The next weekend is Easter and Sandra has Friday and Monday off. You guessed it, the weather is atrocious. Cool, cloudy and wind from the west or east on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Monday is clear and the wind, while strong (15-25) is mostly from the South.
Pauls Valley
The name of the place is Paul's Valley. It is a good sized town 25 miles north of Ardmore. With a name like that, we have just got to go whether there is anything of note there or not. So we saddle up and take off shortly after 10:00. Fairly smooth air and good visibility made for an uneventful flight and we flew directly into the downwind for 17. I make a surprisingly good landing. Not great, but surprisingly good. Taxi in, get out, make picture and then tie the plane down.
Go into the messiest FBO we have ever been in. In all fairness, the sign on the door said "excuse the mess, we are re-modeling.". They are re-doing the entire existing building and apparently adding on to it at the same time. There will be a bigger terminal area as well as a restaurant when they get done.
Check out the car and get directions to a family run cafe down town. We opt for the lunch specials and mine is baked chicken and dressing. Very good!.
After lunch, there is the Sante Fe Depot museum just down the street. It is the old Depot (like at Shawnee), but like the FBO, somewhat of a mess. They are just getting organized. There are literally tons of artifacts and photographs, but there is little pattern to the stuff and not much in the way of explanation.. Still, worth the effort of looking at it if you are already in the neighborhood.
Back out to the airport and head for home. We had gone direct from Aero Country to PVJ, passing just west of the Ardmore airport, but well east of town. Now, we will go back to Gainesville for gas. That means straight back down I35 passing just west of downtown Ardmore. Decent landing at GLE and taxi in for gas and to renew a couple of sectionals. Then on to home and a landing that started out good, but nearly got away from me.
Waco
We had been periodically invited to visit Tim Swearingen in Waco since he started Baylor Law school there. At a birthday party for his aunt (in a near monsoon), the invitation had been renewed. So, first decent weekend when we had nowhere better to go. Y'all remember Tim, don't you? I took him for a ride in January '02 and his sister Ginny in March '02. We wanted to fly to his graduation in Tulsa, but got rained out.
After clarifying which of the 3 airports in Waco is in his back yard, we set it up. We would come down Saturday morning, calling him just before takeoff with our ETA. Saturday Morning is clear and bright with a light southerly wind (Wind, not breeze).
We take off shortly after 10 and check in with Dallas Approach climbing out to the south. We are routed right down 18-36 at Love and over 17-35 at Dallas Executive (used to be Redbird). We are offered higher, but it is smooth at 3500 and we are now halfway to Waco, so we decline. The visibility is excellent and getting better. By the time we are approaching Hillsboro, we can see Lake Waco, 35 miles ahead.
Passing Hillsboro, Waco approach tells us to report ACT in sight. I look in the area relative to the lake where the airport should be and realize that I am perfectly lined up on 19, 25 miles ahead.
"Waco Approach, Four Lima Bravo has runway in sight."
"Roger, Four Lima Bravo, contact Waco Tower on 119.3"
Get Tower up on Com 1 and ATIS on Com 2. There is some closed pattern traffic and some departures going on while I listen to the ATIS. In a break, "Waco Tower, Musketeer Five Niner Four Lima Bravo. 20 miles north with Charlie. Inbound."
"Four Lima Bravo, Report outer Marker. Plan on straight in runway one niner."
"Waco, Four Lima Bravo, negative equipment."
The Mouse has the equipment, I just don't know how to use it.
"Understood, descent at your discretion, maintain VFR. You are number four."
I dislike long straight in landings. Judging distance and height always work out wrong. But at this point, the runway is at the right place on the windscreen, so I determine to keep it there. Reduce power and start a descent at cruise speed keeping the runway stationary. We cross a creek that is 4 miles out and I begin slowing. One plane is taking off and another is position and hold and we are number one to land. Flaps, down, reduce power, trim to approach speed. Adjust so that the runway is back in the right spot.
Second notch then last notch as we come over the highway. Pull power off and start flare over the threshold and hold it off until it is ready to quit flying. Smooth touchdown and rollout, turnoff and taxi to parking. I have finally done a straight in that I am pleased with.
After the hellos and potty breaks, we pile into Tim's car and go to his apartment. The airport is literally in his backyard. If he was on the second floor so you could see over the brush, you could see our plane on the ramp about a half mile away. After sitting around a while and catching up on families, we head into town. We get the guided tour of the Baylor Campus and eat a hearty lunch at one of the college hangouts. We then tour downtown and head north to Homestead Heritage farms.
This place is run by a religious group and includes restored buildings illustrating the crafts of the 19th century. There are pottery, woodworking, blacksmithing, and a gristmill. I spent some time in the woodworking shop watching a man working on a beautiful rocking chair. We bought some cornmeal and flour mixes from the shop at the gristmill and then headed back to Waco.
We said our good-byes and saddled up for home. I picked up Flight Following on downwind after takeoff and climbed to 3500'. It was clear as a bell and when I looked closely at the horizon in front of us, I could see the Dallas skyline. Well, it will sure be hard to get lost from here and we aren't even to Hillsboro yet.
Checking in with Dallas approach, north of Hillsboro, we are cleared direct Lancaster, direct Aero Country. I am trying to figure just how far to the right of the downtown area I need to aim to go over Lancaster when Approach tells us to go direct Love, direct Aero Country. That's easier, just slightly left of the downtown is Love.
Fifteen miles out, I am looking down 35 at Dallas Executive (used to be Redbird). Well before we get to RBD, we are looking down 36 at Love. Between RBD and DAL, the controller asks us how it is up there. I reply "clear and smooth at 3500"
"Uh got a few small puffy whites?"
"Absolutely clear. No clouds in sight, nothing, nada, zip, zilch. A day just made for flying."
Turn slightly to the right over Love and I can see the water tanks just south of 121. Just north of them, I can see the airport environment at Aero Country. Before we get to 190. We are looking down 35, still more than 15 miles away.
Into a line for the downwind and close Flight Following. Enter the downwind and make a smooth touchdown, but it skipped back off. Let it come back down and all is well. I was just a little too fast. Put the bird away and go sit on Dave's patio for a while, swapping war stories and watching the other planes going by.
Roben's Ride
Sunday is supposed to be nice also, so when we got back to the house, I called Roben and she was free for lunch. Since she lives in Allen, I volunteered to pick her up rather than try to give her directions to the hangar. The weather briefing says the wind will be around 10 all day and mostly from the south except for a short period around noon when it will be around 15 out of the west. The change to Daylight Saving Time messes us up a little, but we are ready for takeoff around 10:30.
We take off, turn east and clear over McKinney, then turn a little left to head for Paris. I use the sectional to illustrate navigation and she is soon able to determine where we are from referencing Cooper Lake and the lake north of Bonham. We circle around Paris and turn south toward Sulphur Springs. I point out the lake at the airport and notice that she now has the sectional upside down so that the shape of things matches our direction of flight.
Down the east side of town and turn into the pattern. Over the lake on base and turn final. The approach is looking good and the windsock indicates about 30-40 degrees off the runway and it's end section is dangling. Good touchdown with right bank and left rudder against the crosswind, then everything goes haywire. It was only a slight bounce, but the plane turns about 30 degrees left and we are now headed towards the Caldwell hangar. A little power and a lot of right rudder gets us straightened out and back under control. As I relax a little, we go by the windsock and it is standing straight out and pointing straight at the runway. The weatherman was very right!
I taxi over to the self serve pumps and fill up the bird. We pull it around to a parking spot and I go "steal" a set of chocks from a Citabria. He didn't need them, he had the wings tied down and chocks under both main wheels. Good old anal retentive pilots, use a belt and suspenders.
We hike to the Red Barn for lunch and then hike back. The flight straight back is uneventful, and I redeem myself with a nice landing at Aero Country. Roben is bouncing around pretty good, I think she enjoyed the ride.
What's the name of this place?
The next weekend is rotten on Friday, but improving on Saturday. The weather briefing says VFR conditions but poor visibility due to low hanging moisture. The temperature/dew point spreads are small and there is virtually no wind. Sunday is supposed to be worse, so we gotta go somewhere today or not at all.
We decide on lunch in Mexia. There is an old joke about the Yankees driving through that town stopping at a local chain restaurant for lunch. They ask the waitress how to pronounce the name of this place and she sweetly replies, "Day-ree Qween".
We are off shortly before 11:00 and quickly see the visibility problem. It is like we have very thin low hanging clouds. In areas we can see 15 miles between these areas of haze. Looking directly at one of them, the visibility is less than 5 miles. Not to worry, the Groesbeck VOR is less than 5 miles past the Limestone County airport and out flight path will pass maybe 2 miles from it.
We pick up flight following immediately after takeoff and are cleared to 3500 on a heading of 150. This is about the heading I use for going south from home when I am not talking to ATC. It will take us approximately over Mesquite (HQZ) where I hope we can turn south. Approaching Town East Mall, we are told, "Maintain VFR, proceed on course." At 3500, we are above the haze/cloud layer and it is oddly like flying in an inverted world. Clear and bright above us, but pick your visibility path through the clouds below.
We have the VOR long before we pass just west of Corsicana and soon, I am looking for Mexia. Old small towns are sometimes hard to spot in the spring and summer. The "built up" areas are normally full of mature trees and give little texture and color difference from the surrounding rural areas. It takes a while to identify the airport even though Waco says 6 miles at 11 o'clock.
Finally with a positive ID, I cancel Flight Following and begin descent. As we are now almost directly west of the field, I announce that I will enter on a left crosswind and start setting up for landing. There is one other plane in the area, and he is on final as we approach the centerline. He is turning off as we cross the centerline, but I can see some activity on the taxiway at the first turnoff. On downwind, I can see that it is a cropduster apparently filling tanks and if he is still there, he will make the first turnoff unusable.
In all this looking, I turn final a little too high. Oh, well, I can't use the first turnoff anyway. The landing is a good one and I only have to use a little power to get to the second turnoff. Taxi in and shutdown, clean up the cockpit and make the picture as one of the airport dogs inspects our bird.
This is an old airport. The FBO is a corner of a large hangar and poorly furnished. But as usual, the furnishings are comfortable and the rest rooms are clean. There is no one in the "office", but several people working in the hangar. We step into the hangar and after being approved by the dogs, are given a guided tour of a 55-56 Buick being restored under the wing of a King Air being worked on. We are led through the maze of planes in the adjacent hangar to the courtesy car.
Sandra gets the pre-flight briefing for the well-used minivan; The gearshift indicator doesn't work, just move the lever until you feel it move in the direction you want. The passenger side window won't close. Other than that, it runs well.
We have gotten directions to a restaurant called the Farm House which sounds like our kind of place. From the architecture, it is an abandoned Golden Corral or Western Sizzling, taken over by some locals. The food is hearty and good and cheap.
Back at the airport, we spend some time in the break room in the hangar, swapping stories with the people there. One of the men's wife is there and she is also a special ed teacher, so the Redhead is, as usual, quite at home.
Taking off for home, we find that the visibility has improved greatly as forecast. Climbing out on downwind, admiring the airport passing below, Sandra asks, "You going to need the sectionals, or can we find the way home without them?". Since I am already bringing up Waco Approach for flight following, I tell her to put them away.
At 3500, the air is still smooth and the Redhead is soon napping. Scan the panel, scan for traffic, look at the ground passing below and let my mind wander some. Suddenly, a pattern on the ground gets my attention. I am seeing a rectangular area in a pasture where the soil and vegetation do not match the surrounding pasture. It looks like the remains of a reasonably long runway lying NW-SE. Viewed with that in mind, I now easily discern the outline of a N-S runway intersecting the north end of the NW-SE one.
Now, I wish I had had the sectional in front of me. All I know is that the field lies just west of 96:30 and near Corsicana. It is not one of the private grass fields indicated on the sectional, and the runway outlines were overgrown with vegetation and small trees. I also lacked the presence of mind to circle over it and locate it better. Oh well, we will pass that way again.
On home to Aero Country and make good landing number two.
Waxahachie, TX
The next weekend is pretty also, so we have to go somewhere. We have just about wiped out the day trip list, but decide on Waxahachie. The airport is shared by Waxahachie and Midlothian and is called Midway Regional. All the Airnav comments are good, the fuel price is reasonable and Sandra taught there sometime in the last century.
Sandra has a Special Olympics track meet on Saturday, so we are go for Sunday. We take off a little after 10 and immediately clear into the Dallas Bravo. The air is quite clear and smooth, and we fly at 3500 over Addison, Love and Dallas Executive. Just past Dallas Executive, we start our descent into the pattern at Midway. There is a Cherokee several miles further out to the north east that is inbound. We work out that we will use 18 into the wind at 240 and I will go first.
Not a bad landing considering, and we taxi in and shut down. Before I get ready to get out, the Cherokee taxis in and shuts down beside us. Looking at him with the camera in my hand, I hang a foot in the headset cord and make a less than normally graceful exit onto the wing. Slam my knee into the wingwalk anti-slip and the camera into the wing. Sigh, the camera still works, make the picture and limp into the FBO.
In the FBO, we check out the courtesy car and the consensus recommendation for lunch is the Catfish Plantation. The directions given don't work, but thanks to knowing the street name and number, we find it. We are just in front of the after church crowd.
Well fed, we drive around some and head back to the airport. I fill up the Mouse and we take off. Scarborough Faire is open just south of town, so we find it and I circle over it once while Sandra makes pictures. Then off to the northeast and pick up Flight Following for the return trip.
We are about 5 miles southwest of Lancaster and "Four Lima Bravo, descend and maintain 2500.".
"Four Lima Bravo to 2500."
"Uh, Is it smooth at 3500?"
"Yeah, it is nice up here."
"Four Lima Bravo come right to 060 and maintain 3500."
He is going to take us far enough south of Lancaster that we won't interfere with the Love approach so we can stay up here where the air is smoother. Nice guy. We pass south of Lancaster and turn north just west of Mesquite. We begin our descent just past George Bush and Central, close flight following over Custer and McDermott, and enter the downwind to 17. Another plane passes over and swings in behind us as we turn base.
Not too bad a landing with a varying crosswind. We make the turnoff and announce clear of the runway just as a high pitched grinding noise rises from the front of the plane. When I advance the throttle to turn onto the taxiway, it stops and a check shows that the alternator is no longer making juice. As we go down the taxiway, I shut off all electrical except Comm 1. As we turn into our ramp, the engine begins to rattle badly. I pull up to our hangar and quickly shut down. Put the bird away and go talk to Dave.
Trouble, again
I am going to relate the following events as they happened. They happened because of the lack of 20-20 hindsight which has shown that some things were done inappropriately.
Tuesday Morning, Dave and I go to the hangar for a look. No external signs except for a small puddle of oil by the nose wheel. We trace that back up the inside of the cowling, over the engine air intake to the alternator vent hole. Oil has come through the alternator seals. Turning the prop by hand finds a hard bind in places and bad noises from somewhere.
Pull the spinner, the prop and the cowling. Remove the alternator and the problem is now obvious. The alternator bearings have failed catastrophically. The grinding noise was when the alternator gear unmeshed from the ring gear and 3 teeth on the drive gear got ground off. The O-ring which seals the alternator into the engine has a piece sliced out of it. The alternator shaft has more than 1/2 inch in-out play and more than that side to side. How could this happen? It is only 6 months and 40 hours from a complete rebuild.
Wednesday, I take the alternator to Lancaster. I drop it at the alternator shop and eat lunch in the diner. As I am returning to my van, the manager comes out and asks me in for a chat. I steel my self for what I figure is going to be laying the groundwork for denial of any warranty liability. He begins by positing that one alternator failure is probably an alternator problem, but two that close together indicates another deeper problem. I easily agree that unless we can determine the root cause of the failure in each case, that his position is correct.
He goes on to say that he has consulted with another person there who is renowned for investigating mechanical failures and that the conclusion is misalignment of the alternator. The wear pattern on the undamaged teeth indicates that the gear was meshing too deep, both axially and longitudinally.
He continues that since the engine on our airplane is no longer supported by Continental, that he cannot afford to warranty any parts, as he has no recourse against any manufacturer. His other source has also indicated that there have been numerous cases where overhauled crankcases have led to misalignment of accessories.
He adds that they will try to repair the alternator, but that Dave and I should do some further research and checking as neither he nor his other source have any faith in Dowling Wright.
Needless to say, my 45 minute drive back to Plano was filled with sober reflections. Back home, I called Dave and related what had transpired. Dave was well acquainted with the other source and volunteered to call him for the background. Dave calls back in about an hour. He believes the story of improperly overhauled cases causing alignment problems and wants to know what company did the certification on mine in 2001. I promise to look it up and bring the paperwork with me to the airport on Thursday.
A little time in a light twin
Dave and Tim are going to take the 310 to Tulsa to get the autopilot worked on and they generously invited me to ride along. Of course I said yes! I get to sit right seat on the trip up. We take off shortly after 10:00 and set out on a GPS direct course. Tim has a cute little handheld velcroed to the instrument panel and it is working just fine.
While we climb out and set up for cruise, I am keeping track of our location based on my knowledge and memory of our trip to Tulsa 2 years ago. Finally, Tim turns the plane over to me. After a little straight and level to get the feel, I make some gentle turns and then try to follow the screen on the GPS.
Nearing Tulsa, Tim takes over as we are turned over to Tulsa Approach. I realize that I am now frantically trying to figure out where we are again. Looking at the GPS, I have lost all sense of our real whereabouts. Thank you very much, I think that I will continue to do without a GPS. Anyway, Tim makes what I consider to be an excellent landing in very gusty winds.
After meeting with the guy who will work on the autopilot, we eat lunch and sit around and talk some. Of course, the number one topic is my apparently growing alternator/engine problem. The story is that the company that overhauls the case must add back enough material to the alternator mounting flange to offset the material removed from the mating surface on the case halves. Based on his reputation, Dave believes this explanation to be true, and it does seem logical.
While Dave and Tim are supervising the autopilot work, I call this source. He essentially confirms the story, but only to the point that the certifier must check the distance and alignment of the alternator mounting from the case centerline. If this was not done, then the alternator failures are the liability of the company that overhauled my engine in 2001.
If all of this is true, we are essentially out of the flying business. I simply cannot afford a new "overhaul" to guarantee that I have a good case. I am going to have enough of a problem with the simplest solution to the current problem coming so close on the heels of last summer's failure. When Dowling opened the case then to inspect the bearings and flush out the engine, it theoretically voided any warranty I had with Nick Carter for the overhaul.
The autopilot guy has done all that he can do, and we head back for Texas. I am now in the backseat with a sectional, so at least I can keep track of where we are. After climbout the birdmen up front try out the autopilot. It does take control of the plane. And immediately starts a slow roll which cannot be trimmed out not does it correct. After s-turning all over southern Oklahoma, they finally give up and we head for home. Dave lands it this time and it is one of the best landings I have ever seen.
The final analysis.
Friday afternoon, Dave and Dowling talk. Dowling has done extensive checking with his sources in the engine business. None of the case overhaulers, even the one who did my case have ever heard of adding material to the alternator flange. The process used to reface the mating surfaces of the case will not change the alignment of the alternator mounting surface and the amount of material removed cannot move the alternator enough closer to the crankshaft to exceed the tolerance distances specified. Teledyne Continental has no knowledge of any special procedures for reassembly of refinished case halves that pertain to this subject. Nor are there any service bulletins for any of the engines with direct drive alternators which relate to this problem. Hmmmmm!
So, what do we know? Were both failures from the same cause? The first failure occurred at 248 hours and the second was only 54 hours later. This alone would indicate little linkage between them.
In the first failure, the drive gear was destroyed. Broken teeth and ground off teeth, but the alternator bearings were still in good shape. In the second failure, the bearing had failed catastrophically, but other than one spot, the drive gear teeth were in good condition. This would also indicate separate causes.
The undamaged teeth on the first drive gear, which I still have as a souvenir, show no sign of abnormal wear or misalignment. According to the man at the alternator shop and his other source, the wear pattern on the gear teeth indicated serious misalignment problems, both radially and axially. If this is so (I didn't get a chance to examine this gear), then the causes are not related. However, if the bearing began to wobble sometime before failure, the wear pattern on the gear could be due to bearing wobble rather than mounting misalignment and any wear due to misalignment would have been obscured.
It then seems that the two failures do not share a common cause. This practically eliminates any fault dating to the major overhaul. We are left now with what caused this bearing failure.
On Monday, a call to the alternator shop finds that the alternator will be ready this week. Dowling comes out and blesses the ring gear after some work dressing off a few burrs on some of the teeth.
Tuesday, May 10, I go to Lancaster to pick up the gold plated alternator. I have a number of scenarios rehearsed which could justify getting some kind of break on the repair. After going through all of them, the manager will not budge from the full price. He also continues to maintain that the failures are probably related (and so stated on the invoice) and there will be absolutely no warranty, express or implied on what I now hold in my hand. And until I stop flying old airplanes with obsolete engines in them, I should be prepared to pay the price.
Reassembling an airplane
Back to Aero Country, many dollars lighter. Dave and I go to lunch and then start in. Dave first inserts the alternator without the O-ring. It is nearly an interference fit. The O-ring itself does not materially affect the alignment. Put the new gasket on the alternator with a little grease and install the O-ring. Then carefully insert the alternator and wiggle, jiggle and push by hand until it seats far enough that we can no longer see the O-ring. Now, run the bolts in and tighten them.
Dave picks up the old gasket which has been laying on top of the fuel spider and mag harness (Top of the engine, slightly above eye level when you are standing on the floor), studies it a moment and says "Hmm, look at this."
There in the bottom of the gasket is a new moon shaped impression about 2 inches long. "I wonder if that is where that piece of O-ring spent the last 4 months.".
This is that smoking gun we have been looking for the last three weeks. No matter how tight the mounting bolts were driven, the centerline of the alternator would pass below the crankshaft centerline, causing a heavy load on the alternator bearings and the ring gear teeth. This would explain the burrs on the inside of the trailing faces of the ring gear teeth. Cest la vie, we did it to ourselves.
Dave goes to his place to rest and will bring back the torque wrench in about 2 hours. I set in reassembling a Mouse. Install new oil filter and finish refilling the oil. Hang the lower cowling by the four corner screws. Attach the upper cowling by the 4 corner screws. Install the exhaust pipe hole cover. Attach the 3 air hoses (Engine intake, cabin heat, cabin air) to the lower cowling. Hang the prop and snug up the bolts. Put in the rest of the cowling screws. Take a break.
Dave returns and we torque the prop bolts. That's enough for today. Wednesday, I will finish up and Dave and I will inspect and test fly it after he returns from PT. I get to the hangar shortly after noon. Safety wire the prop bolts and install the spinner. Dave arrives just as I finish opening up the hangar. Pull it out and fire it up. Oil pressure comes right up and the alternator comes on-line without any fuss. Run it for a few minutes and shut down for a leak check. None found, we are ready to go.
Load up and taxi out. Run-up is OK and we take off. Climb to 3500 and advise McKinney that we are orbitting Aero Country on a test flight after maintenance. We drone around and around for 30 minutes and then back in. As I am walking back to the front with the tow bar, I ask, "Well, reckon it is ok to fly it to Lubbock this Friday?"
"Heck, After the third circuit, I would have headed west."
