It’s been a very busy month for me. We’ve had a number of projects on the go at home that have taken time away from flying and it’s now been over 2 weeks since I flew. Oh well, the forecast for the weekend looks good and both planes are serviceable (except for a dead transponder on the 150). In addition to the home renovations (new kitchen, siding, and windows) underway, I finally got a start in at the Buttercup. I’ve started to build the wing rib jig.
One of my other projects has been the upgrade to the Cessna 150. With the help of Caviler Aviation and Canadian Avionics, I have added new carpets, interior panels, door and window seals, repaired the door and window latches, installed a cowl Camlock fastener kit, installed a new King KX-125 with glideslope, encoder, and PS Engineering audio panel with a built-in intercom. I was quite pleased with the work done by both companies and I’m very happy with the results. The only thing that really needs attention is the engine, now 300 hrs beyond TBO. It’s running well with good compression and a clean oil screen, but it has been a bit hard to start lately.
As many of you know, this project, like Garrett’s new top-secret project, now sports two engines! OK, they won’t both be installed at the same time, but the project definitely does have two engines now. This development was the result of a fax I received from AIG insurance saying that they had accepted my bid on a 1970 Cessna 150K, which Hurricane Wilma had turned into a “kit.” I had bid on the plane primarily for the engine, which was overhauled in 2004 by a certified shop in Florida and had accumulated only 103 hrs since then. This still leaves me with a low-time engine, but not one that’s been sitting, unused for two years… in other words, the perfect prize. What made this venture even more profitable was the fact that the high-time engine currently on the 150 is a perfectly good candidate for the Buttercup project. This I plan to overhaul myself when the project progresses to the firewall-forward stage.
So, now I was faced with a little problem; I now owned an unflyable aircraft located in… FLORIDA! Although I had other options, I decided to go to Groveland, Florida, and retrieve the C-150 myself.
When I told Dad of my new plane and the plan to drive to Florida, he suggested that he would be interested in joining me for the trip. Air Miles to the rescue! I had him booked on a flight from Newfoundland before he could change his mind.
The next challenge was to get a trailer capable of bringing home my prize. It just so happens that I have a 17’ boat trailer with a tilting feature. It took me about a week to build a 12’ x 7.5’ flat deck from 2×6 and ¾” plywood, complete with new lights and wiring.
We left at 7 AM on Friday, February 17, rearing to go, only to be caught for an hour on the Calf Robe Bridge! Everyone asked me how I made out bringing the plane back across the border, which was a non-event. However, when the US Border guys heard that I was going to Florida to retrieve an airplane, we ended up with a 1.5-hour delay while they made sure that we had the correct paperwork to “export a plane.” Finally, with 2.5 hours wasted, we were on our way again. We didn’t get as far as we had hoped that day, but we did make it through Montana, Wyoming, and into Spearfish, South Dakota. The next day, we made good time across South Dakota (due to a 75 mph speed limit), then through Iowa and most of the way through Missouri, where we spent the night in St. Louis.
The temperatures finally started warming up on Sunday from the -20 to -40 C we had been experiencing to around the freezing mark, but it was still unseasonably cold. We made it through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and into Florida on Sunday, where we spent the night about two hours from the salvage yard.
Finally, warm weather! We made it to the salvage yard at about 10 AM to a sight I hadn’t expected. The yard was roughly carved out of the Florida forest and sat behind a couple of rural houses. There were hundreds of aircraft there, and they all looked so derelict and forlorn. After a short search, we located N6095G near a back gate with a flat tire. The yard owner had offered us as much help as we wanted to load up for a flat rate of $100, which we accepted. 15 minutes later, the fuselage was sitting on the trailer thanks to a crane.
The trailer had been carefully measured to allow the plane to sit tail-first and still have enough room under the fuselage and between the landing gear for the wings and tail to be strapped down. We decided that with the extremely light tongue weight, it would be best to remove the engine and secure it on top of a tire in the back of the truck instead. That took about two hours to accomplish.
Everything was still coated with a layer of grime when we left, and I was a little disappointed in the airframe components. We left the salvage yard and started heading home, stopping about 30 minutes later to check everything out. The only problem I noticed was that the broken rear window was slowly disintegrating. Duct tape to the rescue. Another interesting thing noted as well, the plane’s coat of grime was gone! Hmmm, it doesn’t look that bad now. That evening we drove through showers as we made our way to a motel just north of Atlanta. By the next morning, not only was the grime gone, but the plane was actually somewhat shiny!
The drive back was pretty easy until we got into Wyoming. We had spent the night just north of Kansas City, and by 6 PM on Wednesday, we were just hitting the first snow showers of the trip at the Wyoming/South Dakota border. The roads still seemed good, so we continued through at about 100 KPH, a bit lower than the 120 KPH speed limit. Traffic was light, and I followed the couple of vehicles ahead of us as they passed a snowplow. I hadn’t made it 100 m ahead of the plow when my nightmare came to life! The truck had shifted to a lower gear as we started up the incline, and the increased torque was enough to break the rear tires free on what I now realize was black ice! We fishtailed back and forth about five or six times before I got the whole mess back under control. The saving grace was getting on the ABS brakes. As soon as I hit them, the oscillations started slowing down, but it was still pretty freaky to see the sides of the trailer in the rearview mirrors as the trailer tried to jackknife! Fortunately, we were on an interstate highway with two lanes and two shoulders to work with. I pulled over and let the sander pass by me and pulled out behind it. 500 meters later, he pulled off the road, leaving us to fend for ourselves on the icy roads.
We drove about seven hours that night at 50-60 KPH before finally getting into Montana and finding a motel. The roads were terrible. I expected the same conditions right across Montana the next day, but by the time we got to Billings, we had clear, dry roads all the way to the Alberta border. The last leg of the trip was done in blowing snow, which reduced our speed to about 70 KPH. It took us five hours to get from Coutts back to Calgary, but we arrived safely at about 9:30 on Friday evening. The trip took exactly one week and covered 8,980 km and seven books on tape!
Friday morning, I dropped the engine off at Stauffer’s for a health check and test run. As of this writing, I’ve heard back that the crankshaft is good. The spinner had been crushed, leaving us a little concerned about the crank despite the fact that the prop itself turned out to be undamaged! This was a welcome surprise as I hadn’t expected to get a good prop out of the deal. The radios were basically junk (an old KX-145 and Narco AT-50), but the instruments look good. The one thing I wanted from this plane was a clock to replace the unserviceable one in C-FCUT. Wouldn’t you know it, the new clock is also unserviceable.
I’ll need to do a little work on the engine before installing it. I’ve just ordered a lightweight Sky Tec starter to convert the plane from a “pull-type” starter to a “push-button type” starter. I’ve also ordered an oil filter kit for it as the stock engine only has a screen. We will need to NDT the engine mount when we swap the engine and check over the exhaust and baffles. Fortunately, the new engine has a good set of both to go back on. I hope to have it completed by the end of March.
Was it worth it? Absolutely! The trip was really enjoyable and gave me a chance to spend some quality time with my Dad. I’m sure we solved all the world’s problems. Cost-wise, I ended up spending about $4,000 less than the quote to overhaul my current engine, plus I now have a good core engine and a ton of good parts for the Buttercup. For anyone building an experimental, this is definitely an option worth exploring. If anyone is interested in bidding on their own salvage aircraft, check out the following sites:
http://www.aigaviation.com/salvage/salvage_List.aspx
http://www.phoenixaviationmgrs.com/pamweb.nsf/WebAuction?OpenForm
http://www.kwsalvage.com/list.asp
Calgary Recreational Flying Club YYC 