Tweet
Hi Guys / Ladies,
My F22A Tri Gear G-BWBI is back flying again! (last flew April 2008 ) when it suffered a dreaded Tank leak which resulted in the usual wing removal followed by welding to the tank brackets ( why oh why did they design them so that you have to remove the wing to do a proper job!) This occured only 5 hours flying time after I purchased the aircraft, so stressful to say the least!
During the "downtime" I managed to get the aircraft transferred from EASA care to a UK CAA Annex11 which makes maintainance easier in the UK and slightly cheaper! I also had the 3 yearly "touch it and leave it" Annual completed plus the Lycoming 400 hr Valves / guides check (the aircraft has done less than 400 hrs from new so it flew through that bit!) Plus the lift struts bracket AD - I decided to take the "financial hit and pain" in one go!
I must admit it felt great to fly her again as this is the first aircraft I have ever owned outright being a somewhat novice Pilot and boy have I had a steep learning curve and frustration at every step of the way as I had to take over total management of the project after the owner of the maintenance unit disappeared to the States on a nine month contract! without my considerable input she would still be in bits but that is another story! suffice to say I feel proud of what I achieved with my limited knowlege and good man management skills!
I find she is "a bit bouncy" after the trusted group C172 which I had flown regularly in the interim but she felt good all the same. I even managed to sell my share in the C172 a few days beforehand which will help the financial pain! I have just got to hope that the tank bracket welds hold out and that the other tank dosn't decide to spring a leak - but what the hell she is flying and thats all that matters right now! I even gave her a wash and Polish at the weekend and she is now the star of the hangar in the eyes of visitors and there are some far more expensive rivals! I think the only thing that kept me sane through all this was having the C172 to fly so I "take my hat off" to people who manage to do rebuilds with nothing else to fly only dreams!
A bit of history about the aircraft as she is the only Tri gear F22A known to be in the UK and probably Europe and she was flown over from the factory together with her sister which is based at leicester airport Uk. They were fitted with "Bladder tanks" in the P2 seat for the trip which features in Chet Peaks Taylorcraft history book.
I just want to experience some Taylorcraft magic now please!
Bob P.
My F22A Tri Gear G-BWBI is back flying again! (last flew April 2008 ) when it suffered a dreaded Tank leak which resulted in the usual wing removal followed by welding to the tank brackets ( why oh why did they design them so that you have to remove the wing to do a proper job!) This occured only 5 hours flying time after I purchased the aircraft, so stressful to say the least!
During the "downtime" I managed to get the aircraft transferred from EASA care to a UK CAA Annex11 which makes maintainance easier in the UK and slightly cheaper! I also had the 3 yearly "touch it and leave it" Annual completed plus the Lycoming 400 hr Valves / guides check (the aircraft has done less than 400 hrs from new so it flew through that bit!) Plus the lift struts bracket AD - I decided to take the "financial hit and pain" in one go!
I must admit it felt great to fly her again as this is the first aircraft I have ever owned outright being a somewhat novice Pilot and boy have I had a steep learning curve and frustration at every step of the way as I had to take over total management of the project after the owner of the maintenance unit disappeared to the States on a nine month contract! without my considerable input she would still be in bits but that is another story! suffice to say I feel proud of what I achieved with my limited knowlege and good man management skills!
I find she is "a bit bouncy" after the trusted group C172 which I had flown regularly in the interim but she felt good all the same. I even managed to sell my share in the C172 a few days beforehand which will help the financial pain! I have just got to hope that the tank bracket welds hold out and that the other tank dosn't decide to spring a leak - but what the hell she is flying and thats all that matters right now! I even gave her a wash and Polish at the weekend and she is now the star of the hangar in the eyes of visitors and there are some far more expensive rivals! I think the only thing that kept me sane through all this was having the C172 to fly so I "take my hat off" to people who manage to do rebuilds with nothing else to fly only dreams!
A bit of history about the aircraft as she is the only Tri gear F22A known to be in the UK and probably Europe and she was flown over from the factory together with her sister which is based at leicester airport Uk. They were fitted with "Bladder tanks" in the P2 seat for the trip which features in Chet Peaks Taylorcraft history book.
I just want to experience some Taylorcraft magic now please!
Bob P.
Comment