For Starters...

I wish I had taken more pictures at the start of this process but I didn't. I knew it was going to be a little more than just a usual run of the mill Annual Inspection. I was going to have to get into this aircraft pretty deep which is why I enlisted some help.

Flying or driving up to Lakeland from Punta Gorda was something I was willing to do to have the help with the project. The first order of business was to pull the motor. So with everything unhooked, it came off with ease and we had it on the trailer to be dropped off at Zephyr Engines for a teardown and inspection.

I had been flying behind this motor for about a year now with no vibrations or particularities of any kind. I had flown from ID, where I purchased it in '09, over to WY and then down to UT, AZ, NM, TX and clear around the Gulf Coast back home to FL in the following weeks. I had then taken her from FL to OH with a side-trip to DC and the Eastern Shore. All with never having had any engine issues. According the logs and the seller the engine had had a complete OH and had less the 100 hrs on the rebuild when sold to me. So I felt confident in the motor and in making the long trips.

If I had known then what I was about to learn from the engine shop, I probably would have never made the trip back to FL with the plane from where I bought it in Mountain Home, ID! *Get a Prebuy! In the words of the engine shop, " the motor looks as if the parts had been left sitting in a bucket of water". They told me there was "pretty sever pitting" on many of the components and quoted about 15k to put it all back together with a fresh rebuild. *Also probably a pretty good deal in retrospect.

Well I was and still am pretty peeved about how I feel I got snookered on the logs and engine but when I didn't get a prebuy I guess I can only blame myself. Still, I'm not sure that a prebuy would have caught what I think was a falsification of the Engine and possibly the A/F Logs. Zephyr did go on to explain to me that there are overhauls and then there are "overhauls". -and that the seller could have done a "field overhaul", albeit not a very good one. None of which made me feel any better about the situation.

Flying to get Annual Inspection

The first Annual inspection is due in Nov. of 2010...

I found a guy who said he would assist me, so I flew formation with my Dads C172 from PGD to X06, South Lakeland.

 You can see in the top picture that I have scraped the paint off the wings (mostly) and the rest of the plane (mostly).

 I took these pictures from the cockpit on my Htc-Evo. I'm not sure why the bottom is lopped off the one picture.

First Flight

6/18/09   

U76 (Mountain Home) to WYS (West Yellowstone) Total flight time 2.1 HRS, 4:49 PM to 6:55 PM   

First flight from Mountain Home Airport to West Yellowstone Airport. Upon arrival conditions were gusty. I attempted a landing and went around. On attempt to 3 I got "get-downitis" and forced the plane on to early and to fast. Subsequently there were a series of bounces...  

The Deal

This is what she looked like when I picked her up in Mountain Home, ID. The wheel pants are inside...

In order to make the deal I traded my 2002 American Ironhorse - "Legend"  motorcycle and an arm and a leg.

I sure loved that bike and had it since it was new.  The transaction took place online and over the phone since I was in FL and the plane was in ID. I shipped the bike out and came out myself commercial to meet the seller and make the trade and transaction.

Important Note: Always get a prebuy inspection from someone you trust and that is familiar with the craft you intend to buy. I did not and am paying a heavy price for it. Why didn't you? You may be asking. Well, not that any of them are valid excuses but; It was a unique deal in that the seller was willing to take my bike as partial trade, it was a long distance purchase over the internet, I was afraid something would be discovered, I was in a hurry. In retrospect of course all the more reasons i should have had it inspected.

When I picked up 26C it was sporting a pretty nice Fred Felix prop and a very undesirable red on orange paint job that was so poor it could be scrapped off in places with a credit card. Apparently the cowling was even bad enough that the previous owner conceded to just strip and prime it until the plane could be painted.

Van's RV-4 Blog Log #1

Well this is my first attempt at a "blog". I am hoping to use the blog to log my time and effort being put into this project. I will add pictures and dates backlogging the progress up to this point.

Until then here is some background on my project.

The project aircraft is a Van's RV-4 outlined below:

Airframe Info

Manufacturer:	Makela Urho J
Model:	RV-4    Search all Makela Urho J RV-4
Year built:	1989
Construction Number (C/N):	1775
Aircraft Type:	Fixed wing single engine
Number of Seats:	2
Number of Engines:	1
Engine Type:	Reciprocating
Engine Manufacturer and Model:	Lycoming 0-320 SERIES

Aircraft

Registration Number:

N2626C

Mode S Code:

50504630

Certification Class:

Experimental

Certification Issued:

2009-10-13

Air Worthiness Test:

1989-02-23

Last Action Taken:

2009-10-13

Current Status:

Valid