PROGRESS

A few things have been accomplished since December 10. First, on December 12, the propeller went to Aircraft Propeller Repair Services in Troutdale, Oregon. It was a miserable day and I couldn't find anyone who wanted to fly down, so I drove it down there. The gracious folks there took an initial look at the prop. They were concerned about some corrosion in the hub area. I haven't heard from them yet, which gives me hope that the corrosion turns out to be a non-issue. They will overhaul the prop and re-pitch to 46" from the current 50".

The re-pitch will mean I will no longer have the fastest 150 on the block. With the 50" prop Juliet would cruise at 118 mph at 2500 rpm. After burning off a bit of fuel, I often had to throttle back to 2450 to stay below the yellow arc on the airspeed indicator. But climb performance was nothing short of miserable. Since almost all of my flying is over short distances, and I favor the smaller airfields, the improved climb performance will be very welcome, and I don't think I will miss the higher cruise speeds. I hope it will also mean I can climb out of Sanderson on a warm (not hot) day with two people and full fuel aboard.

During the return trip I learned that my very good friend, Hollister Young, had passed away. It was difficult to weep and drive at the same time. I pulled over and composed myself before continuing my trip home. I spent quite a few pleasant hours with Holly in his Cessna 185, which is the first airplane I ever flew. Holly was a terrific gentleman, and a good, and close, friend.

Panel work has progressed, as well. The left side floating panel and all of the overlays have been painted. I am not as happy as I might be with the paint, but I am running out of time. So it will have to do. During some succeeding winter I will probably pull things apart and re-do the panels ... again. At least I won't be distracted by all the other tasks I am currently undertaking.

You may recall I was originally going to have printed overlays done by PlacardsPlus. The decision to forgoe re-doing the lower panel (in retrospect, a wise decision) drastically reduced the amount of lettering necessary. I can handle the remaining lettering with a dry transfer process.

Once the lettering is complete I will overspray the panel and overlays with a clear, flat protective coat. Today will see the various screws and nuts associated with the panel and overlays painted and all of that will be ready to go back together.

The steel engine parts are on their way back to Dennis Toepke, along with the necessary bearings, gaskets, seals and new nut/bolt kits. I haven't heard back from the folks going over the case, except it is out of the welding shop. Which means (a) it needed some welding, and (b) progress is being made.

There is a lot of work to be done before the airplane will be back in the air. The baffling needs to be stripped and re-painted and the new seals installed. I haven't even ordered the new upholstery and carpet yet, nor have I started work on the interior trim plastic. Holiday activities have slowed me down some, but I need to keep rolling so the rest of the airplane will be ready when the overhauled engine arrives. Dennis hopes the engine will be ready to hang before the end of the year. Which means I need to break free from the computer and do something useful!