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Progress and Problems

We spent Memorial Day weekend pressing ahead on the Comanche. Our goal was get the engine cowled up, install the new interior, and taxi the airplane for the first time. I logged 53 hours of wrench time in four days. First lets talk about the interior. We chose to do a hybrid DIY interior, partlyContinue reading “Progress and Problems”

Engine Inspection and Prop Install

The exterior of the engine on N6221P was visually in good shape; clean with little to no corrosion, good paint and shiny cad plating on all the fasteners—all good signs. There were large gaps in the logs. The fragmented documents we had show the engine was transplanted from a Beechcraft Duchess about 15 years ago and overhauled a few years beforeContinue reading “Engine Inspection and Prop Install”

Door Repair

The cabin door on 6221P was badly damaged at the lower hinge point. I ordered the steel reinforcing plate from Webco to rectify the situation. The previous repair was pretty crude and there was a lot of additional damage done as a result. I managed to get the door functional and safe but this mayContinue reading “Door Repair”

Rudder Inspection

Item number 13 on the discrepancy list was the rudder. It had been painted with at least two coats of paint and I was suspicious of the balance condition and possible hidden defects. I removed the rudder and took it back to the farm shop for a complete strip and inspection. I used CitriStrip toContinue reading “Rudder Inspection”

Re-Assembly

Now that the warm weather has returned, we have spent nearly every spare minute putting N6221P back together following its ground transportation excursion. I built two adjustable “wing tables” to position the wings and set the dihedral. This is critical as the wings must be inserted into the fuselage and bolted together while also maintainingContinue reading “Re-Assembly”

Trucking It Out- December 2020

We hired Dreamworx Aviation out of Bunnell Florida to haul the aircraft from Kentucky to Missouri. Josh and his team removed the interior flaps, stabilator halves, and wings and delivered to our hangar in Missouri. They did a great job and were easy to work with. Comanches are tricky to haul over the road. ThereContinue reading “Trucking It Out- December 2020”

Getting it Home – October – December 2020

The aircraft was located at KBWG in Bowling Green Kentucky several hundred miles from our home airport in Missouri. We planned 2 trips to assess and if possible repair the aircraft enough to ferry it out. During trip one I did the stabilator horn AD inspection since that AD has no ferry proviso. During thisContinue reading “Getting it Home – October – December 2020”

N6221P – The Acquisition

In September of 2020 we purchased a 1959 Piper PA-24 Comanche. This was a project airplane from the start. Although complete and relatively unmolested it had been out of annual for 30 years. Its airframe logs were complete with a good airframe total time chronology shown through the logs all the way back to 1959!Continue reading “N6221P – The Acquisition”