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BC12-D N43928 was the pride and joy of Mr Glen Jeffries. Glen has gone west and the family asked Doc and me to get the plane back in the air.
So after several months of work, today was the first flight of 43928 since 1993.
Doc and I trailered the plane from Edna, Texas down in the coastal bend region to Bulverde, Texas near San Antonio. We cleaned out mounds of mud daubers, replaced the struts, replaced the bungees, and went through the plane from nose to tail. The fabric is old, but serviceable, the control cables were rusted and really scary so now all are new, the exhaust was rusted through in a few places and is now repaired, and the wind generator and lawn tractor battery were removed--well things are kind of laid back down on the coast and I guess Glen figured a lawn tractor battery was as good as any if all you needed was a radio for avionics... A lot of wiring was removed because it was old and brittle, but someday I hope to see the wind generator system restored and remounted.
In current configuration the plane weighs 778 lbs. Prop is a McCauley 74-43, Lang tail wheel. The engine is still strong after sitting all those years on the Gulf coast with all compressions above 70. Suspicious goo from ancient oil on the oil screen led to an engine flush with a bit of varsol. Outer wheel bearings are new. Brake linings were excellent, Bungees were donated courtesy of Mike Rice and new landing gear bumpers were fabricated and installed as part of the cleanup. The oil temperature gauge that was in the plane had a bottom figure of 140 degrees F. I couldn't handle that so a new gauge with 100F as a minimum was installed.
This plane is 48lbs lighter than my BC12-D, so I was pleased at how quickly the tail came up when adding power. I tried a high speed taxi (OK, some poetic license taken with the term "high speed"). The plane tracked nicely and there were no control issues at 45 mph, so I back taxied (runway 16 at 1T8). Wind was 10 kts with no cross wind component. Doc used his hand-held radio from the tarmac to monitor/advise traffic. ( I left my headset adapter at home so the radio was useless in the plane, mea culpa.)
Lift off was quick - under 400 feet with the headwind and only 6 gallons fuel on board. I leveled off at 20 feet AGL and tried a tentative roll left and right, no problem so established a 65 mph climb and reached pattern altitude as I turned down wind even flying a tight track. I departed the pattern and climbed to 2000 ft AGL. After level off I left the throttle wide open and was able to reach 90 mph and 2300 RPM. I think the AS indicator may read a little low. The lateral control was dead-on so the new struts were adjusted correctly - glorious! I performed clearing turns followed by a power-on stall. The nose picture for this stall was much higher than for my plane and it broke at 32 mph indicated. Hmmm, I think the AS may read a little low. I performed a power-off stall. The plane did not want to break, but finally at 35 mph indicated it rocked and mushed. Back to the traffic pattern! I flew a 80, 70, 60 pattern for downwind, base and final airspeeds. For this plane and this AS indicator this felt slightly hot, but it was gusty and it never hurts to add 5 knots for the wife and kids unless it is a short field. Touch down three point was easy, although I had to pay attention not to balloon with the extra speed. I did a full stop and taxi back for another circuit. This time I flew 65 mph indicated on final and wheel landed with no difficulty.
I think I need to tell the owner that it will be at least 40 hours of test flying before I can let him have his plane back. Actually, there are only three squawks to clean up: The idle speed is too low, the right jury strut is not quite lined up straight, and the front trim pulley slips too much. All easy fixes. Glen, I hope you were smiling because Doc and I certainly were.
So after several months of work, today was the first flight of 43928 since 1993.
Doc and I trailered the plane from Edna, Texas down in the coastal bend region to Bulverde, Texas near San Antonio. We cleaned out mounds of mud daubers, replaced the struts, replaced the bungees, and went through the plane from nose to tail. The fabric is old, but serviceable, the control cables were rusted and really scary so now all are new, the exhaust was rusted through in a few places and is now repaired, and the wind generator and lawn tractor battery were removed--well things are kind of laid back down on the coast and I guess Glen figured a lawn tractor battery was as good as any if all you needed was a radio for avionics... A lot of wiring was removed because it was old and brittle, but someday I hope to see the wind generator system restored and remounted.
In current configuration the plane weighs 778 lbs. Prop is a McCauley 74-43, Lang tail wheel. The engine is still strong after sitting all those years on the Gulf coast with all compressions above 70. Suspicious goo from ancient oil on the oil screen led to an engine flush with a bit of varsol. Outer wheel bearings are new. Brake linings were excellent, Bungees were donated courtesy of Mike Rice and new landing gear bumpers were fabricated and installed as part of the cleanup. The oil temperature gauge that was in the plane had a bottom figure of 140 degrees F. I couldn't handle that so a new gauge with 100F as a minimum was installed.
This plane is 48lbs lighter than my BC12-D, so I was pleased at how quickly the tail came up when adding power. I tried a high speed taxi (OK, some poetic license taken with the term "high speed"). The plane tracked nicely and there were no control issues at 45 mph, so I back taxied (runway 16 at 1T8). Wind was 10 kts with no cross wind component. Doc used his hand-held radio from the tarmac to monitor/advise traffic. ( I left my headset adapter at home so the radio was useless in the plane, mea culpa.)
Lift off was quick - under 400 feet with the headwind and only 6 gallons fuel on board. I leveled off at 20 feet AGL and tried a tentative roll left and right, no problem so established a 65 mph climb and reached pattern altitude as I turned down wind even flying a tight track. I departed the pattern and climbed to 2000 ft AGL. After level off I left the throttle wide open and was able to reach 90 mph and 2300 RPM. I think the AS indicator may read a little low. The lateral control was dead-on so the new struts were adjusted correctly - glorious! I performed clearing turns followed by a power-on stall. The nose picture for this stall was much higher than for my plane and it broke at 32 mph indicated. Hmmm, I think the AS may read a little low. I performed a power-off stall. The plane did not want to break, but finally at 35 mph indicated it rocked and mushed. Back to the traffic pattern! I flew a 80, 70, 60 pattern for downwind, base and final airspeeds. For this plane and this AS indicator this felt slightly hot, but it was gusty and it never hurts to add 5 knots for the wife and kids unless it is a short field. Touch down three point was easy, although I had to pay attention not to balloon with the extra speed. I did a full stop and taxi back for another circuit. This time I flew 65 mph indicated on final and wheel landed with no difficulty.
I think I need to tell the owner that it will be at least 40 hours of test flying before I can let him have his plane back. Actually, there are only three squawks to clean up: The idle speed is too low, the right jury strut is not quite lined up straight, and the front trim pulley slips too much. All easy fixes. Glen, I hope you were smiling because Doc and I certainly were.
Attached Files
N43928 is an absoluely delightful ship to fly...Mark and I put 2 hours and 12 landings on her this weekend prior to finishing up the extremely minor squawks this evening. She is ready for her sendoff tomorrow. We were very pleased with the control responsiveness after all of the cables were replaced. The rudder trim tab only needed an "ootch" of bend to get her to the right. I agree with Mark...she feels like a light ship (at least compared to my 1946 BC12-D N43306). The engine (for being cold for so long) runs smoothly, sounds great with the repaired exhaust, and is now set for 550 rpm at idle. The prop 337 finally went through...it was a bigger deal than expected, but it is now legal. Mark was able to also get a 337 approved on the McCauley 1B90 I procurred for N43306. We will miss this bird...the current weather in South Texas is perfect for ragwing flying right now! One interesting note...this is really a 1946 model that was owned by a TC dealership until 1947...and somehow morphed into a 1947 along the way. That data was gleaned from the FAA CD obtained by Mike Rice...we send him our thanks! Doc
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