Spring has sprung early here in Pennsylvania. St. Pattie's day brought sunshine and 71 degrees. Between wind, weather and scheduling conflicts, I didn't get to fly much this winter and, frankly, I'm glad it's over.
I headed out to the hangar early this Saturday morning to get the plane ready for the new flying season. I'll do the annual in a week or two, but wanted to just check things out and fly a bit first just to knock the dust off of both the plane and my flying skills.
I pulled her out into the sunshine to check her out and get her cleaned up. I also need to update the databases in my EFIS units. This has been on my To Do List for some time, but I had this nagging worry that I would somehow screw up the entire system if I messed with it. You know - "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
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Almost all of my Oshkosh posters gave up their grip on the metal walls over the winter. I think I've come up with a better way of hanging them. Andy suggested that doing so was a good project for a warm summer day when I couldn't fly, but wanted to hang out at the airport. He's right, so I'll put this off and concentrate on the plane for now. It does make the hangar seem a lot more friendly with some art though.
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First, I'll tackle updating the software in the EFIS systems. One of the great things about a Velocity is the easy access to the panel available by simply taking off the canard cover by removing 6 screws. Here is a view, from top to bottom, of the autopilot servo, pitch trim servo, GPS and XM Weather antennas.The gold box on the left is the GRT backup battery, which provides power to the EFIS on startup and if the main power fails. On the right is the panel which seals off the nose gear compartment over the canard. Without it, you get a REALLY uncomfortable freezing cold draft right between your legs when lowering the gear.
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Here is the view of the back of the panel from standing next to the plane. Like I said, very convenient.
This is the back side of the two Grand Rapids Technologies 8.5 inch EFIS units. I downloaded the free software update from their web site at www.grtavionics.com onto a thumb drive. You will see the drive plugged into the back of the left unit and glowing green. Did I mention that the updates are free? I love the GRT product.
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I hop in the cockpit, scroll through the update menu, press the button and Voila!, I have the latest EFIS software and a new map database. Even I can do this. It was very simple and the step by step instructions on the GRT web site were easy to follow. Great support, guys!
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Both screens are now updated and look great. Note that I now have a canard icon on the moving map plane instead of a standard plane.
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I restocked my maintenance kit. I laid it out to give an idea what it contains.
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I listed a few squawks that will need to be dealt with when I do my annual condition inspection. I have a few small bubbles in the copilot brake line just before the reservoir. They don't actually travel down to the brake cylinder, but I'll bleed them out any way. I have a very slow seep of hydraulic fluid from the end of my nose gear cylinder- just enough to make a small stripe on the belly every month or so. That likely means the seals in the hydraulic cylinder need to be replaced. I also need to add some silicone to seal the doghouse cover over the canard.
My Avmap EKP IV backup EFIS turns out to have a database which has not been updated since,well, ever. It says it's from 2006. I called Avmap in Massachussetts and they tell me that it needs to be sent in to them to update the loader program and maps at this point. I am pleased and impressed when they tell me that they will update it for no charge. Buy good products and you get what you pay for.
Other than that, I will need a new customs decal to leave the U.S.
There is no reason not to take her up today, so I button everything up and hop in. She starts right up and the newly updated avionics work great. I take off, head over the house and circle, looking down to see Nancy and the kids washing the car in the driveway. They jump up and down and wave.
It's not a great day for flying, one of those deals where you can see straight down, but haze limits visibility horizontally to 5 miles or so. Still, it's great to be flying again. I head back to Chester County airport and land on 11. It turns out I can still fly and land the plane well. It always makes me feel better to get back in the air. I put the plane away and headed home for lunch.
If the weather is good tomorrow, we may fly somewhere for breakfast. If so, I'll post photos and videos. I hear there's a new restaurant at the airport at York....
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1 comment:
I don’t really count maintenance as “fixing”, rather it’s just a way to make sure that nothing’s broken and that everything’s fine before I take off. I make it a practice to do some maintenance work every other month, especially when I use it more often than usual.
Cash Carroll
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