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| Fortunately, you can't see all the stuff in the hangar. Took the wheelpants and never put them back on. Easier to check the brakes and air. Much easier to add air! |
I really need to get new photos of the panel. These are circa 2010. As the decade progressed, there were upgrades and such. Early 2021 pics of the panel are at the end of the page. But these are great for historical purposes.
Still don't have the latest photos of the panel...one of these days.
| An ADF (Automatic Direction Finder) and a DME (distance measuring equipment)! Perfect for listening to the games on either 850 or 630 AM. Plus it's an early warning for lightning and storms. |
| Someday the entire glareshield will be covered in velcro.
The Zaon traffic TPAS on top is long gone because a Garmin 335 ADS-B transponder replaced the old Narco. With the obligatory iPad with ADS-B in, of course.
And an empty slot that's just the right size for a Garmin 430 or 625..or the new 175....or the 355... |
| Fancy-schmancy digital VOR/GS indicators on the top. No moving
parts. And a conventional VOR indicator for the 2nd nav, which has
since been removed because it never worked.
The AI's been replaced by a G5. Maybe next year the DG will go the same way and become a G5/HSI. The GI275 is interesting but far too "busy" a display. And the G5 is cheaper. |
| There's a working but old wing leveler, a wind-up clock that works, and an empty round hole. Can't decide what to put there.
Decided...got a Garmin dual USB plug.
|
In odd-number years, EAFB conducted an airshow for the local population. In mid-2010, the decision was to conduct an on-site briefing on the small dry lake bed (the big one was used for Shuttle landings, if you're curious). There was such interest in flying into EAFB that it was only fair to have a lottery to limit the aircraft. Driving in, no problem. The more the merrier!
So in late summer, 2010, the announcement was posted, inviting those interested to submit name & N number and 100 aircraft would be chosen by lottery. A few exceptions were made, such as Civil Air Patrol (CAP), were exempt from the lottery.
To the surprise of EAFB (but not to the rest of us!) over 2700 applications were entered. I got a call from /jer asking if I'd be interested, if his N number was chosen.
Duuh.
So a bit of scrounging on the web, I found the EAFB website announcing the lottery. Naturally I entered my N number. Couldn't hurt, having 2 entries. Time goes by and one Friday afternoon I get a phone call from a 2nd Lt. asking if that was my N number and was I still interested in the EAFB flyin.
Duuh.
After responding in the very affirmative way, my next action was to call /jer.
Me: "Jer .. remember that lottery to fly into EAFB?"
Jer: Yup, but I haven't heard anything
Me: Well, this is your notice. I just got a call, my N number was chosen. Do you want to go with me?
Well Duuh.
One day, July 11, 2011 at 8:15 am MDT, to be precise, I pulled the airplane out, in preparation for an instrument lesson.
Note: it's now March 2025 I still haven't gotten my instrument rating.
Yup, you guessed it. I forgot to move the tug. Rugged little thing, very little damage to the tug but it sliced off a chunk of the prop! Ok, so I had to replace the tire and the battery (ever see a 12v battery sliced in half? I have photos...)
But Lycoming demands a teardown and inspection any time there's an unplanned, uncharacteristic, whatever prop stoppage. May as well do the overhaul since the engine has 2800+ hours on it. Overhauled at a company that shall remain nameless and R&R done by Ron & Bill at Mile High Aircraft Services at Front Range (KFTG) just east of Denver.
And new goodies, too. Removed the original aluminum battery cables and installed the copper Bogert cables I've had on the shelf for 6-7 years. Well, if I'm going to remove the interior side panels for the battery cables, may as well remove all the 1968-era interior and fiberglass insulation (which does nothing, as we all know). Put new closed-cell foam insulation (with appropriate flammability paperwork, of course) everywhere. Then installed AirTex interior. Had the local auto shop install the AirTex upholstery on the seats (they're the local experts on doing aircraft seats if you don't want custom interior). Had the default foam removed and the 3-layer confor-foam installed on my seat. Comfort is a safety issue for me. 3 hours sitting in that little seat is not the same as 3 hours in the car with an air conditioner and stereo.
Since there's three empty holes in the panel, a JPI 730 engine monitor got installed, too. Ran 4-wire cable from the ELT area to the panel for the future 406ELT installation. And the folks at Duncan Avionics removed about 10 pounds of 1960s-era wiring.
Next step - got it weighed properly and a new W&B report created. Not much difference. The foam insulation weighs more than the fiberglass but the new interior weighs less than the old. The foam weighs 1/4 lb per square foot and I've put about 10 pounds of it in. At least that's how much I ordered and almost all of it's been installed. Not sure it's any warmer in the winter, but definitely quieter.
And that was the end of my Instrument training.
Also replaced the very old Grimes rotating beacon with the Whelen LED on the top of the tail.
Replaced the wingtip nav lights with LEDs. The only exterior light remaining to be replaced is the belly strobe. With the changes, reduced power consumption by more than 14 amps. Which is good, because the new transponder needed more than the old Narco.
Spent some time in the Redbird sim - incredible! Made the real approach much easier! Of course I've completely forgotten how to do procedure turns and backcourse.
| New panel pictures. Back in 2018, had the Garmin 335 ADSB-OUT transponder installed. Still have the ADF and DME, but the DME's been a bit flakey lately. Might just be dirty contacts, or it just might be too old. |
 |
The center stack hasn't changed...yet. Still got the Garmin audio panel, the SL30 (which I'll never lose since it's also a NAV radio), the TKM and an empty slot. That gets a GPS this summer, and the TKM will go bye-bye. Which still leaves an empty slot.
I wonder....is it too ostentatious to install a G500 auto-pilot in a Cherokee that maxes out around 120 mph? Unfortunately, I won't have an extra $10K including labor and all the other gadgets after installing the GPS, G5 and all that other stuff.. |
 | Left side changed a bit. Installed the G5 in 2019, also had a Garmin USB port on the far left corner to power the iPad Mini and the Stratux velcro'd to the back window. The little round thing just below the clock is a velcro'd temp gauge for cabin temp. Gets hot in the summer, and little spam cans are flying green houses! |
So when you put them all together, something like:
HSI. Why didn't I do this sooner? Makes any approach (LOC, ILS, RNAV) absolutely trivial! Real nice to replace 50+ yr old stuff. But it's still a 50+ yr old airplane. You'd never know it, tho. The old 50s-style fake woodgrain plastic is gone and the new overlay really makes the panel.
gotta get photos.
Kept the TKM for the time being. The MC60 (digital VOR/GS indicator) just to the right of the altimeter is somewhat off, and TKM won't fix it. Not a problem, merely an oportunity for a CDI or...maybe....G275? I dunno.
Need to decide what to do about the TKM radio. The DME is flakey, no one will fix that, either. The ADF is great, other than there aren't any stations around other than 630 AM and 850 AM so I can listen to the games.
TKM is out of business. So the next update will be remove the old TKM and replace with a newer COM. Don't need the NAV side, since the SL30 and the 175 provide all the navigation needed. But I do need to replace the TKM CDI to talk to the SL30.
Guess I'll do some window shopping at AirVenture later this month, see what's out there, who's got good prices.
No, didn't talk to them, but I did file a complaint with the parent corporation of the hotel and the Wisconsin Dept Of Consumer Affairs and the Appleton Chamber of Commerce. Found a reasonable hotel in Green Bay right across from the stadium.
Whoops. Opening week of summer training for the Packers. Between the drunks and a shower that doesn't work, time to look for a new place to stay.
Living out west, I forget how smushed together everything is back east. Walk across the street, you're in another town. Not sure what town I ended up in, but it was across the street from Appleton. Didn't think that a small town/city like Appleton would have suburbs. Very nice hotel (probably $79/night the other 50 weeks of the year but we won't talk about the price during the other 2 weeks) with real eggs in the morning for breakfast!
Stopped off at the annual Lands End warehouse sale on the way home - needed a new down jacket. Got a hoodie for my dog, too.
Was going to stay in Des Moines but as I was driving across the river, news on the radio reported the temp was 99. Kept going. Omaha? Nothing available along I-80. Kept going. Lincoln - wonderful little city, home base for the University. Once again, nothing anywhere in town - 3 major athletic events! Kept going.
I could be home by 4, maybe 5 am. No, I'm not wearing sun glasses but I do have a full tank of gas.
About 10 min past Lincoln I realized driving home was stupid, stopped in a little town, found a hotel of the same chain I liked in Appleton 'burb. Slept in, had breakfast and headed home. Candidly, I think I'm done with AirVenture. The last trip was 2015 and the many trips before were great fun. Not this time. Hot, humid, and miserable. You know it's not a good trip when of the 8 days, there were two really great meals, a couple ok meals, and the salads at Wendy's were the other meals.
I should have gone to NYC for a week of theatre. Would have cost the same.
Rats...the audio panel died. Fortunately, PSEngineering has a slide-in replacement. Ordered it and less than a week later, new audio panel. Still can't understand why marker indicators are still included. But wait! It has bluetooth! Now I can connect the iPad to 2 more devices! - the audio panel and the GPS 175. The Stratux runs off the wi-fi, so that doesn't interfere.
When I went airplane shopping in the late 90s/early 2000, I wanted a low-tech airplane since I deal with high-tech computers and such for the paycheck. Silly me. About the only computer I don't have is an autopilot. That's not going to happen. I have better things to spend $20K on - such as remodeling both bathrooms in the 40+ yr old house.