Steve's son Lee spent the weekend with his sister, I flew him home this morning. He had some trouble getting strapped into my plane. Apparently, it was his first time in the back seat with a Hooker, and he didn't know what to do.
Harness, that is.
On the way home, short final into Andalusia Alabama for fuel, we managed to break the ceeepest part on a Sky Wagon, Yup the roll pin that holds the trim chain sprocket to the left jack screw backed out and sheered off. So a short 5.5 hours later with many thanks to Steve Pierce and Ken Lamp for the remote assist(s) two really good (but not Wagoners) local mechanics got it back together. Andalusia is a really friendly place, great stop with a diner on the field. Ended up overnight and had anouther epic meal in town.
Eddie, if you’re seeing this make double sure you safety wire those bloomen roll pins in.
Got out early the next morning to payback winds and home safe with a great fuel stop at Pine Bluff AR.
That is excellent news. I was lucky and the sprocket was still good, the front one was worn at the pin hole and we re-drilled it at 90 degrees on last annual. That front sprocket at the trim wheel is like $1300 from Cessna.What was interesting is I had just had a long discussion with Bill Duncan about those aluminum pulleys, spring still roll pins and 4130 jackscrew. The pulley gets loose on the pin and they shear. More great things for Skywagons on the way from Bushwheel Bill.
I think you went over the top of us as we went into Saint Pete.9.5 hours on Saturday 3/16/19 north bound home 20 plus knot headwind in my Bonanza from north Florida all the way home to Minneapolis. Glad I wasn’t flying anything slower. And yes Signature flight support is expensive and over priced in KeyWest
View attachment 42000
Yup, had one of those roll pins fall out on a brand new 180 with ferry time only on it. Had to take off the whole tail to get at it. This was before Cessna installed the access panels underneath.On the way home, short final into Andalusia Alabama for fuel, we managed to break the ceeepest part on a Sky Wagon, Yup the roll pin that holds the trim chain sprocket to the left jack screw backed out and sheered off. So a short 5.5 hours later with many thanks to Steve Pierce and Ken Lamp for the remote assist(s) two really good (but not Wagoners) local mechanics got it back together. Andalusia is a really friendly place, great stop with a diner on the field. Ended up overnight and had anouther epic meal in town.
Eddie, if you’re seeing this make double sure you safety wire those bloomen roll pins in.
Eddie, if you’re seeing this make double sure you safety wire those bloomen roll pins in.
Mine are McFarland screws, so you still need to safety wire the damn roll pins in!I installed a pair of McFarlane jack screws. They have an upgraded, beefier sprocket and roll pin.
https://www.mcfarlaneaviation.com/products/product/1111/
Mine are McFarland screws, so you still need to safety wire the damn roll pins in!
Eddie, my bad they are Cessna. Seller told me McFarland but the part sheet in the “big binder” says Cessna.Do they have the larger diameter (5/32) roll pin? When were they installed?
An update on my Death Valley Jaunt - had a great time, except - - -I flew to Chicken Strip, thinking to land and look around - HOWEVER, it was blocked with some large tires at two different locations in the middle, on centerline. In my opinion the blockages make it unusable, which was undoubtedly the intention of whoever put them there. Decidedly poor behavior on somebody's part.
any chance that the strip is in poor condition and that someone put out the tires to prevent someone having a problem?
I've flown under those two bridges and landed in that river.View attachment 42333
No place to land but the Hudson River