’s for our “50 for 50” celebration. We are looking forward to
ready to count, so don’t forget to vote and return your ballot. a great event both in the air, as well as on the ground.
ICS’s Marketing Chair is Dick Kuszyk. Dick is regularly Recently we had to move our website to another server.
in contact with Village Press discussing ways and means to A website is like a puzzle with many parts that have to be
maintain our organization’s membership, and incentives to correctly put together to make it work. I hope that by the
attract new members. time you read this, we will have most of the bugs worked
The Editorial Committee consists of five members who out. John Dunning, one of the original programmers of our
regularly help proof our Comanche Flyer magazine. The site, provided a considerable amount of help with this
members are Bernie Mazurek, Dale Vandever, Lorne move. We plan to continue improving our website and bring
Harmon, Phil Role, and myself. it up to today’s standards.
ICS Technical Advisors Bill Creech and Dave Gitelman, I am sure I have missed some of our projects, and many
along with several of our members, are answering technical of our volunteers. I APOLOGIZE for not remembering
and maintenance questions on our websites daily. every person and every task. That is not an indication that
Following are only some of the notable accomplishments your work is not important, it only indicates that you need
by our members during the last year or so. a president with a better memory.
Bruce Thumann and Dale Vandever led the project to If you do not have time to get involved with ICS at this
purchase the rights for the Doug Killough Pilot Operating point in your life, that’s certainly understandable. Your
Handbooks (POH) early last year. Bruce and his team refor- family and job always have to come first. Perhaps you could
matted the files and now all 15 manuals are available from find a few minutes to contact one or two of those who are
ICS through Webco Aircraft. serving and give them a “Good Job” or “Well Done” com-
Last year, Monica Rehkopf and her group completely ment of support to let them know you appreciate their
revised the ICS Tips Manual. This took many hours of efforts. The ICS has a willing and hard working slate of
hard work, and the manual can now be read or ordered Officers, Board Members and volunteers who work daily to
from our website. keep the society running and will continue to work to help
The South Central Tribe Convention Committee has keep you flying safe, your Comanche mechanically sound
been hard at work preparing for our upcoming seven-day and a sought-after airplane well into the future.
Caribbean Cruise this October. Conventions require an Dave Fitzgerald

enormous amount of time and work in order to be successful.
I am looking forward to this convention.
Bill Schnauffer, our North Central Tribe Convention
Leader and his crew are already well underway with plans
for the 2009 convention in Dayton, Ohio. Dayton is home
to the U.S. Air Force Museum and has the largest display
of military aircraft in the country. This is one you will not
want to miss!
FAA REPAIR STATION YYBR664L
CFF President Harley McGatha has been working with
Piper Aircraft to manufacture 100 new Stabilator Horn/ CUSTOM ENGINE
Torque Tube Assemblies so they will be available to
Comanche owners should they need one in the future. OVERHAULS
This is just another instance where our members are
thinking ahead in order to be prepared for any possible (and exchange)
maintenance issues.
CFF and some of our ICS members have put on several “A TOP RATED SHOP”
maintenance seminars during the last year. The turnout for - April 2005 Aviation Consumer
these seminars has been very good. As the fleet ages,
supporting maintenance will become an increasingly New limit standards, new cylinder
important task of your society. These seminars are very options, O.E.M. fuel systems,
informative and will help you better understand how to each engine balanced and test run.
keep your Comanche in top mechanical condition.
Bill Creech, one of our technical advisors and a long-time * T.B.O. WARRANTY *
member, is working on a new manual titled “How to
Maintain Your Single Comanche.” This manual should Cylinder & Accessory Service
be available soon.
For the first time, ICS and CFF will have their own tent
[phone]
at the largest general aviation event in the country,
AirVenture 2008. We plan to have several educational
seminars on safety and maintenance. CFF’s new gear simu- www.poplargroveairmotive.com
lator will also be available to help everyone understand the E-mail: [email protected]
emergency gear procedure for their Comanche. Also, Zach 11619 Rt. 76 Poplar Grove, IL 61065
Grant, for the second year in a row, has been working with
the FAA and the EAA to arrange another mass arrival
JULY 2008 Comanche Flyer • 3
C O M A N C H E
Cover Story: Comanche Spirit
4 • Comanche Flyer JULY 2008
C O M A N C H E
8788Y —
A Comanche
to Love All
Over Again
by Anson A. Mount, ICS #16368 & Gene Cummings, ICS #1209
Y
ou’ll love this airplane,” he said Ferrying the Twin back to the U.S.
to me. He was right. Gene proved to be a bit more challenging. A
Cummings had found the first highly regarded ferry pilot from
airplane he had ever owned and loved, England was contacted to do the trip.
a 1969 PA-30C Piper Twin Comanche Stuart Mills had flown a large number
still sporting its original registration of of trans-Atlantic ferry flights including
N8788Y. I am the Director of a few Twin Comanches. After getting
Maintenance for his corporate flight all of the necessary paperwork in order Torn down and ready for upgrades.
department which consists of a Falcon (and onboard), a long and problemat-
10 business jet, a Cessna 340A and ic ferry process began. The flight is be a misadjusted ground/flight switch),
now the PA-30. Gene had purchased well documented on Stuart’s web page a failed altitude encoder, a broken
88Y new in 1970 and later co-owned (http://web.mac.com/stuartrmills/ exhaust pipe which created a lengthy
it with a friend. Years later it was sold iWeb/site/Welcome.html, click on delay on the Greenland ice cap and a
and ferried to Europe. Gene received “Twin Comanche” and “Twin Comanche clogged fuel injector in New York. We
a tip that his old Twin Comanche was Again” for pictures and details). watched in anticipation for weeks as
up for sale again. He, along with our Several stops were made over many Stuart sent pictures of the trip’s prog-
pilot, Ty Englehardt, immediately flew weeks due to weather and mechanical ress along the way. The Comanche
commercial to see the TwinCo at an delays. The ferry route traversed was finally delivered on a cold, sunny
airport in Auxerre, France. The air- England, Ireland, the Faroe Islands, day in January and, after a brief cer-
plane was inspected on a cold, foggy Iceland, Greenland and Canada. emony, work was started investigating
day in December and arrangements Failures ranged from no gear retrac- and disassembling the airplane for what
for purchase were made on the spot. tion after takeoff (which turned out to I felt needed to be corrected.
JULY 2008 Comanche Flyer • 5
Spirit
The Investigation Inspection
Although the engines had been
replaced with factory new units
roughly 600 hours previous, they were
over 12 years old and had done their
share of sitting. I was concerned about
internal corrosion. I pulled a cylinder
from each engine to take a look inside
each crankcase. I was surprised to see
that the engines were in good order.
There was a brownish film on the
camshaft, but the lobes looked good
with no signs of unusual wear.
Needless to say, the oil and filters
were replaced and oil analysis was
started. I replaced all of the spark
plugs as well, along with general,
under the cowl, housekeeping.
The props were overhauled at the
same time, but were the same age, so
we decided to remove them for over-
haul along with both governors. It was
a good decision since the springs were
out of tolerance and there was corro-
sion on the cylinder walls. The exhaust
system appeared to be in good shape
however we had concerns about its
condition, due to the fact a weld had
failed over the North Atlantic and
caused the delay in Greenland. During
that event, we hired an A&P to travel
to the aircraft to assess and repair.
Ultimately we decided to completely
replace both exhaust systems with
new assemblies from Aerospace
Welding. I also removed and resealed
all engine induction tubes. This is a
simple job that often nets huge results
in performance.
The belly of the airplane was black
with soot from the heater malfunc-
tioning. This had been a chronic
problem with the previous owner and,
seeing that the decay tests were due,
we decided to replace the heater with
a new C&D unit. Since fuel quantity
indication was not reliable, all four
fuel sending units were replaced with
repaired units from Air Parts of Lock
Haven and calibration was verified.
After getting the airplane back
together, we flew it for the first time
since it was flown here from over-
seas. I was pleasantly surprised with
its performance. The props were a bit
out of balance, but that wasn’t too
surprising considering they were
fresh from overhaul. We put a few
trips on 88Y before delivering it to
Northern Air/Mayday Avionics in
Grand Rapids, Mich. for a thorough
annual and extensive airframe and
8878Y’s panel before (top), during tear out (middle) and after (bottom). avionics upgrades.
6 • Comanche Flyer JULY 2008
The Big Job Begins
Mayday Avionics and Northern Air
were chosen for the job. The shops are
co-located and had just completed a
Cessna 340A upgrade for us a few
months prior and had done an excep-
tional job. The avionics work was
carefully thought out by our flight
department over several weeks. We
knew what we wanted. Unfortunately
the PA30C panel can only hold so
much. The staff at Mayday worked with
us and submitted several variations
before deciding to cut and install our
new panel. The only major compromise
was to omit one of the two Garmin
GNS430W and install a Garmin GL-20
Nav/Com in its place, along with an
Avidyne EX500 with optional C-Max
Charts, XM Weather and Traffic
Collision Avoidance, a Garmin GMA-347
Audio Panel, a GTX-327 Transponder,
a Sandel SN 3500 EHSI with a King
KSG105 remote directional gyro, a
Shadin ADC-200 air data and fuel flow
system, a P2 Audio Advisory system,
a KR87 ADF, an Artex 406MHz ELT, a
new KNI-582 RMI, a Continental
MD4200 Standby Attitude Gyro with
battery backup, and an S-Tec 55X
Autopilot with altitude pre-select. I
cannot say enough good things about
the S-Tec 55X autopilot.
Needless to say, all antennas and
associated feed lines were replaced. All
instruments were sent out for recali-
bration, including engine and fuel
gauges, to Air Parts of Lock Haven. The
gear retraction motor and transmis-
sion, and flap actuator were inspected
and repaired and fuel selectors and
associated micro-switches and fuel
pumps, were also sent to Air Parts of
Lock Haven for overhaul. The airplane
was now torn apart for everything
we had asked both the airframe and
avionics shop to do.
The horizontal stabilizer was disas-
sembled to inspect for corrosion, as well
as to verify whether or not Piper Service
Letter #679 had been performed. As it
turned out, it had been partially com-
pleted. What we thought were cracks
turned out to be tooling marks. The
vertical stabilizer was removed in the
process of assessing this, so a good
overall inspection of the tail was com-
pleted and Kit 760-783 was installed.
The entire flight control system was
properly rigged by Northern Air’s
main PA-30 guru, Maurice, who also
performed most of the work I am
describing. He is very patient and
extremely knowledgeable.
JULY 2008 Comanche Flyer • 7
All landing gear components, previously installed under STC and
including strut housings, were removed requires no additional panel space by
and re-bushed, and all hardware displaying on the Garmin 430W.
replaced. New gear conduits were Some final touches were to have
installed, the gear retract motor was the tail beacon replaced with a new
re-worked and Comanche Gear indi- Whelen flashing unit. The original
cator lights and strut switches replaced “tiger-shark” nose bowls were
the original units. All three wheels and reworked and re-painted to match the
both brake assemblies were replaced still glistening 1992 paint job. We tried
by Cleveland components. The nose to replace all of the rocker switches,
gear well canvas cover was incredibly but had a difficult time finding all of
worn out and needed replacement, so them. Piper ended up manufacturing
Repairing the tail. I had a new one fabricated locally. At and selling me the minimum required
this time, we decided to have the 25 each of the boost pump switches
A brake pedal system was added on magnetos and ignition harnesses so that I could have two. Plane Plastics
the right-hand side. This initially replaced for good measure.
A look at the inside of the avionics
sounded simple to us, but turned out Something that I have seen with
installation.
to be an extremely difficult task to many piston airplanes, and both air-
perform, let alone to find parts for. craft that we operate, is the removal
Preferred Airparts was able to furnish of the factory fuel flow indicator in
many of the components needed to order to replace it with a digital fuel
install the right-hand pedals along flow counter. We wanted a classic
with some help from the ICS ranks. (and certified) look with 88Y so I
Ultimately we found what was needed. found an original Piper fuel flow indi-
The decision was made to powder cator (from an ICS member) and had
coat both left- and right-hand pedals it recertified and the face repainted.
to reduce wear and give them a new This was installed in place of the digi-
look. Northern Air, once again, tal unit, and is now complemented by
excelled at the task of researching a Shadin ADC-200 which uses the
and installing this system. same fuel flow counters that were
8 • Comanche Flyer JULY 2008