My Purchase Adventure

[ghancock]

lol,

yeah, about that frustration part.. :-)

I guess my main problem with this particular plane has not been the plane itself but the fact that the shop is in Tennessee and I'm in Georgia and haven't been able to see it much.  I like doing a lot of my own work and not used to having my bird off somewhere else.  But, hopefully that is about to change.

Glenn

[ghancock]

Well, Andreas sent me a few pictures of them pulling the plane out to run it.  The tanks are full and no leaks.  However, they couldn't get the left engine started and it looks like it blew some sort of fuel leak.  He said he finally got it started but then shut it down because of the fuel leaking out, which really wasn't just fuel because it's really blue and really a thick oily mess.  I was really looking forward to finally getting to fly her but not looking good at the moment.  Will keep my fingers crossed.

I asked them if they were sure they got the timing right because they had the mags off to put new gaskets on.  He said he's pretty certain they are set right but at this point they're going to pull them back off and check again.

As a side note:  She sure looks good all put back together. :-)

Glenn

[Adam Frisch]

Sorry to hear that, Glenn. Airplanes can be very frustrating at times. Out of the 3 planes I've owned, I've spent more time waiting for them to come out of the shop than I ever have flying them. Just how it is, I suppose. But once the gremlins are out of the system, you should have some nice flying time.

[ghancock]

Yeah, I guess that is what is stressing me out more than anything on this one.  I'm usually in the shop working on them myself which keeps things moving (at least in my head) and it doesn't bother me as much.  Having it off somewhere else that I can't even visit often makes it rough for my hands. :-)


Coming out of the shop for the first time in 3 months to be run


Getting the tanks filled up the last little bit to make sure there were no more leaks


No leaks so safety wiring the bolts back together to prepare to close it up.

https://youtu.be/Uy1-yJySyWQ

Video of them trying to start the engine.  This was when I started asking about the mags because it seemed strange it was not starting like it did when it went into the shop and the only they'd touched on it was the mags.  It also seemed a bit off to me.  They confirmed they had set the mags properly though so no idea what is going on.


Then I got picture of this and a message that they had gotten the engine started and shortly after this started happening so they shut it back down.

I think I'm going to take off work and fly up today to see for myself what is going on with it.  Hopefully it will be running and we can go fly! :-)


Glenn

[Adam Frisch]

Skydrol is an excellent paint stripper, so don't let it sit too long on the surface. Hope you get her flying today.

[ghancock]

Yeah, but that isn't skydrol.  The hydraulic system seems to be 100% now.  They just sent another text that they have retimed both engines and retarded them a bit to see if that fixes the issue.  Here is the picture of her going out into the rain to try to start them up again.  Andreas said he doesn't think anything got hurt yesterday so hoping that she starts up this time without incident.



I think the oil and gas dripped down on the inside of the doors while they were opened and when they got closed and the air started blowing through it just leaked out the top.  So not thinking the fuel and oil picture is much of anything.

Will keep you posted

Glenn

[Stephen Matusick]

Fingers crossed for you today- she's a pretty bird!!!

[Willis]

Fingers crossed for you today- she's a pretty bird!!!

+1

[Adam Frisch]

I'm glad you took over Moe's plane. By now I'm sure you've heard all there is about him. Moe Mills was just one of those vital, larger than life characters that make this world a little bit more interesting. He was always a pleasure to be around. The last few years when he moved to NM, he still serviced it in LA with my mechanics at Security Aviation. I often bumped into him when he'd just flown over to borrow the Skydrol mule or dropped in to see his old business or meet some girl... I know the last few years he flew quite a bit less, and didn't perhaps always address all his maintenance needs, but he always kept her going and in annual.

It was a very sad chock to all of us in the Commander community when we heard about his terrible fluke passing.

[ghancock]

Yeah, didn't hear the dating part, might not want his wife hearing that one. :-)  As for the skydrol mule I understand as it was leaking all over the place.  The good news there is we've about solved all of those problems.  In fact it now only leaks on the right brake caliper which I've already replaced due to major wearing where a lock pin had bent and rubbed a hole it.  However, it is still leaking so we're now hunting for the why.  We've moved the pucks from the right to the left to see if the left side leaks now and if so I'll just order 4 new pucks for it and be done with it.

I spent the day in TN yesterday working on the mag issue and we ended up setting them at 28deg instead of the required 25 and got everything running and starting.  The pressurization system still seems to have a leak that we're pretty sure is around the cabin door so looking into that.

The engines blow more oil and gas than anything I've ever seen and I'm worried I'm going to have to pull the supercharger gaskets and replace them which doesn't look like a very fun task.

I've also got to fix the nose wheel area due to bad damage repair years ago and it's oil canning pretty badly.  I'm hoping this is not an issue with landing her on grass but still looking into that.  I plan to fix it pretty soon but the shop is wanting it gone so they don't want to mess with it.  I've given them 2 more weeks to get the last stuff fixed so hopefully I'll be flying it soon.

I got to meet another Commander pilot that has his ship there getting massive repair work done.  He's going to be joining us here in a few days so that will be great having another Commander lover here with us.  After seeing how far his bird has come in the last 30 days I can see why mine is still broken.  It appears they've spent a lot more time getting his read since they are planning to fly it off today which I don't think there is any way they'll pull off.  I hope he does though because his being gone lets them focus on mine. :-)

They've now got a Cessna 421 outside the hangar waiting to get the annual done but I told him he'd better not start that annual until my bird is flying.  Hopefully he got the hint and I'll have her to my hanger soon.

Oh, and both of the fuel bladders they put in are leaking so they are having to remove them again to try to figure out what is going on.  I got there yesterday to fuel leaking all over the floor and baggage compartment.

But She sure did sound good running :-)

Glenn

[ghancock]

Here is a link to running the engines yesterday.  Man was it good to hear them purring again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM50CQkNYGE&feature=youtu.be

Glenn

[Willis]

Sweet Sound.   

(commander-envy emoji)
 

[donv]

The 680FP looks like such a neat airplane! The idea of a pressurized, short-body piston Commander has always been appealing to me.

[ghancock]

I hope it ends up being a neat airplane once I get all the quirks caught. :-)

[Russell Legg]

Congrats Glenn on getting those engines running - Moe was always chasing a gasket or two and always managed to find what he was looking for...and yes, he was chasing the leaks around the cabin door a couple of years ago!