1. business and industrial
2. energy
3. oil

r
I
rJ (',
r ,
and we
uniquely
a Uttle
"plane talk" aboUt their individual Insurance requirements.
The ABS Program is one of the most comprehensive
insurance programs available in the industry today and
features expanded coverages, access to a variety of
underwriters and competitive rates. The professional
Falcon staff is dedicated to serving ABS members with an
insurance program that is setring the standard for the
industry. Call today for same day quotes and coverage.
Falcon Insurance Agency is the Insurance Program Manager for the
ABS INSURANCE PROGRAM
1-800-2S9-4ABS (4227)
www.falconinsurancc.com
Fax: 5 12-89 1-8483
P.O. 60:< 92409 • Austin, Texas 78735
The IlIIaI time oallle plane was only
328 hours! That's right, 328 IT
airframe and engine with no history
of any damage of any kind.
James Reis with his A36.
1978 A38
I
have been an avid Beechcraft enthusiast since 1985 when I bought my first
two-place Skipper. Since then I have
owned two Skippers, three Sundowners,
a Sierra and now, my latest-and by far
my most prized aircraft-a 1976 A36,
SIN 842, Registration No. 25WW.
I new my 1980 Sierra for 13 years
while searching long and hard for a plane
with as few hours and in as impeccable
condition as my previous airplanes. Since
I ny strictly for pleasure, there was no
real urgency to find just any A36. It had
to be perfect in every way.
ENGINE: ConlinenloII0-520-BA
EXTERIOR PAINT: While, Sable Brown, Sierra
Tan and Emerald Green
AVIONICS:
Cenlury III aulopilol
Collins VIR 351 Nov-dual
Collins VHF 251 Comm-dual
Collins AMB 350 audio/marker beacon
Collins GLS glides lope
King KN 65A DME
Collins TDR 950 lransponder
ADF 650ADF
Germin GPS 295
Last year, my search came to an end
when I happened to be in close proximity to N25WW when it became available.
As fate would have it, I was actually
within hours of its original owner, an
older gentleman who didn't have a need
for it anymore, when he decided to tum
in his wings. He had purchased it from
the Beech factory in 1976 with his initials as its registration number.
The total time on the plane was only
326 hours! That's right, 326 IT airframe
and engine with no history of damage
of any kind, and the service records were
faultless. Woodland Beechcraft in Sacramento, California, had maintained it for
25 years, taking care of yearly annuals
and any ADs that arose.
The plane was actually advertised
with 340 IT on it. To my surprise and
liking, when I got there and opened up
the barn doors where the airplane had
continued 01/ page 6786
JUN E 20 01 • VO LU M E 0 1· NU MBER 6
CO V E R
MAGAZINE
8nz
BONANZA OF THE MONTH :
1976 A36 owned by James Reis of Lake Ozark, Missouri.
FEATURES
8775
GETIING THE SCOOP ON MOBILE!
ABS CONVENTION : MOBILE, ALABAMA
8781
PREPURCHASE CHECKLIST
8784
SPHERICS: USEFUL TOOL OR PLACEBO?
316-945-1 700
ASS EXECUTIVE DIRECfOR
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Nancy Johoson
PUBLICATION OFFICE
1922 Midfield Road
P.O. Bo)( 12888
By John Whitehead
Wichitl1. KS 67277
316-945-1700
8787
Fax 316·945· 1710
ASS website: htlp:llwww.bonanza.org
Send articles/letters to the
above address/lax/e-mail.
8791
Belty Ro\\'Jey
8792
ART DIRECfOR
EDITORI AL CONSULTA\,T
Patrie Rowlc)
6801
2779 Aero Park Drive. P.O. Box 968
Traverse City, MI 49684
1·800·773· 7798, ext 33 17
LONDON TO SYDNEY AIR RACE
6806
SEARCH IN A STORM
By Johll Miller
Village Press. Traverse City, Michigan
~IAGAZlNE 1$
published
6809
_ addillOllai nwlUl' otru;n.
No pan of III IS publicatIon may be ~nled Of duplicated \!o ilh·
out the 'Mitten peo!llSSioo of the f'.djlor in Chief
The So.:i~ and 1'IIbli5hrr canDOl a.x:rpt rnpoMIboIily ror me
rorrectncH or a.:rurac)' of the II\iInfiJ IWInltd hercin or for IDJ
opmioos el~ ()piniocti of Ibr Editor or OJR\Ilbul.:n do _
neceMar\1) ~Ibc posniQnof!be5Qcicty. Publisher ~a
the-right to ItJCl.1 any matenal $ubmJCred fOf pubhcatiOlL
~_pIIal...... Malinttlr.. ..btit:lIkla IWl _ _
tM ~ (1( . . Sodtty 1IId", DOl bt rmrMd. Aruta
submttlcd "'1m jIICtlJttS rcttIl'e publiation prdmDCe.
A:' l\1JAL Oll'S L'S-S4t
Canada.t Mnic0--S45 (US}. Fortlp-S7S (US)
ufe ~mbcrship-S 1.(00.
COIHlI(( AilS Hcadqua;tm for dcWk.
GREAT NEWS FOR ABS GOLFERS
By Harold Bosr
monthl) h)' tile American BQnlnu Society at the Wicllig
\lid-COIIIinml AiIpon. 19~ ~II1If!ekl Ro.1, Widut&, KS 67209.
The pncc 0( a yurl~ ~PUOll IS IIIc1uded 111 !be aIIIIIIII ~
(S45) of Soci~{)' members. Prnodical post.~ plld at \\rlChil.t.
DEPARTMENTS
8n4
PRESIDENT'S COMMENTS
8m
COLVIN'S CORNER
8798
FORUM
8781
NEIL·S NOTES
8798
ABS MEDICAL PANEL
by John Hastings. M .D.
CCupyrigbt 2001
Term expires
AVIONICS
by Jim Hughes
by Neil Poba,,!. alld Ark)' Foulk
AMERICAY
Board 01 Directors
8794
by Jon Roadfeldt
BQN.4.VlASOCJt7Y MACAZJ."iE. PO. Box 1288&. Vt"idull.. KS
672n-2!88
8805
8808
REGIONAL NEWS
INSURANCE
by l a/Ill Aile". Falcoll IIISIIrll nce
6810
Term expires
2001 JOHN D. HASTINGS. M.D. Secretary (At· Large) 2002
1432 S. NewponAle. Tulsa. OK 741 20
Phone 918·747.75 17. fax 918-742-7947
e·mail [email protected]
e-mail [email protected]
2002 \\1LLIAM C. CARTER (Area 2)
713 1 Drift .....ood Drivc. Sf. Grand Rapid~, Ml 49546
Phone 616·974·0016, fax 616-676-0346
e·mail [email protected]
JACK THREADGILL Trtasul'tr (Area S)
1602 Brook Hollow DriI'C, Bryan. TX 77802
Phone 979-779-7155. fax 979·175·7432
e·mail [email protected]
e-mail hasli [email protected]
20(13 MICHAEL HOEfFLER, (Area I)
43 Old Sugar Road, Bolton. MA 01 740
Phone508-351-9080, fax 50S-351 -9081
AD SECTION
8791A
BPPP SCHEDULE
8793
SERVICE CLINIC
SCHEDULE
9808
CALENDAR
JON ROADFE('DT, Presldenl (Are. 4)
1548 W. SC.II lanl. ROl.eville, MN 55 11 3
Phone 651 .488-9385. fa;.; 65 1-488-9475
e-mail [email protected]
HAROLD BOST, V.P. (Artli 3)
760 Birkdalc Drive. Fayeueville. GA 30215
Phone 770·7 19·0638, fax 770-719·9826
Page 6773
1997 ARTICLE)
6804
PRINTER
S~nd addr~h ~hlnscs til
RUDDER CRACKS (U PDATE OF
By Dick Wilsoll
DISPLAY ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
John Shoemaker
POSTMASTER:
FLYING MORE SAFELY
By ROil Zasadzillski
Jim Simpson
~
ABS AT SUN 'N FUN 2001
By Steven Oxman
EDITOR
AMERICAN BON,,-,"ZA SOCIETY
ABS VISITS ABS
By Cha rles Davidsoll
ABS c-mail: [email protected]
2001
2001
Term expiles
JACK CRONIN (A ... 6)
261 Vine Street. Den ~er, CO 80206
Phone 303·333·)00), fax 303·333·2000
e-mail [email protected]
TILDEN D. RJCIIARDS, (Art. 7)
PO Box 1047. Sutler Creek, CA 95685
Phonc 209-267-0640. fax 209·267· 1546
e·mail richards@l·olcano.nel
RON DAV1S (Arel 8)
2522 Vista Baya. r\ewpoo Beach. CA 92660-3636
Phone 9-a9·548·2522. e-mail [email protected]
2003
2002
2003
ABS June 2001
President's Comments
JON ROADFELDT
Oshkosh ahead!
J
mally talk about their area of expertise. You will
be able to get your questions in easier and pursue
more detail.
If you have a topic you would like to have
presented (or to present yourself), let ABS
Technical Manager Frank Evanega know either
ahead of time or when you get to our tent. This is
all on a volunteer basis, so speaker availability
depends on who is there. Whoever is scheduled
for the day will be listed on an easel in the hospitality tent.
When you sign in, be sure to say "Hi" and
"Thank you" to Sam James. He does the worrying and coordinating to get the tents up, furniture
moved in, flags flying and the special display airplane safely in place.
une is busting out all over and I hope you all
are able to take advantage of the early summer weather to get some flying time logged.
June is also the time to start planning your visit
to the EAA gathering in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This
year it is scheduled for July 24-30, Tuesday
through Monday. The Tuesday start is new this
year after having started on Wednesday for the
Trade in your CD
last few years. If you have never taken in thi s
One of the ABS Company Store items availevent and have the slightest urge to do so, I enable at our tent will be the 3rd Edition CD-ROM
courage you to make plans and go.
that has been updated
The EAA was founded
to encourage members to
through December 2000.
build their own airplanes
If you own a previous edias the most economical
tion, be sure to bring that
disk to "trade up" to the
way to get airborne and as
a great learn ing experi new edition for just $20 +
ence. Many of us signed
Wisconsin tax. (Promisup soon after the itch to
ing to mail your old CD
fly became impossible to
in to the ABS office as
ignore and had to be
soon as you get home will
not "fly. ") For first-time
scratched . I often tell
THE FOLLOWING FORUMS HAVE
BEEN CONFIRMED FOR OSHKOSH:
buyers, the CD is just $84
people that it is general
aviation's "field of Care and Feeding of Your Bonanza. led by plus tax. Believe me,
dreams." Ifthere is an air- ABSTechnical Consultants. Wednesday, July lhat's a bargain.
25. 11:30 a .m. - 12:45. Sporty's Pavilion.
craft you want to see or
Thanks to CD
Flying the Bo na nza-Gettin g the most from
build or buy, it will be at the Best. led b y the BPPP staff with A BS Techdevelopers
Oshkosh. If you're inter- nical staff. Thursday, July 26. 10 - 11: 15 a .m .•
I want to again express
ested in exploring a career EAA Pavilion.
gratitude to ABS past
in an aviation-related enpresidents Barrie Hiern and Ron Vickrey who,
deavor, it will be represented at Oshkosh. If there
working with Summit Aviation, produced the CD.
is something you want to sell to the people of
They put in many, many hours-make that daysgeneral aviation, you want to test the water at
of work. It appears to me to be a gargantuan task
Oshkosh. It is one of the world's wonders.
just getting to know the language of the industry,
Come hangar fly with ABS
The ABS has made a significant commitment
to have a larger presence at this event. Since the
EAA changed the whole layout three years ago,
we have increased the space we rent and added a
second tent for a "chat room." Our hospitality tent
draws many members and nonmembers for hangar flying, refreshments and merchandise. The
chat room allows us to invite speakers in to infor-
ABS June 2001
understanding the problems of compatibility,
search engines, etc.
To have all the back issues of the magazine
through December 2000. plus FARs, ADs, STCs
and the AIM all on one little piece of round plastic-that even I call get illformation from- is
absolutely awesome!
See you in Oshkosh. then in Mobile.
-JOIl
We usually have
more members
sign in during
fAA than at our
conventions. But
not this year. The
Mobile Convention in October is
going to be BIG!
PAST PRESI DENTS
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Page 6774
Transplanted Texan/New Yorker
There's nothing as reliable as inside information, so
here it is straight from fellow ASS members who live in
the Mobile area: what to see and do; where to eat; and
who to call on for any aircraft needs.
Mobile couple
Here are a few places to see whi le in Mobile at the ABS
Convention. Battleship Park is two miles from downtown Mobile, east through the Bankhead tunnel. It is home to the battleship
USS Alnbama that served during World War II. There is also a
fairly new aviation museum. (ABS is offering an optional "Evening
at the Park." See registrationJonn.)
Downtown Fairhope is about a 30-minute drive and has a
lot of quaint shops and outdoor cafes for lunch and dinner. Gulf
Shores is about an hour-and-20-minute drive and has some of
the best beaches on the Gulf Coast. At the Biloxi Casinos, about
an hour-and- 15 minute drive west into Mississippi, we like the
Beau Ri vage and the Grand.
And here are some tips on good places to eat. Drayton Place
on the comer of Dauphin and Royal and Gus's Restaurant at
751 Dauphin St. are just two of the great places to eat in downtown Mobile. The Original Oyster House is great. It's just
through the Bankhead tunnel on Battleship Parkway. Nan Seas
Restaurant on Dauphin Island Parkway is owned by a fellow
pilot, Willis Robinson and serves wonderful seafood.
Chuck's Place is one of our favorite places. Chuck is a magician with food. It's a fairly small restaurant, so we recommend
you call for reservations (334-478-2881). It is located at 2503 Old
Shell Rd, about 10-15 minutes from downtown Mobile.
Hope to see you there!
-David and Darla Lindsey, Mobile, Alabama
Flying in the Mobile area is exceptionally rewarding. Many
coastal and inland attractions are within easy reach. All the great
Gulf Coast beach towns like Panama City, Destin, Fon Walton
Beach, Pensacola, Gulf Shores, Gulfport/Biloxi and New Orleans are popular destinations.
Make time to visit the Exploreum Museum of Science,
Mobile Fire Museum, City of Mobile Museum, Bellingrath
Gardens, Mobile Battleship Park, Fon Conde and numerous
restored homes and attractions.
Drive from Mobile to Dauphin Island and visit Fon Gaines
and the new Estuarium at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Ride the
ferry ("Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!") to Fort Morgan and Gulf Shores where the beaches are clean, uncrowded
and the water will still be warm and blue-green. For great fi shing, the King Mackerel are still running close to shore.
Continue along the coast to Perdido Key's beautiful, beaches.
Visit Pensacola Naval Air Station and Museum.
Head back to Mobile via tbe backroads through Foley and
past the Teledyne Maintenance Center in Fairhope (4R4). Great
shopping at both. Take the Bay Way (1-10) or the Causeway (US
98) across the Mobile Delta back to the city.
Being a transplant from Texas via New York, you can tell
that my wife Terry and I really like li fe in Mobile. We are blessed
with great flying weather and destination, "guy things" like
hunting, fishing and golf (Roben Trent Jones GolfTrail among
others) and "gal things" like shopping, beautiful homes and
gardens.
We are central to all Gulf Coast attractions from Texas to
the Florida's Keys. Enjoy your stay. [ still do!
-AI Perrone, Semmes, Alabama
Member since '67
Hi, I'm Ham Wright.llive
in Daphne on the eastern
shore of Mobile Bay. I've
been a member of ABS since
it was started in 1967. I'm now
flying one of the prettiest
Travel Airs in the Southeast.
There are three people you
need to know in Mobile: Tom
Greer, John Wimpee and Fillipo Millone. Tom operates the best
radio shop in the Southeast and John is a great Beechcraft mechanic. Both are located right beside the Downtown Airport
FBO and will be open for our convention. FiUipo flys a Skylane
and also owns Mobile's best restaurant-The Pillars.
- Ham Wright, Daphne, Alabama
A general schedule of events for the convention appears on the next page.
For information on the ABS golf tournament and hole-in-one contest, turn to page 6809.
Page 6775
ABS June 2001
HELP AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
The ABS CD-ROM is a valuable tool for owners, operators-and mechanics-of Bonanzas, Barons and Travel Airs.lt effectively supplements
the shop manuals and can save hours and dollars.The search engine
for words and phrases makes it quick and easy to find articles in the
33 years of ABS Magazine on the CD.There's a trade-in policy for those
with earlier versions. (ABS Company Store, 316-945-1700).-NP
(Because of changes to this edition. Macs must have hardware and software that emulates 32-bitWindows (95.98. ME. NT 4.0+ or 2000) and 15 megabytes of free disk space.)
Bendix antenna
Alan f? Keith
Sea Girt. New Jersey
Q:
I'm trying to locate a Bendix antenna for
my 1977 B55 . The part number is AT2073A
(ADF & Comm) antenna. Can you help?
A: Try Pacific Coast Avionics (800-353-0370)
for it or a similar dimension and appearance,
while maybe not a Bendix. Other sources are Wag
Aero (800-558-6868) or Chief Aircraft (800-4473408). Also check salvage yards such as Dodson
(800-255-0034), Atlanta (800-237-883 1) or
White (800-82 1-7733).- NP
C35 engine upgrade
Marc Sanfacroce
Concord. California
Q: ]' m wondering what my engine options
are for my C35. I currentl y have an E225-8. Am
I limited to another E225-8 or wi ll an 10-520 or
10-550 fit?
them wi th a multi meter. They seemed to pass current one direction but not the other, so I guess
they are OK.
Are all four diodes used in the electroluminous
light circuit? I discovered that they are shorted to
the frame of the aircraft. Are they supposed to be
that way? I have read about this problem in the
ABS CD-ROM and there is mention that the inverter may be bad or have poor grou nding. Where
is that inverter located? I called the factory and
they could not give me a definite answer.
Also, a friend says maybe the transistor is bad.
Where is it located in my plane? I got the lights
to flicker on and off a few times after changing
the rheostat, but now can get nothing. I disconnected the circ uit breaker panel thinking it might
be shorted out, but that did not help.
The situation is getting frustrating and no one
seems to fully understand this system. I wish
Beechcraft had gone with a simpler system. There
is a block diagram in the Beech Maintenance
Manual, but I could not find a true circuit diagram. Any help will be appreciated.
A:
D'Shannon (800-328-4629) has conversion
STCs for 10-470, 10-520 and 10-550 engines
A: Raytheon's Bob Leright (3 16-676-8275)
for the early Bonanza models. The E series enshould be the most knowledgeable individ ual. Air
gines are sti ll supportable, but typically cost
about the same to overhaul as an 10-520 due to
more machine wo rk in the case repair.
Of course, there is a charge for the STC and
it requires a different prop, accessories and baffling . Don't forget, the higher fuel consumption
of these engines will reduce your range, and you
may need to consider adding auxiliary fuel tanks.
By the time you've made all your changes, it
might have made more sense to trade up.- P
V35B panel lighting
G. Keith Taylor
San Pedro. California
Q:
Can you help me get my electroluminous
panel lights working? I thought maybe the rheostat was bad and installed a new one. That did
not help. A mechanic told me they are controlled
through djodes located under the pilot's seat. I
removed those diodes one at a time and checked
Capital Dial Inc. (3 16-264-2483) repairs the panels and has been very helpful in troubleshooting
them.
Each of the diodes should be for a separate
section. I believe they are really transistors and
that the inverter is a solid-state unit in the vicinity of the heat sinks.-NP
10-550 HP calculator
Woody Saland
Florham Park, New Jersey
Q:
I recently upgraded to 10-550B from Beryl
D' Shannon. Is there a Beech part number for a
performance computer that would tell me the percent HP for a given rpm/manifold pressure combination given an altitude and temperature?
A: TCM (334-438-3411 ) has an operator's
handbook with power charts or you could order a
later model POH from Raytheon'S TMDC (800796-2665) and use the power charts from the per-
ABS June 2001
formance section. There used to be a circular computer (similar to an E6B) to
calculate horsepower for a given engine
made by Plumly, but they no longer make
them. One last option would be to oet the
JPI EDM-800 Engine Analyzer (800-3454574,714-557-3805) with the HP calculator option.-NP
SMP brackets
Jim Coughlin
~City. OhiO
bl.:
In reviewing the December 2000
Colvin's Comer, Raymond Elam submitted a question on the A36 rudder spar AD.
In September 1994, I purchased the SMP
upper bracket and the SMP middle hinge
from Spacecraft Machine Products.
Stevens Aviation installed these upon
receipt with the following notation: "Removed rudder, performed rudder spar inspection per SB 2333 RI. Installed Spacecraft Machine Products reinforcement
brackets as called for in AD 93-24-03(b)(3)
in accordance with supplemental type certificate SA5870NM. No repetitive inspections required by AD 93-24-03."
I was not successful in reaching Dick
Wil son at the number provided (wrong
number). Does amendment 39-8752 require some inspection of these brackets?
Do I need to replace the expensive brackets that I purchased in 1994 ($535), or
do I have the latest version?
A:
General Forming Corp (3 10-3260624) makes and markets the brackets
for Dick Wilson now. We had a wrong
number for Dick. He is glad to receive
calls: daytime: 310-326-8516, or residence: 3 10-265-9514. I have verified
that if you have both middle and upper
SMP brackets, no further inspections are
required at this time.-NP
Alternate air fiffing
Ron Pote
EI Paso, Texas
Q: I need part numbers and a source
for the alternate air fitting for instruments
(my plane has none), and for the plastic
Bonanza emblem for a model-specific
yoke.
A: Chief Aircraft (800-447-3408) has
several different standby vacuum system s. If you mean ahernate static source,
then it is kit number 35-5013-1 S from
RAPID (888-727-4344).
The plastic yoke emblem could pos-
ABS June 2001
sibly be obtai ned from RAPID, but you
may have better luck with the salvage
yards. Try Dodson (800-255-0034) or
White (800-821-7733).-NP
Single muffler in C33s
John Kraus
Westminster; Maryland
Q:
Should my C33 have two mufflers? It only has one on the copilot's
side. My parts manual implies that it
should have one on the right as well.
A:
A limited number of C33s (CD- I
through CD-224. CD-233, 234, 236, 241
and CD-246 through CD-250) were built
with only one mumer on the left-hand
pilot's side. The right side was a straight
pipe coming from the exhaust manifold.
There is no factory approval to install a
second muffler; however, one could be
installed using a Form 337.-NP
Warm rheostat
Glenn Combs
Lexington, Kentucky
Q:
We have a wonderful 1966 Travel
Air D95A. The rheostat switch for the
panel back lighting gets extremely warm
to the touch while on but works fine otherwise. We are planning to replace the
rheos tat switch. Can you provide a
source for a new one?
A: I would call Crossroads Aviation
(972-239-0263). For a used one, try
Dodson (800-255-0034) or White (800821-7733).-NP
AD 89-05-02
John Barnett
Norcross, Georgia
Q:
My Bonanza is undergoing its annual at a different shop this year. They
have found that AD 89-05-02, pertaining to periodic inspection of magnesium
fittings that attach the ruddervators, has
been overlooked. The inspection was fine.
The AD specifies the inspection interval as every 100 hours time in service,
per SB 2242, Rev I. However, the shop
says the SB requires inspection every 25
hours TIS . What should be the inspection interval to stay legal and safe?
Secondly, [ was able to find a site to
locate the AD. Is there a website where
I can download Service Bulletins?
A: AD 89-05-02 is, of course, what
applies to Part 91-operated airplanes.
The Service Bulletin would have to be
complied with if you are operating under
Pan 135. The AD does say 100 hours if
magnesium is installed, and the SB says
25 hours. 100 hours is legal and safe, but
you should still use the inspection procedures called out in the Service Bulletin.
At this time, I'm not aware of a
website tbat offers Beech Service Bulletins. However, they do appear on the
ATPCD-ROM and are available through
the ABS office (3 16-945-1700).-NP
Replacement light panel
Richard Bath
Eatonton, Georgia
Q:
I'm looking for a rep lacement
light panel for the lower right section of
my instrument panel. It lights the fuses
and the gear. It is backlit. Where can 1
find one?
A:
Manycan be repaired by AirCapital Dial Inc (3 16-264-2483). You also
could try salvage yards such as White
(800-82 1-7733), Atlanta (800-237-8831)
or Dod son (800-255-0034), or try
RAPID (888-727-4344).- P
Leaky brake valve
Harry Wade
Fishers, Indiana
Q: The parking brake valve in my
1969 V35A is leaking and the shop
manual recommends replacing a gasket.
The pans manual does not break down the
valve into individual parts. The valve is
made by Hoof Products. Can you advise
where I can obtain pans for this valve?
A:
The majority of them used standard AN 6227 O-rings. Your local shop
should stock most sizes. They may be
stocked under MS28775-. The "dash"
in each case denotes size.-NP
Debonair landing light
Bob Edmondson
Spring, Texas
Q:
My Debonair, CD-154, could use
more landing light illumination than the
250-wau nose gear lamp. I understand
there is an STC to add a lamp 10 each of
the main gear assemblies, and that the
pans are available from RAPID.
My IA tells me the installation can
be done if the STC paperwork can be
obtained. One of your advertisers, Alpine Aviation, does the work. but it
Page 6778
would be very inconvenient and costprohibitive to go to Washington, D.C.,
since I'm in the Houston area. Can you
suggest an alternative for getting the
necessary paperwork?
A: Alpine Aviation (703-622-8227)
sells the kit and the STC and it can be
done locally. It's very well designed. You
could also try Arrow Light (7 16-3437700). LoPresti Speed Merchants (561 562-4757) also sells a very bright "Boom
Beam" STC.-NP
TKS anti-ice systems
Chet Steele
San Antonio, Texas
Q: Do you have any contact information on a company called TKS Antiice Systems? I have never seen an ad,
just mentioned in articles once in a while.
A:
The company is Aerospace Systems Technologies, 3213 Arnold Ave,
Salina KS 67401; 785-865-5511.-NP
Reskinning Travel Air
elevators
Denis Kovacs
Sassenheim, The Netherlands
gauges. Will an open sensor damage the
gauge? Now the gauge does not register.
Where can I find a replacement sensor?
A: The original sensor and gauge were
made by AC (as in AC Delco) but is no
longer available. The current systems
and spares are Rochester gauges, which
are different values so their sensors are
not interchangeable with the AC gauges
without a resistor.
In strument Technologies (800229-9078) has a sender and resistor that
wi ll work. Also John Wolfe Co.
(440-942-0083) and Air Parts of Lock
Haven (570-748-0823) can test and repair
AC gauges.-NP
Bad dimmer control
Steve Kaplan
The Sea Ranch, California
weight aft preclude replacing magnesium with aluminum , which is almost
half again as heavy.
As for a prebuy, the H Model 35
doesn't have any concerns peculiar to the
model. We always recommend a good
inspection by a mechanic knowledgeable
about 35s. Areas to look at include condition of ruddervators and documentation of acc urate balancing; fuel cell condition; landing gear wear and retract
check; compression check, oil filter and
screen; undocumented repairs and modification s; and a review of AD notes.
The book, Colvin's Clinic, by Norm
Colvin may be helpful for a prebuy as it
is full of maintenance tips and things to
look out for. It is available from the ABS
Company Store (3 16-945- 17oo).-NP
F33A shoulder harnesses
Q: The subpanel dimmer control is
Ron Doupe
not functioning on my F33A and my avionics technician has advised me that the
Inverter, PIN X17512, has fai led and
needs to be replaced. He has been told
the part is on back order for more than
six months. Can yo u help me find a
source for this part or an alternate?
J am trying to locate someone who
can sell me shoulder-type seat belts,
something like new cars have fo r the
front seats rather than the lap belts only
that came in the plane. It is a 1975 F33A.
EI Dorado Hills, California
Q:
Safety Limited in West Chicago,
A: Try Avstat (888-287-8283) or Arrell A:
Illinois (630-584-9366), offers them .
Q: Tprobably need new elev:nors as (K05-604-0439).
Also, you could try salThese require a field approval, but there
the old ones are corroded. I believe they
are magnesium parts and J would be interested in knowing who reskins these.
Or is there an STC with replacement elevators made of aluminium?
A:
vage yards Dodson (800-255-0034) or
White (800-82 1-7733).-NP
Debonair manuals
Jack ie Walton
Tucson, Arizona
There is no STC that I' m aware of
to use aluminum skins; they mu st be
resk inn ed wit h magnesium . For
reskinning, I would contact Princeton
Aviation in Princeton , Minnesota (6 12389-2 134), Biggs Aviation in Wellston,
Oklahoma (405-258-2965), Aero Repair
in Hemet, Californ ia (909-925-5141 ),
Crossroad Aviation in Addison, Texas
(972-239-0263 or Stebbins Aviation in
Louisville, Kentucky (800-852-8 155).
-NP
ABS sells the ATP CD-ROM
(separate CDs for Bonanzas and Barons)
of maintenance, shop, parts and wiring
manuals or you can contact Ray theon 's
TMDC (800-796-2665).- NP
Replacement CHT gauge
Q: Are there any provisions for alu-
Bob Stewart
Dallas, Texas
Q:
J own a C35 with an E225-8 engine. Recently the cyli nder head temperature gauge suddenl y indicated full
hot with the gauge needle pegged. Other
gauges did not confirm trouble. After
landing, 1 found the CHT sensor to be defective. J have the original panel of Beech
Page 6779
Q:
Where can we get maintenance
manuals for our 1963 Debonair?
A:
Aluminum ruddervators?
Dennis Groth
Tucson, Arizona
minum ruddervators? I' ve heard that the
flaps and ailerons can be converted. Are
there any major concerns with the H35?
What areas would you recommend focusing on during a prebuy?
A:
There are no legal alum in um
ruddervators and I don ' t believe there
can be. The balance problem and added
are man y being done and they are good
qUality. Gary Hammock (972-875-4279)
also has a shoulder harness mod that requires field approva\. Raytheon sells a
kit which is good but somewhat more
expensive.-NP
Electric attitude indicators
Thomas Miller
Q
eWYOrk
: With all the recent info regarding
electric backup altitude indicators, could
you reconunend a model and avionics supplier where I might find one. I saw a comment in the March ABS Magazine for uTek. Where would I contact them?
A: For RC Allen, Aim, Jet, Cessna and
King, Elliott (309-799-3 183) is one source.
u-Tek is at (800-338-7 146.)-NP
Hot starts, window cleaning
Ke n Wolff
Paradise, California
Q:
I am a new pilot with about 90
hours and just purchased a B33. I need
help with hot starts. I would also like to
ABS J u n e 2001
know whal kind of cleaning solulions 10
use for general clean-up and waxing of
Ihe airplane and windows.
A:
On hOI Slarts, we frequently have
Ihe besl luck by purposely floodingwhIch also purges vapor-Ihen work
loward lean . Wilh thronle full in and
mIXture full in, run boost pump until fuel
pressurelfuelflow needle is steady; turn
off Ihe pump. Leave Ihrottle full in and
mixture to idle cutoff, Ihen crank. When
engine slarts, adjusl mixture in and
throttle back to idle.
The biggest hazard to airplane windows IS shop rags contaminated with
harsh debris. Even rough paper lowels
can s cratch. Use ordinary cloth diapers
or dI sposable "Blue" shop towels. Plexus
from Sporty's (800-543-8633) is a good
window cleaner and they also have noncorrosive aircraft soaps. Wash Wax All
(800-927-4929) is anolher good allaro und cleaner. So is ordinary Pledge,
though il takes a linle more elbow grease.
We recently received a copy of a sludy thaI
shows Simple Green is corrosive to alu-
minum and magnesium.-NP
Upgrading Baron engines
Bruce Bradford
~rode. Montana
sufficient eq uipment 10 do il by ultrasound method, even Ihough iI 'S unlikely
any have Ihe exacI same equipment as
RaYlheon. Raylheon is in the process of
revlslOg SB27-3358, whi ch should solve
some of Ihese problems wilh the original Issue.-NP
Repairing Zerk fittings
Yoni Bouja
Volley-village. California
Q:
Whal is the besl way 10 repair a
broken Zerk grease fitling? I have a fe w
of them on the nose landing gear.
A:
Some of the Zerk finings were
pressed 1010 place while olhers were
screwed in. 1 would first try a screw extractor or easy-out and try backi ng il out
by turning it co unterclockwise. Sometimes pulling with a vice grip aner the
screw extractor is engaged works to rem?ve the pressed-in ones. Treading in
with a stubby PK screw and a slide hammer puller can be used on the press ones
if necessary. Don't ha ve a sharp point
on the screw. Performance Aero sells a
nice kil of Zerks (800-200-3 141 ).-NP
Flottorp propeller
Jimmy Mundy
MI. Airy. North Carolina
\:)l: Can you take a Baron 58 that Q:
needs engines and convert it to a 58TC
with either 325 or 380 HP engines?
A:
It would take a 337 field approval
and I believe it would be couDlerproduclive. Colemill (615-226-4256) has a conversion STC for 58s to upgrade to Ihe
10-550.- P
Ruddervator Service Bulletin
Ann Curcio
Racine. Wisconsin
Q: 1own a 1947 Bonanza and am curI
rentl y having the annual done. I requested 10 also have Ihe AD removed for
Ihe tail flutler. My mechanic is having
trouble locating the instrument required
10 measure Ihe thickness of the skin . Do
you know where this can be found ?
A: FAA policy letter HBAW-00-20A
defines equ iva lency for special tools and
equipment. It essenlially says Ihal if the
manufaclurer of the test equipment says
il will do Ihe task equal to the test equipment specified by Ihe OEM , it's OK to
use. The major testing labs should have
ABS J u ne 2001
1 have a 1963 Debon air SIN
CD599. It has a two-b lade Flouorp prop.
My back plale has splil and caused damage to the spinner. Can you help me with
replacements? The prop model is FI2A4 and the spinner is FS-2oo manufactured by McCauley PN D37oo-FS200.
Would you please also give me any information aboul Ihese props, and are
there any still out there ?
oil dipstick. Also, Ihere is an increase of
water droplets in Ihe oil, plus I can't get
Ihe 011 temp up much higher than 170 or
180 degrees. Any suggestions?
A:
Make sure the crankcase breather
IS open, especially afler a fresh inslallalIOn. 1 had an 10-520 Ihat. when the fuel
flow transducer was inslalled, they pUI a
shghl bend Oow spot) in Ihe breather. That
low spot filled with waler, froze and pressUfl zed Ihe case excessively which, of
course, blew OUI through places like the
dlpslIck and didn·1 gel rid of moi slure.
As the actual oil temperature is usually aboul 20 degrees houer than Ihe
gauge reads, 80 degrees is acceplable.
Sometllnes III the north country, a strip of
ducI lape lenglhwise on the center of the
oil cooler helps. Of course, you don ' l want
10 fly into warmer air that way.-NP
Constant pilot
Christian Verstraete
Korlrijk. Belgium
Q:
One of my two darlings is a 1966
Debonair C33 CD-I 050; Ihe olher one' s
named Ann. On the extreme right side
below near Ihe switches for navigalion
lighls and pilol heal, Ihe Deb has a switch
Ihal indicates CONST. CO-PILOT. Nobody can lell me what it is for. Can you?
I purchased my plane in France in
1999. Now it is Belgian-regi slered 00TMM . Regularly I make some improvements-Ihree-blade McCauley prop,
new windshield, new com., external
temp. gauge, strobe lights, etc. The next
will be a panel-mounled intercom and
maybe a Garmin GPS. Since 1 have had
00-TMM , many things changed for me
and for us-for Ihe bener!
"CONST. CO-PILOT" is a ConA: Try Desert Air Pans (800-537- A:
slant Copilol (wing lever) autopilol, an
7495), Aero Propeller (909-765-3 178),
Maxwell Prope ller (6 12-533-8611) ,
Dodson (800-255-0034) or White (800821-7733). They are all possible sources.
There are a few still in use and the preceding companies are the most likely to
be of assistance.-NP
Water in the oil
0Plion on some 33s. It took sensing from
the tum coordinalor and, in that case, the
turn coordinator was probably both electric and air operated. It was a full-time
lateral slabililY augmentalion syslem
available afler SIN CD-976. The Pilot
Operatillg Halldbook should have informalion on il.-NP
Gory Selzberg
Rancho Palos Verdes, California
Q:
I have aboul 130 hours on a faclory rebuill 10-520 in my V35A. Recenlly 1 have noticed an increased
amounl of gunk around Ihe seal of the
Neil Pobanz, ABS technical consultant. is a retired
U.s. Army civilian pilot and maintenance manager.
Neil has been an A&P and IA far 40 years.
Glen "Arky-Foulk. whose business is Delta Strut. is on
ABS assistant technical consultant since 1968 who
also was a part-time ABS Service Clinic inspector.
Page 6780
Prepurchase inspection
One of the most important tools in purchasing
a used airplane is the prepurchase inspectiOn.
Properly conducted, it will give the prospective buyer a good indication of the condition
of his or her dream Bonanza/Baron .
The inspection can leave one with a feeling of security knowing you made the right decision, or strike fear by discovering
what almost happened.
Prepurchase inspections are difficult to define. Some facil ities will do nothing less than a 100 hourlannual while others
will do little more than a walk-around and an engine compression check .
The inspection can be relatively expensive or fairly economical. A word of caution: "You will get what you pay for." You
should always ask for an exact definition of a "prepurchase
inspection" before accepting the service of any inspector.
Armed wi th the proper tools, the prospective buyer can determine if the expense of a prepurchase inspection is warranted.
The "Pre-Prepurchase Checklist" on the following pages can
be used by the buyer to evaluate the next step in the aircraft
ownership process. The checklist is not all-inclusive and is not
intended to replace the inspection by qualified technicians. It should
onl y be used as theftrs! step in helping you make your decision.
-Frank Evanega, ABS Technical Manager
NEIL'S NOTES
Air conditioning
We had questions about converting the factory ACs from RI2 to R1 34.
API, which is a partS distributor to FBOs (800-950-0 Ill ), has STC kits wi th
everything but the new agent to do the conversion. It takes some new pans
and the documentation to use.
Oil pressure
We had lots of questions about oil pressure variations between cold and
hot oil. The danger of rupturing a cooler from high pressure is probably less
than havi ng too low pressure and having an engine seize. The pressure can be
adjusted, but as clearances increase and the oi l is thinner, the relief valve may
not be able to compensate for that much variation. You can set it a little high
cold, which in some cases may raise the hot pressure a litlie, but doesn't really
fix the problem. Idle rpm doesn' t require much pressure but higher rpm should
quickl y have the minimum specified for your engine. Sometimes blow-by of
the rings contributes to high oil temperatures. Oil viscosity is also a factor.
The e-IIIII directory aid Ha....
HyIng pa... In the melllller.-Gllly
lectlon 01 tha ABS webs lie
<www.bonem.DrI> now leature
III1-update lunctlonl:
Prop vibration
Changing to a three-blade propeller at mid-engine life or higher hours can
experience a small vibration. We believe the engine crankshaft counterweights
make a wear spot in the cheek bushing at the correct spot for the two-blade.
When the three-blade is installed and the counterweight hangs in the wear spot, it
doesn't properly dampen the three-blade vibration. You may see alternator and air
conditioner belt wear or being thrown from these vibrations.
Hoses
Fuel, oil and instrument air hoses should be checked for condi tion and at
least considered fo r replacement at five-year intervals. If the exterior is hard
or cracked, it's for certain time to change, but the exterior could look OK and
still have deterioration of the inner wall layer due to temperature or propenies
of the fluid. Breakup of the inner wall has caused fuel starvation, loss of oil
pressure and fail ures of vacuum/pressure pumps. It' s a neglected item.
NOTAM
rCM has an engine school for mechanics and owners.
Look at rCM's website (www.rCMLink.com) or 334-438-3411.
Page 6781
1)
_
Participation In the I:.IUII
brY II vlllllnllry,
nyou .....
to be llted, . . . , II tD that PIlI
and ent.r your 1Id_ltI...
2) n you prevlou.ly rlll.terlll •
lilting, check to make lure It II
your current e-mlll addre.. or
that y_ IItIng was not inadvertently dropped In our rec.nt
cIIange to a new dat...... SYIIIIII.
8) n you prevlo••ly particIpated
In tb. Hualr Flying "etlan Ind
have CIIIAgBd e-mail addr....1 In
the meantime, you can now update IhI addren ... " wIIlnIert
" on uy ml"".1 you pOlt.d.
ABS June 2001
Prepurchase Checklist
This checklist is designed to assist persons in buying or seiling Bonanza/Baron aircraft. It is not intended to be exhaustive nor can it anticipate every potential problem . Each party
should conduct his or her
own investigation of the
subject aircraft, etc., prior
to sale or purchase.
B. Reliable appraiser-strong aircraft knowledge:
D
uring the first summer of my
family's Bonanza ownership, we
found ourselves dealing with sea
sonal weather that threatened to
cramp our style onjust about every trip.
With a base in Memphis and family in
Oklahoma. our flight profiles included
constant bobbing and weaving around
convective weather. Flying in summertime haze and actual IFR limited our ability to see convective cells. Enough! The
first new toy for the airplane was a
Strikefinder.
I had been using radar for years, hence
I was expecting a radar-like image when
convective weather was in range. But
that's not what I got. At the time, spherics (from the word "atmospherics") were
still relatively new to general aviation.
There was no ready source for operating
techniques or for learning the nuances of
this type of weather avoidance device.
Over time, my knowledge was acquired by talking to other users, through
interaction with other pilots on computer
forums and by talking to the manufacturer to glean information they chose not
to print. In time. I simply learned through
personal experience.
A Iinle bit of spherics history is probably in order. My disclaimer is that this
is not an in-depth term paper; ! make no
claim of being a subject-matter expen;
and there will be no test next hour.
Current general aviation spherics devices began development with the simple
goal of emulating what happened to your
old ADF pointer when you flew near
thunderstorms. The ADF needle would
point at the storm, or more specifically,
the storm's electromagnetic activity.
In the same way, a spherics device
"Iistens" for electrical activity and points
to it by placing a dot or cross on a display screen. As technology improved, the
azimuth became quite reliable through
filters that ignored horizontal lightning
(which could span a great distance) while
accurately identifying venicallightning.
Ranging
The challenge for the manufacturers
was fine-tuning the ranging capability of
ABS June 2001
these units. Ranging is arguably the
weaker point with spherics, although
each company maintains that its proprietary software has overcome earl ier deficiencies. They each developed models
that define distinctive electrical signatures associated with various lightning
characteristics.
Today, most spherics ranging is accurate down to plus or minus 10 percent.
That means that on the 25-mile display
scale, the actual storm position could be
within a five-mile area along an azimuth
line emanating from the airplane. The
cell that is actually 2.5 miles farther away
than the display's depicted location, due
to range error,just gives you more "pad."
The one that may be 2.5 miles closer than
depicted shouldn't pose a problem when
you consider that a 2.5 mile range error
on a 25-mi!e scale still provides more
than the 20-mile cell deviation suggested
by the FAA.
SPHERICS
Oselullool
or placebo?
BY JOHN WHITEHEAD
GERMANTOWN, TENNESSEE
,
=,:~~
Turbulence
When a storm is developing, its air
currents are rapidly rising. These rising
currents move much faster than the air
immediately surrounding them. The outgrowth of this shearing action is that
these air currents become electrically
charged, resulting in thousands of volts of
electricity. This is why a spherics device
can detect electrical activity and hence turbulence-producing conditions, before a cell
matures enough to produce the rain necessary to generate a radar return.
That also explains why a spherics display will sometimes show dots (electrical activity) when your Mark-! eyeball
doesn't see anything but sunshine. It 's
likely there is still turbulence in the area
of the dots as clear air currents move up
and down. This is the stuff that produces
those summer afternoon popcorn clouds.
As a storm develops, tbe rising air
cools and begins to condense into droplets that eventually fall as rain. This rain
will either rail to the ground or, if the
drops are small and lightweight, they
may be picked up by even more rising
air, thrusting them back up where they
merge with other droplets. Eventually,
the droplets will increase enough in size
and weight to rail unimpeded to the
ground. This mix of rising and falling air
within a storm. if strong enough, can tear
an airplane apart.
What's important to understand is that
it's nOl the rain that is so dangerous (in
this context), it's the air current shear and
turbulence. That's what spherics is designed to help you avoid. The rate of
change between areas or light to moderPage 6784
While radar needs water to show the pilot where the storms from the center of the display, extending
through the actual storm location and
are-and water is all it will show-spherics will essentially
beyond. The actual location of the storm
display turbulence by virtue of its electrical signature.
ate rain or moderate to heavy rain will
correlate to the degree of turbulence and!
or shear in that location. If the rate of
change is significant over a small area,
considerable turbulence is likely. Where
such a steep rain gradient exists, the
storm's electrical activity is pronounced.
Surprisingly, visible lightning is only
about 2 percent of the electrical energy
in play. Spherics can detect and display
the other 98 percent. You can now see
why filtering software is so important.
We' re specifically interested in the electrical energy that's associated with turbulence. If the unit displayed all electrical activity, the information would be
useless to the pilot.
While most of us don't need to be
talked out of flying into thunderstorms,
we would prefer to avoid flying through
lesser turbulence as well. That's where
the spherics device sbines. While radar
needs water to show the pilot where the
stonns are- and water is all it will showspherics will essentially display turbulence
by vinue of its electrical signature.
Not a remedy
Spherics is not a panacea. To receive
value from its information, you must first
receive a thorough weather brief. You
must have a working knowledge of
where convective weather is, where it's
predicted to be over time, and whether
it's airmass or frontal. You need to know
where weather "isn 't" as well. That is,
you need to be aware of distant severe
weather that isn't along your route, but
may be falsely displayed on the edge of
the longer ranges due to signal skip.
An important advantage of spherics
is its ability to "see" through rain since
it doesn't care about the water content,
only the electrical activity. Unlike radar,
which requires a working knowledge of
tilt techniques and the effects of attenuation on distant weather. spherics is much
easier from a user standpoint.
Page 6785
Spherics on the ground
The ability to "see" through rain is
especially valuable when there is weather
in the terminal area and you need to assess the best departure corridor before
takeoff. I've used this on numerous occasions to great benefit. In fact, using
spherics on the ground is an excellent
learning tool.
On a day when thunderstorms are approaching, go to the airport, fire up 01'
Bessie, and taxi out to a point where you
can vis ually observe the terminal
weather. By watching the weather approach and then surround you, you can
correlate what you see visually with what
you see on the display, gaining interpretation experience without actually flying
near threatening weather.
Radial spread
One negative sometimes heard is
unique to spherics, known as "radial
spread" or "cell stretch." Personally, I
would argue that this complaint is actually a misunderstood benefit. Spherics
manufacturers use what might be thought
of as a "model" storm to develop a
baseline from which to measure others
against.
An electrical signal , stronger than the
baseline model, would indicate a closer
storm while a weaker signal would imply a more distant storm. Radial spread
occurs when a storm, or more likely a
group of storms, produce numerous
strikes, some of which are quite strong
while others are weak, all within a short
span of time. A localized grouping of
ceUs, at various stages in their life cycle,
will produce this phenomenon.
The weaker strikes end up being displayed in the proper direction, but beyond the true storm location. The stronger signals will display correctly with
regard to azimuth but they will display
closer than the actual cell location. The
result is numerous dots, radiating out
is somewhere along that line (assuming
the selected scale is appropriate).
By using different scales and frequent
clearing of the dots on the display, a fairly
good storm plot can be made. The important thing to grasp here is that if a
storm is this busy, stay away from it.
After all, that's the point of spherics.
Clearing the display
I mentioned clearing the display. This
was a technique I had to learn before I
could truly benefit from spherics. Let's
assume I see a few random dots appear
here and there while flying along on a
sunny July day. As I continue to watch,
there are no new dots appearing in close
proltimity to the original dots. I'm left to
assume these dots are caused from typical summertime vertical currents.
Certainly, these dots imply some degree of turbulence, but not the type that
would threaten the structural integrity of
the airplane. And let's face it. A spherics
device can't ensure a smooth ride every
day. On some days, there is no smooth ride.
Now let's change this example just
slightly. Let's say I observe a few random
dots appearing, but this time J push the
CLEAR button and erase them. After a
while, more random dots appear but they're
in entirely different places. This is just more
summertime activity. No big deal.
But what if I erased the dots and,
within a short time, dots reappeared at
the same location where tbey were just a
minute ago. I clear the display and these
dots quickly reappear again. Something
is building here! The fact that the new
dots show up at the same location,
coupled with how quickly they rebuild,
tells the pilot that this is rapidly developing convective weather. The same process can be used in reverse to determine
an area of weather that is dying out.
The airplane's constant movement
through space causes a storm's most recent dots to appear in a different location tban those displayed from earlier
observations. This will result in a smear
ABS June 2001
or elongation of the SlOrm display, giving the impression that the storm covers
an area greater than it actually does. This
is another rea on to erase the display
from time to time. Experienced spherics
users learn how often to use the CLEAR
bUllon when analyzing weather.
BONANZA OF THE MONTH, cOlllilll/edfrom page 6772
Electrical eyes
Consider the weather forecast that
calls for stratus-generated rain, but the
weather service adds the zinger, "Isolated
embedded thunderslOrms are possible."
If you're flying in matus clouds, how
are you going 10 see these embedded
storms? Or, what if you find you're approaching a rather dark cloud in the terminal area? ATC has lots of traffic.
Should you ask for a deviation? Is it a
threat or just moderate rain--{)r neither?
I've occas ionally flow n through
nasty-looking clouds when my
Strikefinder had indicated no strikes in
the area for quite some time. The ride
resulted in rain of various intensities but
lillie-to-no turbulence. This, while radarequipped airplanes were deviating and
ATC was asking me, "How's your ride,"
in a lOne of dismay. Where I live, the
skies are hazy all summer, reducing forward visibility 10 only a few miles at
times. especially when flying into the
sun. All of this begs for a solution: another set of eyes-electrical eyes.
Just as with radar, there is a learning
curve before its benefits can be fu lly appreciated. Spherics weighs less and cost
less than radar, bringing it within the
reach of a broad base of general aviation
piiOls who previously couldn't justify
weather-avoidance equipment. For me,
the Slrikefinder has been an essential tool
in my family travels. I can't imagine flying without a spherics device now.
(Rep rill ted from the 1999 Midwest
Bonanza Sociery Newslelrer)
ABS member John Whitehead has ffown for FedEx
for 25 years. He is currentfy a DC-I0 caplain with
approximately 16,000 hours of flying time. r?otings
include commercial, MEl, ATP. CFI, CFlI, advanced
ground ins/ruc/or. glider. flight engineer. various type
ratings and A&P. He owns Q V35A Bonanza and is
president of the Midwest Bonanza SOCiety.
ABS June 200 1
The interior of N25'WW is as flawless as the day it come from the factory.
been stabled for the past 25 years, it actually had 326 TT. My first concern was
the condition of the engine with such low hours on it. But I was satisfied to
learn-after examining the logbooks and talking to the original owner-that the
airplane had been flown consistently every momh, just not for long periods of
time. The owner had mainly used it to cbeck his ranch and fence lines from the
air. He said the plane leflthe state only a few times in 25 years and that he never
left it outside overnight.
The plane is in original condition, exactly as it was when it left the factory
except for the emerald
green stripe and the Jaguar (Special Edition)
paim scheme I added a
year ago. Incidentally, it
is now frequently mistaken for a new 200 I
airplane.
I added sheepskin
covers for the front
seats to protect the
beautiful brown leather
in the airplane. The
paint and imerior are as
flawless as the day it
was delivered, definitely proving that
beauty does indeed
come with age.
James Reis
Lake Ozark, Missouri
An emerald green stripe and the Jaguar (Special Edition) paint scheme cause many to
mistake this 1976 A36 for a new one.
Page 6786
American
Bonanza Society
member makes
connections with
the Australian
Bonanza Society
BY CHARLES DAVIDSON
KILL DEVIL HILLS.
NORTH CAROLINA
Charles Davidson of Nor1h Carolina and Rob Kerr of the Australian Bonanza Society.
A
bout two years ago, I began
looking for an overseas medi-
cal assignment. Having practiced family and emergency
medicine in orth Carolina for the past
20 years, my wife and I wanted to spend
several months in an English-speaking
country in a living/working situation.
Through an organization that matches
physicians with assignments in Australia and New Zealand, we were able to
realize this wish in January by traveling
to the orth Island of New Zealand to
work in a rural community. This was the
first such trip for our fam ily, my wife
Patti and our two teen-age sons. We were
feeling a little homesick during those first
few weeks and I naturally turned to avialion as a means of meeting new friends.
Making connections
While reading the ABS Maga zine, I
spotted an announcement about a fly-in
to New Zealand by the Australian Bonanza Society in mid-February. Through
several e-mails and one call, I was able
to contact Murray "Doc" Green, the
leader of these intrepid aviators. Tbey
were planning to fly across the Tasman
Sea, SlOpping at Norfolk Island and
would be spending two days near us at a
beautiful coastal spot called Bay of Islands. Doc kindly invited us to join them
as a member of "the other ABS." We
drove down to the hotel where they had
congregated after the long over-water
night and fou nd as nice and friendly
bunch of pilots, spouses and friends as
you would ever wish to meet.
They had flown over in several Barons, one Duke, a Navajo and a lone
single, a Saratoga. I guess Piper products were given special dispensation as
brand B products for the trip. I practiced
my diplomacy by not pointing out the
absence of Bonanzas in this Bonanza
Society trip.
They had a great dinner that night and
the next day included us in ajet boat ride
out through the Bay of Islands (aptly
named for the many small rocky islands
lying within the large bay) to Hole in tbe
Rock (aptly named for a large stone island with a 30-foot-tall cave carved in it
by wave action).
The boat ride was scenic and after-
"Doc Green owns A36 SIN 1000. Our Bonanza A36 in North
Carolina is SIN 999. Sister ships whose pilots just happened
to meet in New Zealand 24 years after their manufacture!"
-Charles Davidson
Page 6787
wards we parted ways. The group moved
onto more flying adventures in the South
Island, and I went back to work. But it
was great to get some hangar talk in with
the Down Under pilots, especially as I
was starting to feel some early withdrawal symptoms from our A36.
Doc owns A36 SIN I000. He says it is
in original 1977 condition, paint, avion·
ics, everything. And he intends to keep
it tbat way; wants the ori ginal paint
scheme when it comes time to repaint.
The interesting coincidence here is that
our Bonanza A36 in North Carolina is
SIN 999. Sister ships whose pilots just
happened to meet in New Zealand 24
years after their manufacture!
Aviation Down Under
The Australian pilots have already
been exposed to a pay·as·you·go IFR
system. Apparently their system charges
for TFR flights on a per·mile basis. If you
file en route. they find out your departure point and charge mileage from there.
There are also fees for landing at some
airports. The pilot gets a month ly item·
ized bill. Complaints about this billing
system have led to an optional method
where the pilot pays a yearly fee based
on estimated hours, like $400 for up to
400 hours. Thi s may not be the exact fig.
ure but the concept is similar.
ABS June 2001
1
On the other hand, speaking with pilots, maintenance rees sounded equal or
lower than those in the U.S. Fuel costs
are about the same when adjusted for the
difference in value of dollars.
The Aussie ABS pilots use GPS and
have GPS approaches. This differs from
the New Zealand system which was more
like the U.S. system 20 years ago when I
began nying. avaids are generally VOR
or NOB. In fact, I was told New Zealand
has only about four or five ILS approaches
in the entire country.
Flying VFR in both countries is a visual treat. We were living in the small
town of Kaitaia near the nonhern tip of
the onh Island of ew Zealand. This
area is a combination of the dairy farms
of Wisconsin. next to the Black Hills of
South Dakota, adjacent to the nonhern
California coast. When I rented a Cessna
152 for a look about, you could see all of
these landscapes at once from 2,000 feet.
Ninety Mile Beach is a continuous nat
beach on the Tasman Sea running, you
guessed it, 90 miles to the nonh toward
Australia. It is so wide and nat that fullsized tour buses use it to transpon tourists to Cape Reinga at its tip.
I had the local instructor along as [did
not have a valid New Zealand license. It
had been a while since I had landed a C[50,
but to my pleasure and surprise, I greased
the landing. I told the instructor we'd stop
with that one, [couldn't improve on it. He
stated I could have been closer to the mid
line. Just like my instructor in the U.S.
There was a very active aero club in
Kaitaia. They have the C 152 and an Archer. Both planes looked in very good
condition although the C 150 has about
10.000 hours. The club meets
every Sunday night
for a Barbee, hangar
talk and general
family fun.
There was a real
Norman Rockwell
feeling to these get-
night we watched home videos of Jim
Summerfield, the local crop duster, flying his Fletcher in and out of tiny grass
strips on the sides on hills. He would lumber off these pastures like a bomb-laden
fighter clawing off the deck of a canier.
His takeoff was downhill, finding the air
and then swooping down into a valley to
get airspeed. Then he aimed for his targets on the valley farms.
The Fletcher is a peculiar-looking
bird with canted wing tips like the F4 Phantom. The posterior fuselage and vertical
stabilizer look like the old Navion. It is
powered by a massive eight-cylinder
Lycoming. It was true stick-and-rudder
stuff.
A post script to this was related to me
by my partner in our Bonanza. He is a
Vietnam veteran having flown UH I helicopters. He says a limited number of
F1etchers were converted to carry bombs
and were used during that conflict as a
sort of poor man's A6 Skyraider. He says
they performed pretty well in that ground
suppon role.
On the way home
We were invited by Rob and Gail Kerr
to visit them in Australia on our way
home in April. We accepted the invitation and were treated to wonderful Aussie
hospitality during a two-day visit to their
vacation home in Narooma, ew South
Wales, about four hours
drive south of Sydney.
Rob is the vice president of the Australian Bonanza Soci-
ety. He owns a beautiful 1971 A36 with
new paint, interior and recently overhauled engine with Ram cam,
GAMljectors and Millennium cylinders.
He treated me to a flight in this very
smooth-running bird for a look along the
south coast.
Both ew Zealand and Australia necessitate a working knowledge of the
phonetic alphabet as all call signs are in
letters, no numbers. Not enough planes
to need a numerical system.
Rob also is restoring a 1980 Maule to
use on his farm outside Melbourne. He
took us offshore fishing in his 30-foot
cruiser. We caught some tuna and had the
treat of watching a small commercial
boat unload yellowfin tuna. These fish
are cleaned and treated like eggs as they
are laid on cushions in trucks, packed in
ice and immediately shipped to Japan.
Apparently, they are so valuable on the
Japanese fish market that one exceptional
fish brought $35,000'
Rob is in charge of their BPPP programs. I have taken our BPPP three times
and enjoyed comparing curriculums
which are very similar. We both agreed
that these programs are great for safety
and proficiency, no matter the nationality of your Bonanza or Baron.
Some of the Aussie ABS group hope
to come to the U.S. for the 2003 EAA in
Oshkosh. I know my door is open to
them, and I would hope that our American ABS would be able to extend these
nice folks hospitality equal to that
shown our family during our trip
Down Under.
--@-Gail and Rob Kerr of the
Australian Bonanza Society
with their A36.
togethers, somethin g I
fear we are losing in the
U.S. with the closing of many
of our smaller rural airpons. One
Page 6788
ABS June 2001
Sport Pilot license
BY JOHN D. HASTINGS. M.D.
I
n a recent column I mentioned that individuals
with certain medical conditions (1 used epilepsy
as an example) might be able to obtain a
driver's license, but not an FAA medical certificate. A reader brought this potentiall y negative
comment to my attention, and I would like to
clarify that statement.
I was citing FAA medical standards, and epilepsy is one of 15 conditions that warrant denial
of medical certification for all classes (I st, 2nd,
3rd). I did not mean to imply that a valid driver's
license should not be acceptable as evidence for
medical fitness for any type of flying. My feelings are quite the contrary.
Within weeks to several months, the FAA is
expected to announce a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (NPRM) for a new flying license, the
Sport Pilot license, and new Light Sport Aircraft
rules. Acceptable aircraft will likely include
homebuilts, new manufactured aircraft and some
vintage aircraft.
Other specifications include maximum twoplace, day VFR only and allowance for owner maintenance. There are other provisions that have the
potential to dramatically reduce the cost of flying.
For full details, visit the EAA website at
<www.eaa.org> and click on Sport Pilot at the top
of the home page.
What does this have to do with medical certification? Everything. With a Sport Pilot license, a
third class medical certificate or a valid driver's license will likely be acceptable for medical clearance.
This will allow many persons to fly who previously
could not have obtained a medical certificate.
And-just as important-those who lose their
ISt, 2nd or 3rd class medical certificate for a disqualifying medical condition will be able to fly
under Sport Pilot license rules. This is welcome
news for many who have struggled to maintain
medical certification. Others who only want to fly
in day VMC conditions can be spared the expense
of periodic testing required by the FAA.
The Sport Pilot license and Light Sport Aircraft rules will make the joy of flying accessible
and affordable for many who have yearned for this
development. It's an idea whose time has come. I
salute the EAA's hard work on behalf of all who
long to fly.
-See you nexl month.
QUESTIONS OF THE MONTH:
Q:
I had a cardiac rhythm problem, which required an implanted defibrillator. I have had no
problems since it was put in six months ago. I
have not flown. Will the FAA give me a medical
certificate?
are doing well, healed, and have no evidence of
bleeding. Generally, a period of 60-90 days observation would be prudent.
of not issuing medical certificates to persons who
are dependent upon a defibrillator. However, they
are looking at individual cases quite carefully,
and I am not sure the door is completely closed
for the future . You would be able to fly under
Sport Pilot rules, should they become reality.
came out of the blue. I was not sick with anything
at the time. No one in the family had seizures. All
of my tests including MRI brain scan and brain
wave tests were normal. We talked about medication . but 1 dec ided against it. Nothing further
bas happened. 1 want to ny. What are my chances
of obtaining a medical certificate.
Q: I atammy26desk
years old. Three years ago while
A: Not at this time. The FAA has had a policy sIttmg
I had a major convulsion that
Epilepsy is defined as recurrent (two or
Q: Six weeks ago I was found to have a bleed- A:
more) unprovoked seizures, so you do not have
ing ulcer. They looked at my stomach with a
scope and said there was no cancer. I am being
treated wi th medications to cut acid production
and am doing fine. When can I return to flying?
A: You can return when your doctor says you
that diagnosis. Some persons have a single seizure in their life. If all risk factors for recurrent
seizures are normal (no prior history of seizure,
no previous brain insult, no seizures in immediate family, no history of fever convulsions, nor-
ABS June 2001
mal neurologic examination , normal
MRI scan, normal EEG), the chance of
havi ng another seizure is about 29 percent over fo ur years. After four years
without medication, risk becomes that of
the normal population. If all your risk
factors are indeed normal, you can be
granted airman medical certification after four years.
Q:
I had a hip replacement four weeks
ago and am recovering nicely. When can
I go back to flying?
A: As soon as yo ur doctor clears you
to return to unrestricted activities. You
then just have to report the surgery at
the time of your next physical. The same
wou ld be true for knee replacement or
knee surgery.
3,000 monocu lar pilots certified in the
US , and remember, Wiley Post bad only
one eye.
When a person loses an eye or has no
useful vision in one eye, he or she loses
depth perception. which helps determine
how close or far away things are. In time,
one develops "monocular clues" for distance, based on other characteristics such
as relative size. shadows, etc. Within six
months, these clues become well developed and judging di stance is not a problem. (The Luftwaffe had monocular aces
in World War 11.)
You should gather yo ur records and
apply now for special issuance through
yo ur AME. By the time everything is
processed, it will be six months since you
lost your vision.
with rudder pedals, and you should have
no difficulty operating toe brakes. (I assume you can walk on your toes nomlally.)
I would gather the records of your
surgery and a current statement from
your doctor saying that everytbing is
stable. You might write a paragraph or
two yourself stating you have no difficulty operating toe brakes or rudder pedals. Your AME should be able to issue
the certificate.
If he or she has any do ubt, ask that
the Regional Flight Surgeon or Airman
Medical Certification Division in Oklahoma City be contacted for phone approval. You should be able to avoid being deferred.
Q:
I developed a viral infection, which
senously impaired my heart. and last summer I had a heart transplant. Can I fly?
[passed a small kidney stone last
Q: If I develop a medical condition Q:
week. It has never happened before. Will
A: The FAA did certify a number of
between physicals, what can I do before
the FAA want to know about this?
individuals with heart transplant years
my next physical to make sure I don ' t
ago.
but there were problems with acA:
Yes,
they
will.
Kidney
stones
can
get snagged?
celerated arteri osclerosis in the vessels
cause sudden, severe and incapacitating
A: Another good question. Yoa- pain. The FAA (and yo u) want to be sure feeding the heart. They then stopped cerrather than your doc lOr, his or her nurse,
your AME or you r specialist-have the
greatest interest in getting your ticket. I
would advise that you in/onn yourself
by taking advantage of all the resources
available to learn aboUl your condition
and the FAA requirements 10 solve the
problem. Contact the ABS Medical Advisory Program by writing or e-mailing
ABS Headquarters.
If you belong to EAA, check their
website or contact EAA headquarters.
They have information packets on a great
number of medical conditions plus general guidelines to problem aeromedical
certification. AOPA has an active medical department headed by Gary Crump,
and they have excel lent in format ion
packages as well. You can visit the FAA
website at <www.cami.jccbi.gov> and
learn about FAA policy.
that no more stones are present that can
cause trouble. They wiII want you to
have an X-ray called a KUB (kidneyureter-bladder) 10 verify that no more
stones are present in these structures that
could cause trouble . With this information, your AME should be able to certify you if need be with phone approval
from the Regional Fli ght Surgeon or
Oklahoma City certification division.
A: You have basically become monocular (one-eyed). There are more than
Q:
I fell at home and fractured my wrist.
1 have a cast. but good use of my fingers
and thumb. Can [ fly with the cast?
Q: Just after my last medical, I rup- A: Yes, as long as you can properly
lUred a disk in my lower back that caused
some weakness in my right leg. (My foot
"c1ops"' when I walk.) You can hear it
when I walk on a hard surface. It got better after surgery. but is only about 60 percent recovered. It has been nearly two
years, and my doctor says the weakness
is permanent. I have no trouble flying.
Will this be a problem when I renew my
medical?
Q: I developed a blockage in a vein in A: Things should be all right. You
my left eye called a central retinal vein occlusion. The doctors attempted surgery, but
it was unsuccessful. I have no useful vision in that eye. This happened four months
ago, and I have not flown. How do I deal
with the FAA medical office?
tifying these indi viduals. I have heard
some recent discussion about the possibility of certifyi ng some persons who
have not developed significant vessel
problems, but this is preliminary. Persons
with other organ transplants (kidney, liver)
may also be considered for certification.
have what sounds like a partial "foot
drop." (The ball of your foot clops down
when you try to walk on your heels.) This
comes from injury to the fifth lumbar
nerve root , the o ne most co mmonl y
pinched in the lower back.
This would not cause any problem
use your hand for necessary cockpit
functions. You can be the judge of that.
If you have significant difficulty, you can
wait until the cast is off. Remember FAR
61.53, which says we should ground ourselves if we know of a condition which
might impact /light safety. We all "selfcertify" ourselves under this regUlation any
time we get in an airplane to fly.
ABS member John Hastings, M.D.. holds board certification in neurology Dnd aerospace medicine. He
has been an aviation medical examiner since 1976
and serves os a senior AME He holds Q commercial
pilot license with muftiengine and instrument ratings.
He ischairman of the EMAeromedicolAdvisory Council. post president of the Civil Aviation Medical Asso.ciation and on the council of the Aerospace Med/col Association. He is on ABS Director Dnd heads
the Society'sAeromedical Committee.
Page 6790
ABS June 2001
ADS at
Sun 'n Fun
BY STEVEN W. OXMAN
O
nce again, theAmerican Bonanza Society was
represented by ABS volunteers hosting a
table in the Type Club Tent at Sun ' n Fun in Lakeland, Florida,
from April 7 through April 14.
Ron Vickrey made all the arrangements with the Sun 'n Fun
organizers and set up our table at the best spot in the house in
the Type Club Center tent located on the flight line adjacent to
the Vintage Aircraft Center. Buz Rich, Bob and Thelma Jean
Siegfried, Asa Culver and my family and J (Judi, Philip and Warren) took turns at the table where we signed up five new membelli
on the spot and passed out about 20 membellihip applications to
olhers who were either BeechlRaytheon drivelli or were contemplating being one.
We also provided four additional events during the week.
One was a great Monday evening dinner at a local Steak 'n Ale
restaurant arranged by ABS member Lance McDougle. Approximately 50 members and significant others joined us for
this dinner.
The second event was a Tuesday BPPP presentation provided by BPPP VP Kent Ewing and Administrator George
Tatalovich.
The third event was a Bonanza and Baron Restoration forum presented to a couple dozen people on Thursday when the
Sun 'n Fun was already starting to wind down.
The fourth event was a walking tour of some of the members' planes on the field.
During the week, we passed out hundreds of copies of the
ABS Magazine, showed people copies of many of the books
available for purchase through ABS , helped people contact and
network with fellow members, answered many questions about
ABS and BeechlRaytheon aircraft. assisted members with fi nd-
ing resources important to them located at Sun 'n Fun, and
greeted about 350 members who stopped by. All in all , we assisted a lot of ABS members and prospects for membership.
No matter where I looked, J always saw at least one Beech!
Raytheon product.
20001 Sun 'n Fun winner and previously a winner at Oshkosh, N8370D,
a 1958 Model J35 owned by Richard P. Jones, Everett. Washington.
Suz Rich and his M model.
BononzO/Boron
Restoration Forum
presented by
Steve Oxman .
ABS June 2001
1600
Subtotal
Shipping & Handling
TOTAL
o Enclosed is payment - check or money order
(sorry, no COOs)
o MasterCard
0 VISA
Accl. No. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
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Daytime phone # (if problem arises)
safely
BY RON ZASADZINSKI. INSTRUCTOR, BONANZA/BARON PILOT PRC)FIC:IEt-JCY PROGRAM
W
hat is th.e number one cause of Beechcraft accidents?
Take a moment to guess. Weather? Fuel mismanagement? IFR approaches? Something else? Keep thinking for another paragraph or two.
First, let me explain where I want to take this discussion. I
always strive to fly more safely. I feel this is best done
proactively, namely finding procedures, exercises and ways of
thinking I can adopt to make my flying safer, rather than dwelling too long on what not to do. I believe it is easier to do something than to avoid something.
That said, accident analysis requires an appropriate frame
of mind to be useful. I feel there is value in looking at accident
trends, or even a particular accident, if I am striving to learn
something from it, particularly if I can identify how to make a
better decision to break the chain leading to a potential accident. Accident reviews can also help me create a procedure or
exercise to increase the safety of my flying by minimizing some
element of risk.
So what gets more Beechcraft pilots into [fouble than any
other factor? The landing gear system.
Landing gear accidents, including gear-up landings and gear
collapse after landing, accounted for nearly one-third of all
Beechcraft accidents in 2000. There was a total of 268 Beech
accidents that year. Gear-up landings accounted for 35 of these
(13.1 %), and gear collapse accounted for an amazing 52 accidents (19.4%). Most gear-collapse incidents result from the pilot
moving the gear handle to the "up" position sometime after
touchdown . More about that later.
Things are not looking any better this year. Through April
19, there have been 68 Beech accidents, 18 of them gear-up
(26%), 14 gear-collapse (21 %). This means nearly half (47%)
of all Beech accidents to date in 200 1 involve the landing gear!
Page 6792
What is going on, and what we can do about it? Let's look at
each of these two situations in turn.
Gear-up landings
Among the 18 gear-up landings through Apri l 19 of this year,
several common factors are evident. Many, if not most, appear
to be associated with pilot distraction. A few of the distractions
were caused by continuous turbulence and/or strong and gusty
wind during approach to land.
Several of the gear-up landings occurred during inslfUctional
flights. This is significant for two reasons. One, pilots should consider the presence of an inslfUctor to be a major distraction. The
way you think and behave is probably different when you are the
only pilot on board, compared with when another pilot, or especially an instructor, occupies the other front seat. Anything that
changes the way you think or act is by definition a distraction.
Second, we instructors need to carefully monitor all actions
of the student pilot or the pilot-in-command (when working
with appropriately rated pilots) to assure that proper procedures
are being used resu lting in a safe flight. This includes confirming the gear is down for every landing, where statistics show
that we need to do a better job.
Of the 18 gear-up landings under discussion, only two are
known to have been caused by mechanical issues. This suggests that the majority of gear-up landings are due to pilot error/distraction.
What can you do to min imize the chance of a gear-up landing? Starting with mind and attitude, it is absolutely essential
to realize that a gear-up can happen to anyone. Conscientious
pilots with thousands of hours have landed gear-up. If it can happen to them, it can happen to you. An "It can't happen to me"
attitude is often the first link in the chain leading to an accident.
ASS June 2001
Next, create a gear-down verification
procedure for yourself that is simple, and
that you always follow, every single landing. One excellent technique is to look at
the landing gear indicators every time you
touch the nap handle. There is rarely a
gear-up landing made with the naps up
too. Approaching in a clean configuration,
the pilot is almost always compelled to
add naps to get the airspeed under control. Mentally and procedurally associating the nap handle with the landing gear
indicators will help identify a gear-up
situation.
Another technique is to keep your hand The propeller and gear damage shown here happened when the aircroH was off the runway. On the
on the gear handle after placing it in the taxiway, at taxi speed the pilol moved the gear handle inlo Ihe · up· position.
down position until you see the appropriate gear-down indications. If a distraction occurs during gear
handle, and gives the squat switch the best chance to do its job
extension, you do not remove your hand until you can look at
if you pick the wrong handle. This takes what- I0 or 20 more
the gear indicators.
seconds? It wi ll help you avoid $30,000 to $80,000 worth of damage. I think that's worth it. For any procedure to work, it must be
Gear-collapse incidents
executed every time, without Jail. Otherwise, when you need the
These accounted for approximately 20 percent of all Beech
procedure most-when you are distracted- it will fail you.
accidents in 2000 and approx imately the same percentage so
My thanks to Tom Turner for posting weekly Beechcraft
accident statisti cs to the <beec how ners@rnadaket
far in 2001. I would like to personally challenge each of you to
.netwizards. net> mailing list, the source
help bring that rate down. Is this possible? Absolutely. [t is posof the statistical data referenced in thi s
sible because the vast majority of these incidents are caused by the
anicle.
pilot retracting the wheels after landing.
Avoiding this invol ves several procedures. One, don' t do
flon Zasadzinski instructs with the Bonanza/Baron
touch-and-go's in retractable gear aircraft. While cleaning up
Pilot Proficiency Programs as both a ground and
for the "go," it is too easy to grab the wrong handle. Two, after
flight instructor and is the Secretary of the BPPP
Board of Directors. He fives in Fort Collins, CO where
you r full-stop landing, do not touch ANY switches ulltil clear
he works both as a flight instructor and a computer
oj the rullway AND at a Jull stop!
consultant. He has over 5500 hours of flight time
in general aviation aircraft and formerly worked as
When I explain this to participants at BPPP clinics, I often get
a nuclear physicist for the Deportment of Energy
the response, "But isn't the squat switch supposed to prevent the
at Lawrence Livermore Notional Lab. -A Safe Pilot
is Always Learning.
wheels from retracting?" My response is yes, it is supposed to.
But the accident statistics overwhelmingly
indicate that faith in the squat switch is
2001 BPPP INC. SCHEDULE
misplaced.
Initial/Recurrent Phase at all locations.
Bonanzas/Barons/Travel Airs at all locations. Subject to change.
At my home airport, Fort CollinsDowntown (3V5l, just this February a
LOCATION
PHASE
DATE
veteran Baron pilot moved the gear handle
into the "up" position instead of the flaps
Mountain Flying
June 22-24
Colorado Springs, Colorado
during slow taxi after he was clear of the
Initial/Recurrent
September 7-9
Manchester, New Hampshire
runway. Many pilots would consider this
Initial/Recurrent
September 21-23
Fresno, California
adequate, waiting until they were clear of
the run way and at taxi speed before cleanInitial/Recurrent
October 19-21
Little Rock, Arkansa s
ing up. But the squat switch didn' t save
Initial/Recurrent
November 2-4
Norfolk, Virginia
this Baron, and this is a common pattern.
My advice: Don 't retract the flaps ,
Cockpit Companion course available at all locations except Colorado Springs,
don't touch anything, until clear of the
CAll THE BPPP. INC. REGISTRATION OFFICE
runway and at a full stop. This gives you
to make arrangements: 970-377-1877 or fax 970-377-1512.
the best chance of selecting the correct
ABS June 2001
Page 6793
Inaccessible manual landing
gear handcranks
ABS 10EAANO
INFORMATION
EXCHANGE
For the third time in less than two years I went
to someone' s hometown to provide personalized
Bonanza instruction, only to lind during the preflight inspection that the manual landing gear
handcrank was inaccessible. It is obviously easy
to install the plastic spar cover (on which the
forward seats mount) so that it cover the stowed
manual gear handcrank. It 's impossi ble to access
the handle without unscrewing it from its mount,
then reinstalling the crank (dimcult to do even
on the ground, let alone if discovered in flight),
or by cutting the heavy-gauge plastic with a large
knife.
Since I only conduct personalized Bonanza
training eight or len times a year, and we saw
this numerous times when I worked at
FlightSafety, this " mechanic's error" must be of
epidemic preportions.
Please pass along to anyone you know with a
mid-60s or later Bonanza or Baron (which have
this plastic spar cover to which the box cover
" velcros") that they should check their manual
landing gear handcraok for accessibility before
their next flight, and also before any flight after
the airplane has been in the shop for an annual
inspection, gear or flap work, some electrical or
avionics jobs, control or rigging checks, or any
other time the spar cover may have been removed.
Thanks for helping get the word out!
-Thomas P. Turner, Cleveland, Tennessee
Impressed with ABS services
My compliments to the Society, Windward
Aviation 's Jim and Reese Leach and OJ, ASS!
ASF Inspector Bob Olson and his wife Lois,
Continental's AI Beech and all the professional,
courteous and efficient people I had the good
fortune to meet at the Service Clinic in Lantana,
Florida.
I have now also experienced the BPPP in ew
Hampshire, and I was very impressed. It is pure
joy to belong to this organization and certainly
helpful for the successful operation of a Bonanza.
Thank you all.
-R.M.Bronn. Jensen Beach. Florida
Clock repair recommendation
I have some information that may be of value
to other Bonanza owners. I have an A36, SIN E328, in which the original clock stopped. I found
the "Colvin 's Corner" suggestion in the September 1999 ABS Magazine and called Air Capital
Instruments and Century. Unfortunately, neither
could help.
I then contacted Jacobs Instrument, 415 S.
Greenwood, Wichita, Kansas 67211 , phone 316-
267-7406. Brad Jacobs was most helpful and, for
about $96, the clock was repaired, the face and
hands repainted, and returned to me in rather short
order. It looked brand new, and allowed me to
keep the original in my panel.
I was pleased with the service and recommend
Jacobs to help members with similar problems.
-c.1. Nichols. Amarillo. Texas
Note: Dr. Barrie Hiern submiued a letter with
similar in/onnGtioll.
Safety of flight
The following incident I experienced constitutes a possible safety-of-flight situation. This
incident was reported to eil Pobanz who indicated receipt of the report .
The potential safety of flight exists if the engine-driven fuel pump would fail and a short circuit existed in either of the two electrical circuits:
the Fuel Quantity Indicating System or the cylinder head temperature circu.it.
The short circuit would trip (pop) the circuit
breaker that powers those two circuits: the electrical fuel pump. Thus, if in flight the enginedriven pump would fail, the electric backup fuel
pump would be inoperable, and the airplane
would be forced to land, with questionable results. (Read: the pilot and passengers could be
killed.)
Starting with the P model Bonanza, SIN
06842, and continuing through the last V35A,
SIN D9068, the fuel quantity, cylinder head temp
and auxiliary fuel pump are all on the same circuit breaker.
In my opinion, the auxiliary electrical fuel
pump should be on a separate circuit breaker, as
it is on all other models. A flight-critical item
should be separated from all other circuits. Evidently, Beechcraft engineers thought so, too, because the auxiliary electric fuel pump was later
placed on a separate circuit breaker.
In my case, I landed for fuel and filled the main
tanks. When I turned on the master switch to stan
the airplane, I heard a pop. I wondered what had
caused it because those red circuit breakers do
not pop out when they trip. But I found out when
I turned on the electric fuel pump to prime the
engine. It didn't come on, and I could not start
the engine. Since [ had just filled the tanks myself, I knew they were full, but there was no indication on the fuel quantity gauges. Then I checked
the labeling on the circuit breakers and found that
the three above identified circuits were all on the
same breaker! Bummer.
I had my airplane manuals along. so I checked
and isolated the fuel quantity circuit. Then the
circuit breaker reset OK, so I started the engine
and flew home in 15 minutes with full tanks.
Investigation of the fuel quantity circuit found
ABS June 2 001
th at the ri ght inboard fuel quantity transminer had shorted . A rece nt excellent
art icle on fuel transminers and gauges
in th e World Beechcraft Society magazine wrinen by co ntri bu ting edi tor Ken
Bihler, and correspondence wit h him,
was of tre me ndo us ass istance in the
tro ubleshooting process.
Our ai rpl anes are gett ing older. Electrical (and other) components are becoming increasingly likely to fail. [n my
opinion, steps should be taken to iso late
compone nts c ri tical to safe fli ght- i.e.
the aux electrical fu el pum p-from other
less c riti cal circ uits. [n oth er th a n P
through V35A Bonanzas this has been
do ne for the aux electric fue l pum p.
Beechcraft (Raytheon) should iss ue a
bulletin recomme ndin g that a change be
made. [solati on action would break a link
in a chain of events that cause acci dents.
- Harry E. Bladow. Independence. Oregon
Hello from a new member
I have been fl ying Bonanzas fo r 2 1
years now and [ now have several thousand hours. ['01 55 years old and on my
last bi-annual c heck ri de ( Decem ber
2(00), the CFI made the com ment th at I
"wear the airplane." I determin ed that
was a good thing. I fina lly decided to
join AB S.
[ commute dai ly with my plane to and
from two offices [ maintain. [t is 60 miles
by hi ghway and about one hour road
time. [n the air it is 12 to 15 minutes.
One office is in the town I' m living in
and the other ofti ce is fo ur miles from
the local airport. Total dri ve and commute time is 25 minutes on a bad day. It
is also my fo rm of re laxa tion after a
tough day at the offices. Some of the local controllers know my tai l number and
always say, "Good morning" or " I '11talk
to you th is eveni ng." [ generall y fl y ri ght
over the top of Sacramento In tern ational
(S MF) at 2,500 fee t.
One particular controller in the mornings at around six or seven always asks
me how many "co nunercials" are sitting
and waiting to take off on Run way 16 or
34. One morn ing there we re seve n sitting along the tax iway at 34R with one
landing. I told him thi s and he said.
"Thanks, I' m going to take a coffee
break and tu rn this radio over to someone else until they are all off the roost."
It is j ust great fun fl ying every day.
[ also have tip tanks with a tota l of94
gallons of fuel on board. I have flow n
A BS J une 2001
Duck!
My fri end, Wayne Anderson, hangars his Mooney at Olathe, Kansas, Executive Ai rport (Ole). On February 23, he was at 3,000 feet 15 miles so uth west of Ole talking to Approach when he heard a big BANG !
His glasses went up over his head and he could see nothing I Upon regaining his composure , he felt a big wind on his face and had trouble keep ing his
eyes open. Instinc tively, he reached for the sunglasses he always keeps on the
glareshi eld: put th em on and no ticed a Wayne 's windshield had
lens was ITIlssmg. He then reached up
.
.
on his head and felt his prescription collided wtfh a mallard.
glasses slUck up in the headband of his It does happen and you
headset. He pulled them down- and can recover with most of
then got scared !
the windshield missing!
Wayne's windshie ld had collided
with a mallard (about five pounds) and its neck was wrapped around the co mpass whil e the body was beating on the roof. Upon hittin g the duck (or the
duck hilling Wayne), he had gained 1,500 feet and had trouble trimming the
plane for le vel fli g ht. Talking to Approach, he returned to altitude and made a
very fast landing at Ole. Way ne said the plane did not want to fl y much under
100 KJAS .
It does happen and you call recover with most of the windshield missi ng!
Wayne's aircraft had a quarter-inCh speedslope windshi e ld installed in his
M20C. He has had the same thickness windshield rein stalled and is back in
th e air.
Wayne also once owned a 1965 "S" model Bonanza and 12 years ago,
while coming out of his friend 's grass strip, it caught on fi re and crashed into
a small group of trees. Wayne was upside-down and on fi re. He kicked his
way out the side window and suffered severe burns on his arms and legs. The
fire was so hot it melted the oil pan on the engine.
He literally swept his "S" into a dustpan for the insurance company. Being
a little underinsured, he ended up with a Mooney.
One of Wayne 's friends asked him how the duck got through the propeller.
We all know th at ducks will dive if scared . We all figure Wayne has onl y
seven li ves left and the duck has none.
-Phil Duffy, Olathe. Kansas
look 01 what 0 little duck con do to a quarter-inch speedslope windshield!
nonstop between Sacrame nto, Cali fornia, and Den ver, Colorado, six times in
the last 12 months. O n one parti cul ar trip
because of impend ing weather, I flew
round tri p in one day dur ing day light
hours. I also fl y back and fo rth to Myrtle
Creek, O regon, on a regular basis to my
residence there. I love the speed and hand li ng of the old V-tai l Bonanzas.
- Bill Craig, Dixon. California
Page 6795
PRAISEWORTHY PERFORMANCE
Last summer, I made a short flight from Alexandria,
Louisiana, to Longview, Texas. landing at Greg County
about 10 a.m. As I taxied to the parking apron of Stebbins
Jet Center, I noted there was concrete repair work in progress
just south of their parking area.
I completed my visit in Longview and returned to the
airport about 2 p.m. to return to home base. My K35 was
not on the ramp. 1 swallowed real hard and walked into the
FBO to ask if they knew where my airplane was. The very
nice lady at the front desk said, "Oh yes, the dust really
started to fly from the work on the concrete and the wind
was blowing the dust right toward your airplane. We moved
your airplane and two others into the hangar to get them
out of the dust."
I thanked her profusely and asked what lowed for the
hangar. (I did not need fuel for the one-hour flight home.)
She informed me 1 did not owe them a thing, just come
back to visit again.
Needless to say, I took one of their business cards and
wrote the managera nice thank-you leiter when [ got home. [
highly recommend Stebbins Jet Center to all of our members.
-Tom Price. PinevJ/le. Louisiana
In ovember 1999, l had the opportunity to purchase
my first Bonanza, an original-everything 1966 V35 with
low time and in excellent condition.
When 1 ini ti ally looked at the aircraft, I noticed a lot of
caked oil and dirt on the belly. After further investigation, [
came to the conclusion that the oil originated from the oil
Flying high over California
" Flying High over Cali forni a" is a
quilt I designed and made as a tribute to
my love of aviation. My inspiration came
after many years of marriage to an airplane buff and fl ying around the beautiful Un ited States, viewing and appreciating the picturesqu e scenery
and terrain that looked like a
patchwork quilt while we were
fl ying. Relying upon the experi ences gathered through our
hobby of res torin g aircraft,
performing aircraft pre- buy
and annual inspections plus
our in volvement in theABS
Service Clinics, 1 decided it
was time to somehow
express our devotion
for fl ying in the fabric of a quilt.
Madelyn Beers with her
quill featuring Iheir F model
Bonanza and J·3 Cub.
Page 6796
cooler base gasket. After completing the prepurchase inspection, my mechanic came to the same conclusion.
After eight months of flying, we were both proven wrong,
and found that the oil came from numerous crankcase cracks
behind the #2 cylinder. (Note: The AD was right on the
money.) Since the engine had last been overhauled in 1979
(although only 287 HSOH and great compression) prior to
the VAR crank AD, subsequent teardown to complete a repair would mean replacing the crankshaft, camshaft and a
host of other parts.
Needless to say, I wasn't prepared for the expense or the
dilemma of where to start. I contacted the ABS and got a
list of names and phone numbers. After reviewing ail my
options, whether to repair or replace, I opted for a repair
and called Chuck Ney Enterprises.
Mr. Ney really came through for me and, within a week,
I had all the parts I needed to complete the project, including Mr. Ney 's around-the-clock support via telephone. With
his extensive experience and knowledge of my engine and
my AMEs, we were able to rebuild the whole bonom end.
At present, with more than 30 hours of flying time since
installation. my 10-520B engine is stronger than everleak free.
I highly recommend Chuck Ney Enterprises to anyone
requiring a new, rebuilt or repairs to their engine. His professionalism , expertise and service are superior. He can be
reached at 918-836-5323 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
My family and I are enjoying our great Bonanza.
The beauty of the snow-capped Sierra Mountains and th e colorful valleys
of plowed fie lds, mingled with meadows
fi lled with wild mustard and poppies inspired and gave me a palette of colors
with which to work. The natural beauty,
as viewed from an aircraft, challenged
-Gilles Michaud, Chatham, Ontario, Canada
and enriched my imagination into capturing the beauty of nature and th e Sierras. The unexpected appearance of a runway in the middle of nowhere, such as
at Lake Tahoe, and the surroundin g
mountains in the middle of summer have
al ways intrigued me.
While the quilt was
on my design wall, my
husband. Ed, would noti ce my progress on cre-
at ing an airplane in fabric that was a realisti c repre sentati on and co mp -
limented me on a design
created fro m fabri c th at
did justi ce to both th e aircraft and the landscape belo w. He was es peciall y
pleased beca use I repl icated his favorite airplane,
the Bonanza. We own a ' 55
F model (N33 EB) and a
1942 J-3 Cub, also included
in the quilt. (The Cub had
been an 18-month restora-
!l.BS June 2001
tion project completed in the middle of
our living room-but that's another
story!)
The quilt made its debut in the Technical Forum Booth at the 1997 ABS Convention held in Wichita, Kansas, where
it received much attention from ABS
members, families and guests.
I am presently continuing to share my
love and motivation for quilting by teaching others the adventure and joys of quilting, while assisting my husband in the restoration of aircraft. We both enjoy living
in a community filled with aviation buffs
where Ed shares his expertise learned
from ABS Technical Consu ltants Nann
Colvin and eil Pobanz, emphasizing
the importance of keeping airplanes
well-maintained for everyone's safety.
"You ain't seen it 01/ yet·
Here'Sone for your "You ain't seen
it aU yet" file. The pilot/owner writeup for the mechanic doing the annual
was: "Left aux tank feeds slow and
fuel pressure is low."
This large piece of heavy paper
was found in the left aux fuel tank.
The carb screen was nearly completely packed with fiber from the
paper. The wobble pump screen had
a little in it. It is believed that the paper had been in the tank since a repair
to the tank bladder.
I'm not going to identify the plane.
owner, mechanics or FBOs involved.
Nor will I tell you that it could have
been in there for up to 10 years. a
one involved knew.
-Madelyn Beers
-Bill Hoglan, Georgetown, Texas
Tip tanks
In the last two issues of our magazine I have read about problems using
the Osborne tip tanks. I have been flying an Osborne-equipped Bonanza for
about 10 years. There are three things to
be aware of:
I. Use the left main first because, as
has been stated, the fue l that the engine
doesn't burn is fed back to that tank.
2. When selecting the left tip, be sure
to not stop at the "off' position on the
fuel se lector.
3. When selecting one of the tip tanks,
watch the fuel pressure-on later models, the fuel flow-and if it starts to fluctuate, turn on the boost pump momentarily until the flow is stabilized.
I have used this procedure and not experienced any problems.
- Gary Holden. Upland, California
Nole: There are several different
Osborne systems, and of course laler
aircraft relllmfuel ro Il/llk selected. Thor
said, I agree wirh all your poillls.
- Neil Pobanz
Bonanza wing load
In the April 2001 "Avionics" (page
6708), Jim Hughes states that the load
on a Bonanza's wing is different in the
air than on the ground. As I understand
it. the wings lift the fuselage, engine and
occupants. causing the lower wing bolts
to be in tension and the top wing bolts
to be in compression. When sitting on
the ground, the weight of the fuselage
and engine is supported by the landing
ABS June 2001
gear. The landing gear pushes up on the
wing in the same direction as the lift
vector, and thus the lower wing bolts are
again in tension.
The only way to put the top wing bolts
in tension is by flying at negative Gs or
supporting the aircraft to be suspended by
the fuselage, allowing the wings to sag.
I have been a member for several
years and enjoy the organization and the
ABS Magazine. I fly as a test pilot for
the Bombardier Corp in Tucson, Arizona
in all model Learjets and the CL604
Challenger. I also own a 1967 Debonair,
SIN CE-158, on which I recently finished changing my right wing 40-gallon
fuel cell.
Your ABS CD was invaluable in prepping forthe task. Some of the articles in
the archives made the job much easier. I
also recommend Eagle Fuel Cells for
their fuel cell and their flush-mounted
quick drains.
PRODUCT
NEWS
F&M Enterprises, Inc. has added a
Boron oil filter - Model C6LC-S - to
its product line. This new model fits
all 55-series Barons. It is an enginemounted ail filter adapter that replaces the ail screen. The installation
of Model C6LC-S requires rerouting
the crankcase breather line to allow
adequate clearance. F&M may be
reached at 1-888-317-5222; <www
.fm-enterprises.cam>.
-Gary Sanders, Tucson, Arizona
Note: The load depends on whether tip
tanks are installed and are full or empt),
and/or olllboard lVing fuel. If enough
weight is owboard of the gear to make
(he gear a pivot paim lind calise upward
force at willg root, thell it changes. As
all example, : ero fuel weights 011
8£2oos. Not sure we see that much ex·
cept ill the Dolly Partoll tip tanks.
Thallksfor the illplll.-Neil Pobanz
-@Page 6797
It's FLYING!!!
BY JIM HUGHES
don't know if any of you have been-following my
progress in regaining airworthiness on my "project"
airplane, which has been going on since 1994(!). But
that's OK. It's probably because it's a "Brand C" Skylane
and you think I could have made better use of my time by
writing hetter avionics articles fortheABS. And I'm sure you
fail to see how someone could sink that much money and
time into an airplane that we couldn't fly for eight years! That
last cry is from my long-suffering wife who wrote hangar
rent checks for 96 months! Well, doubters and hangar rats,
IT'S FLYING!
For any of you who might be remotely interested (after
all, it might have been a Bonanza, although none of us
knows anyone dumb enough to park a Bonanza under a
pine tree and let it sit abandoned for five years), I'm going
to briefly relate my story. Come on, guys and girls, we all
know stories of someone finding a Staggerwing (D- 17S)
long forgotten in someone's barn with chickens roosting
in the cabin.
Our story begins with the state of Florida commencing
construction of a bridge across Lake Jessup, known locally as the most alligator-infested lake in the state. (The
lake is the most alligator-infested hecause, for years, that's
where the fish and wildlife commission released "nuisance"
'gators captured in residents' yards and on golf courses,
but I digress.)
Di rectly in the state's path was a little-used grass runway that would make a fine approach to their new bridge.
They duly delivered this news to the owners of the property, highly suggesting that they move "the little airplane
parked under the trees" before they commenced work. A
friend of mine (Dave Knight, proprietor of Central Florida
Aircraft Maintenance) drained the fuel , changed the oil ,
squirted "Marvel Mystery Oil" into the cylinders, added
avgas to one tank, swallowed hard-and flew the beast
the five miles to the Sanford (SFB) airport.
The airplane then sat on the city's ramp for about another year, acquiring dull paint, crazed windows and a
crease in the rudder from a strong wind gust. Several people
tried to buy the airplane, no doubt intending to resell it to
some unsuspecting Midwesterner who doesn't know much
about the ravages of Florida airplane corrosion. The owner
wouldn't sell , proving that there are still a few airplane
owners in Florida who wouldn 't advertise their plane in
Trade-A-Plane as "low-time jewel, barely broken in, with
remanufactured engine."
At any rate, I saw the owner one day and mentioned
that I would like to buy the airplane, with the intended
purpose of first using it as a project with my then-l7-year-
I
Page 6798
old son to get him some of the practical experience required to get him his A&P Mechanic's license, then keeping it as a family airplane. That apparently appealed to the
owner, so the following weekend my son and I were proud
new owners of a 1969 Cessna Skylane in considerably less
than airworthy condition.
The Skylane immediately displaced my Bonanza in the
hangar. (Don' t tar and feather me yet; I managed to keep
the Bonanza hangared by ski llfu l maneuvering between
CFAM's maintenance hangar, borrowed T-hangars and
squeezing it into my company's corporate hangar when
the CEO wasn't looking.)
The inventory began: The propeller spinner was corroded and there was at least a pound of pine sap baked on
one side. The propeller was frozen in flat pitch. There was
a large bird's nest on top of the engine and a wasp's nest
between the magnetos. The fuel in the tanks smelled like
old varnish. Before the job was over, our total came to
nine wasp nests, one large bird's nest and a small petrified
snake that had crawled into the belly and could not crawl
out. (No alligators, however.)
The prop spinner was removed and eventually replaced
after we tried every substance we could think of to remove
old hardened pine sap. (Actually it was replaced after we
tried to knock the sap off by tapping on the spinner from
the inside, thereby denting the spinner into unairworthy
condition.) The propeller and prop governor were sent out
for overhaul. The magnetos and ignition were replaced with
new ones. The cylinders were borescoped and showed remarkably little pitting.
When the prop came back from overhaul, I called my
old fellow employees at Teledyne Continental Motors experimentallab, and asked, "What can I do to save an 0-470R
engine that hasn't run in six years and wasn't pickled"? (I
could almost hear them in the background saying, "Hey, it's
crazy Jim on the phone with another of his crazy projects!")
After a few more jokes and pleasantries, however, here
is their consensus of opinions: "Drain all the fuel and replace it. Drain and replace the oil. Take all the spark plugs
out of the engine. Squirt lightweight oil into all the cylinders. Then tum the propeller by hand (mags off) until you
fall down from exhaustion. Get up and turn the prop some
more until you fall down again. Put the lower spark plugs
back in, then connect jumper cables to the airplane and
turn the engine on the starter (still with the mags off) until
you see the oil pressure come up. Then put in the upper
spark plugs and connect the plug leads. Start the engine,
keeping the rpm low. The engine will run rough until the
valve lifters fill , then it should run normally. Do a normal
runup. At that point you either saved the engine or you
didn 't. If you didn' t, you'll start seeing signs of a blown
engine in a few hours."
Meanwhile, the airplane was towed over to the maintenance hangar (the Bonanza got its hangar back for awhile)
where my son and another mechanic gleefully broke out
ABS June 2001
all the windows with hammers. They did what I thought was a
ceptable practices, except he did /l01 doclImel1l any of it! The
masterful job of bedding and replacing all of the glass in the
following week he found another job and moved out of state. I
airplane (although I have yetta see HOW masterful when I fly
was left with an instrument panel that seemed to be working
the airplane through a rainstorm).
correctly most of the time, but sti ll had some unlabeled switches
At this point, the story gets preny boring, unless you are a
and had a large wire bundle underneath containing about seven
metalsmith doing extensive research on "The effects of Florida
automotive-style fuse holders with fuses in them. Apparently,
Corrosion on Cessnas." Here and there skin was replaced, and
he had "run out of real estate" or places to put in new circuit
sometimes the stringers the skin was a!lached to had to be rebreakers, so he used automotive fuses to protect those circuits.
placed as well. About this time, number one son went off to
Not only were these not allowed by the FAA, but worse, / didn 'I
seek the rest of his pilot's licenses and his fonune in aviation,
kllow whal circuils Ihey prolecled. I spent days taking
leaving father to "finish it."
fuseholders apart, then trying to see what quit working. A week
At this point, the airplane began to look flyable although
and $2,500 later, 1 had seven new circuit breakers installed in a
nothing could be further from the truth. The seats and panels
panel over the glove compartment by C.E.Avionics, properly
were redone by the local upholstery shop, who did a good job.
documented and labeled.
The problems became electrical and avionics and were madBy now, another three years had passed. The exterior of the
dening enough to weaken the resolve of
airplane hid the rat's nest of wires and avionics inside.
the strongest heart.
It was time to try to beautify the airExample: A rodent had chewed
plane. (Yes, I know. How do you
through a wire from the battery relay
beautify a Skylane?) The exterior
to the master switch . The battery
was a mi x of bare metal , faded
relay, then the battery, then
beige paint, accented by medium
the master switch were all
blue and this hideous lime green
replaced before Mickey 's
paint popular for some reason in the
din y deed was found, under the
late '60s and earl y '70s. (Don 't laugh,
cockpit floor. A new wire was
Beech painted some Bonanzas/Bar"snaked" under the floor from the
ons in those years that made us wonbattery (behind the aft cabin) to the
der if they were flown by blind pilots.)
master switch, which cured that
Anyway, the budget was long ago beparticular problem, but set us
yond the bounds of reason and unable
back months.
to afford a complete new paint job.
Finally, with aircraft battery reAgain providence interceded on my
stored, I could explore the extent of
behalf. Ronnie Weaver, a painter for an
worn, chewed, misrouted and cracked wires runairplane paint shop that was once on the
ning through the airplane, which was extensive.
field, came by my hangar. Ronnie turned
out to be a genius with rubbing compound
Then I made the deci sion to replace (Ill the In addition to the
Cessna-type circui t breakers with Klixon
and a buffer. He restored large portions of
(pullable and resenable) breakers. (See what 20 petrified snake, we
the beige, brightened up all of the blue trim,
years of flying Bonanzas will spoil you into try- found nine wasp nests then touched up all the panels and bare metal.
ing to "fix" on a Cessna?)
Tw elve-inch numbers from Moody
inside the airplane.
Days of lying upside down under the inAerographics were ordered. My long-suffering
strument panel of "Jim's Folly" as I now thought of it, turned
wife found a paint chip of medium brown which we used to cover
into frustrating weeks, which in tum, ran into months. I found
up all the lime green. Now, all of a sudden, we had a Skylane that
the cheap, Cessna "wiper-type" instrument light rheostats were
looked good!
frayed and worn, so I replaced them with modem solid-state
The addition of wheel pants made it look good enough to
park on anybody's ramp. Heck, I may even get brave enough
ones. My friends at S-TEC autopilot practically (but not quite)
gave me a reconditioned S-TEC-50 autopilot with altitude hold
to fly it to Mobile this fall and nestle it among the Bonanzasl
that I then began to install. ow I see why an avionics shop
Barons. On the other hand, maybe I better stick to my original
charges about two-and-a-half times the cost of the autopilot for
plan and fly up with my hangar neighbor in their Bonanza.
installation. As they sayan television, "DolI't try this al home!"
OK, so now I have a (relative ly) beautiful ready-to-fly
At thi s point, my elephant-sized project had far exceeded
Skylane sitting in my hangar. It's time to get it licensed for the
first time since 1988! I purposely asked for the pickiest inspecmy hummingbird brain, and I needed help. An avionics shop
had opened on my airpon, then had decided to close. The avitor in the shop to carefully go over it. After all, it had had 10
onics installer there was fairly well-known to me, so I quickly
years, three mechanics-to-be, three or four mechanics, several
avionics
shops, a painter and an owner all working on it at difseized the opportunity to hire him for a week to unsnarl my
ferent times in a span of 12 years. Maybe I was a little hasty.
work. He did a beautiful job, strictly in accordance with ac-
ASS June 2001
Page 6799
What I got as a result was a discrepancy list of 78 items, and a
repair bill of more than SIO,OOO! But did I feel like I'd been
had? Actually no, I felt relieved.
I carefully went over each gripe with the IA and looked at
them myself. [n "the bargain" [ got the airplane freshly weighed,
carefully rigged to both factory specs and to guidelines given
by the Cessna Pilot's Association in a tech article they produce
called "Rig for speed."
I got ail the 337 forms completed and properly dispatched
to the FAA. Finally, I got two stamps of approval , one in the
engi ne log and one in the aircraft log (Oh yeah, most lAs forget, I got one in the propeller log, too) attesting to the airworthiness of my project. Now I could fly it'
First flight
On the fIrst flight, the rigging was superb, and the engine
was smooth . The bird indicated 140 knots at 2,500 feet. (Yeah,
I know, slow for a Bonanza, but fast for a Skybuzzard. Remember, any of you who might be tempted, I may be going 20
knots slower, but I have a window in the back and a fIghter
pilot in the front, and I can' t get too excited to remember to
lower my landing gear ... )
While I was waiting for the IA to fInish his work, I got restless and started putting stuff on the airplane to make it more
comfortable. After all, when we go from Florida to Oshkosh
it's going to take me at least an hour longer than it takes you, so
maybe I'd better put in a few more "pilot toys" to play with.
Unlike Bonanzas, Skylanes tend to burn fue l unevenly, so I
installed one of arm Smith's AeroTrim electric aileron trim
tabs. I put in a couple of John Rosen's sun visors to keep me
from getting headaches on my long trek north. I had bought a
Horizon Instruments Digital Tachometer for my Bonanza but
didn't install it before I sold the airplane, so they reprogrammed
it for the Cessna.
The '69 Cessnas did not come with shoulder harnesses, and
[ will not fly an airplane without them, so in went a set of Aero
Fabricators military-style, four-point harnesses. New overhead
"silent" air scoops were added. Manually inflatable door seals
quieted things down considerably.
Each of these "add-ons" requires the submission of an FAA
Form 337, entitled" Major Repair and Alteration." Each item
must have a Supplemental Type CertifIcate (STC) which is a
document obtained from the manufacturer of the product added
on. Without getting too basic into FAA paperwork, an STC
becomes part of the Type CertifIcate issued by the factory that
made the airplane. Now, I will be willing to bet that neither
Raytheon nor Cessna has ever laid eyes on one of Norm Smith's
Electric Aileron Trim devices. But Norm has had to prove to
the FAA that hi s device will work on your Bonanza and my
Sky lane by specific make, year and mode! without harming the
flying characteristics of the airplane.
When I bought Norm's Electric Elevator Trim, I recei ved
all the hardware, down to each nut, bolt and fastener called for
in the installation instructions. This is not necessarily because
Norm is such a nice guy (he is) but because he-as a manufacPage 6800
turer of AEROTRIM-has had to show to the FAA the drawings and the parts list as part of his being granted an STC for
his product. I, as an A&P mechanic, must follow the installation instructions explicitly and completely, and then submit an
FAA Alteration and Repair CertifIcate, stating that I "installed
Aero Trim [nco Electric Aileron Trim in accordance with instructions contained in STC SAI2397S0."
My 337 is then submitted to one of six agencies that verify
my work, compliance with instructions and noninterference with
operation of the airplane. I can submit my 337 to ([) an FAA
night standards inspector, (2) an FAA designee, (3) manufacturer (of the airplane), (4) repair station, (5) inspection authorization (an IA), (6) person approved by Transport Canada Group
or (7) other (specify). Most of the time, STCs are approved for
return to service by either a repair station or an LA.
I won' t bore you with alii had to submit and resubntit to my
IA before he would return my aircraft to service, but here is the
bottom line: Each of you, in order for your airplane to be legaily airworthy, should have in the airplane's mes a copy of an
FAA FOrtll 337 for each and every thing that has been added to
it since the day it came out of the factory!
Did you add sun visors? There should be a 337 on me documenting this. Did you install an inflatable door seal? Another
337. Did you remove the KX- [70B radios and install KX-155s?
The avionics shop had better have submitted a 337 over their
repair station license. Do you have a Garmin 295 handheld GPS
mounted on your yoke? That's OK because you can remove it
and take it with you, therefore no 337 is required. But did you
bring up a 12124-volt power plug to power it and save the batteries? If you did, that constitutes an alLeration and requires a
337. Most inspectors will let you get away with powering a
handheld from a cigarette lighter receptacle, since you can unplug the device, but if you crawled under the panel and tapped
the wires going illlo the cigarette lighter, then that constitutes
an alteration and must be covered by paperwork.
In my travels to give GPS/avionics lectures at FAA WINGS
presentations, I have been to several where the FAA inspectors
are on hand to give courtesy aircraft inspections. If you give
them the make, serial number and N-number of your aircraft
beforehand, they wi ll arrive with ail the FAA documentation
on me in their database, on your airplane. If you have the equipment list the aircraft left the factory with (available after about
1970 on most models), it is very simple to compare what the
airplane was manufactured with, plus the 337s in the FAA database, to see if you are missing any. The inspectors will not
cite you or ground the airplane on the spot, but they will tell
you that, without 337s or a manufacturer's equipment list for
each and every item presently installed on your airplane, the
airplane is not legally airworthy. So far, I have not seen the
FAA fInd a single airplane that has had all its installed equipment documented.
Now that the weight of my paper appears to equal the weight
of my airplane, I'll quit. See ya next month.
Jim Hughes, Sanford. Florida. holds a 8S degree inAero Engineering. He is a CFlI
and on A&P mechanic.Jim heads MorKeting & Professional Services, a consulfing and flight test firm involved in both military and civil avionics applications.
ABS June 2001
This is an update of an earlier article by Mr. Wilson found on page
4880 of the August 7997 A8S
Magazine. His message bears repeating, plus includes additional
information about this ongoing
problem.
-ASS Technica l C onsulta nt
Neil Pobanz
RUDDER
CRACKS:
11 years of indifference
BY DICK WILSON
I
n 1989, the Airline Training Center in
Tucson contacted Beech with the news
that one of their fleet of 15 F33As had
a broken rudder. That is, the upper hinge
had torn out the ponion of sheet aluminum spar to which it was attached.
Later the ATC found fi ve more rudders in their fleet that were progressing
to failure, with cracks under the upper
hinge and some under the middle hinge.
Then the FAA passed on two "Malfunction
or Defect" repons describing the same problem on an F33A and a 35-C33A. Thus a total of eight panial failures had been discovered out of a sample of 17, and there were
about 4,300 Bonanzas out there with the same
rudder design. (The above is taken from a
Beech "Staff Study" dated September, 25,
1991. I'll send you a copy if you ask for it.)
The hardware
The rudders of Bonanza Models 33 and
36 are hinged at three places: top, middle and
bottom. The top and middle hinge brackets
are attached to the spar web with two screws
and nutplates (Fig. 1, top bracket). The web
is rocked left and right by the hinge load, resulting in fatigue cracks at various locations
as shown in the photo of a dye-penetrant inspected spar.
ABS June 2001
The glaring problem with this design is that the hinge bracket is mounted
on a trampoline. The integrity of this vital attachment depends on the out-ofplane bending strength of a 0.6-inch square
of .032 inch sheet aluminum bounded by
the six nutplate holes. The upper hinge is in
a tight spot, out of sight and inaccessible. Inspection of the failed area is only possible by
removing the rudder and the two safety-wired
screws that attach each bracket to the spar web.
Beech estimated the disassembly, inspection and
re-assembly to require four man-hours.
•
Crocks revealed with red dye
The Mandatory
Service Bulletin
Beech performed a "statistical study" of
the 17 inspected aircraft. The eight
cracked rudders had flown between
1,200 and 5,000 hours each. This tiny
sample became the basis for Mandatory Service Bulletin No. 2333 issued
in October 1989 to owner/operators of
about 4,500 Models 33 and 36 that were
currently flying with the same rudder hinge
suppons. The MSB warned that these partial failure "could result in loss of airplane
controL"
For aircraft with more than 1,000 total
flight hours, it called for dye-penetrant inspections of the rudder spars with in 50 flight
hours and at every annual thereafter or at
500 flight hours, whichever comes fi rst.
The lowest flight time in the sample of
eight cracked rudders was 1,200 hours and
from this it was reasoned that the other 4,500
fl ying rudders would be safe for the first 1,000
flight hours ! What do you Flying Physicians
think of this epidemiology?
Figure 1: Original bracket shown
deflected (looking down)
Figure 2: DW-' bracket with steel
flanges bolted through spar and skin
The follow-up AD
Eight months later, the FAA published an Airwonhiness Directive (90- 11 -04)
on the ubject. For aircraft with more than 1,000 flight hours, it called for an
inspection of the spar within 100 flight hours and at every 500 fli ght hours thereafter. (Three more ADs foll owed; 91-23-07, 92-15-06 and 93-24-03, with the
same inspection schedules). Thus the AD left out the annual inspection requirement of the MSB . To illustrate the danger in this omission, an aircraft that averages 100 hours per year must be inspected for spar cracks in II years since new,
and again five years after that! This even applies to the acrobatic Bonanzas (Serial CJ-I through CJ-179) that are type-cen.ified to do snap roll s.
The significance of "500 flight hours" changed radically between the MSB
and the AD. Beech requires 500-hour inspections for aircraft flown more than
500 hours per year, and annual inspections for the rest. The FAA only requires
Page 6801
The FAA's Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin No. CE00-21 states "RAC's MSB 2333 requires annual inspections "
(per CFR 43. 13). In other words, the FAA says you must inspect the rudder annually. until you fix it. regardless of the
terms ofthe AD. Who is in charge?
500-hour inspections in five , 20, 30
years-whenever. This discrepancy was
clearly an error in the AD . The FAA
backed off slightly with a recommendation in Special Airwotthiness Information Bu lletin No. CE-00-2I , and also in
a leuer to me stating, "RAC's MSB 2333
requires annual inspections" (per CFR
43.13). [n other words, the FAA says you
must inspect the rudder annually, until
you fix it, regardless of the terms of the
AD. Who is in charge?
The rudder spar fail ures are caused by
a mysterious magnitude-frequency spectrum of rudder pedal forces. No one has
any idea of how to specify a safe spectrum, arlO predict when it will beexceeded.
Yet the FAA says, in effect, that regardless
of previous and future loads, an incipient
crack cannot proceed to a catastrophic failure within 500 flight hours.
Calendar years should be taken into
account; corrosion can extend cracks in
sheer metal subjected (improperly) to
out-of-plane bending. The hinge opening is exposed to the weather, and the
surface between the bracket and the web
can retai n water. The bracket and spar
are of dissimilar metals, which makes
corrosion more likely.
The production line mod
Shortly after the discovery of the rudder problem, Beech devised a repair for
rudders not yet assembled to avoid building more aircraft with known flaws. This
consisted of internal reinforcements to
the aft side of the spar at the rwo hinge
locations. The spar web would still be
rocked back and forth, but not as much
because it was stiffer.
To be sure that the changes prevented
the cracks and didn't cause new failures,
1.5 inch holes were cut in the rudder skin
aft of the hinges so the interior could be
inspected with a mirror and flashlight for
Page 6802
possible continued cracking. And because
the holes reduced the buckling strength of
the rudder skin at the points where the
stresses are greatest, the skin was reinforced near the holes to prevent the holes
from causing buckling or wrinkling. The
inspection became an annual requirement
for the new rudders with this redesign.
MSB #2333 Rev. 1
Field Repair
In ovember 1991, Beech published
an MSB revision to introduce Kit No. 33600 I-I S for strengthening the rudder
spar on aircraft in the field and ending
the previo us disassembly dye-penetrant
inspection requirement. This kit was essentially the reinforced spar of the "production line mod" described previously.
Beech estimated 29 man-hours to install
it, and a hardware cost of $73 1.
This assembly is tricky without factory tooling and experience. Annual inspection through the skin holes for possible future cracking is required. Oh, and
the MSB offers an alternati ve fix: a new
$6,359 rudder, which must be painted
and balanced.
The SMP hinge brackets
In August 1990, I obtained an STC
for an upper reinforcement bracket
SMP-I. Ir was a welded four-piece "addon" that straddled the original crack-producing bracket, leaving it in place but carrying all of the hinge load out to the attachments of the spar flanges to the skin.
This "belt and suspenders" design was
hard for the FAA to reject, and two years
later, in August 1992, AD 92- 15-06 was
issued which called for stop-drilling of any
web cracks, and permitted the end of the
AD inspections if an SMP-I hinge bracket
was installed. Approvals for the SMP-2
Middle Hinge Bracket followed with AD
93-24-03, the latest and current AD.
The new DW-l
and DW-2 brackets
In March 1996, STC SAOOO44LA was
granted for the much-improved DW-I and
DW-2 brackets. They are installed in the
same manner as the Beech brackets (two
existing screws), but with additional screws
which replace skin ri vets. The DW- I is illustrated in Fig. 2 on the previous page.
The FAA grew tired of issuing rudder
crack ADs, so they approved rhe "equi valence" of the new DW-I and DW-2 wirh
a leuer which I include with the kit documents. This approval is also covered by
Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin No. CE-00-21. The SMP brackets
are out of production and were superseded by DW brackets five years ago.
The DW-I and DW-2 are manufac rured
and distributed under PMA by General
Forming Corp. in Torrance, California
(310-326-0624). General Forming is an
aircraft pans manufacrurer and a subcontractor to Boeing and others.
There are about 4,300 affected 33s
and 36s in the US Registry, and about 60
percent of them have been fixed with
SMP or DW hinge brackers. Of these,
over 100 kits have been shipped to Beech
(Raytheon) facilities.
The affected aircraft, as listed in AD
93-24-03 are:
CD- I rhrough CD-1304
CE-I through CE-1425
CJ-I through CJ-179
E-I through E-2578
EA- I through EA-500
Easy identification of repairs
Rudders repaired with SMP or DW
hinge brackets have four steel screws
replacing ri vers ar the top hinge (Fig. 2).
inery-rhree percent of rhese also have
two screws at the middle hinge. Inspections are no longer required.
Rudders repaired with the Beech Kit
33-600 I-I S have two 1.5 inch diameter
holes cut in the skin on one side just aft
of each hi nge. These holes are covered
with steel caps. MSB 2333-1 requires
that rudders repaired with the ki t be inspected annually rhrough the holes for
"auachment securiry and cracks."
ABS June 2001
SUMMARY: four choices for
unfixed aircraft:
1. The FAA is nOt going to tighten the
AD rules until an alarming incident
or accident is revealed to the FAA.
Until then, unless you have cracks, it
is legal to reinstall the old brackets
after inspections.
2. Install a DW-l Bracket ($240 for the
hardware) to end future inspections,
which would COSt at least $200 each.
While the rudder is off, it is best to
also replace the middle bracket with
a DW-2 ($170). This may become a
requirement in a new AD. Cracks are
OK at both locations; just stop-drill
them. To end the danger and expense,
it is strongly recommended that the
old brackets be replaced at or before
the next annual.
3. Replace the spar with the reinforced
spar kit, hardware cost $73 1. Repaint
and balance the rudder and reinstall.
Shop hours: about 29. Continue annual inspections for possible fUlUre
cracks.
4. Order a new rudder from RAPID for
$6,359, paint, balance and install.
Continue annual inspections for possible future cracks.
To order DW bracket kits, call Gelleral
Formillg Corporatioll, 310-326-0624. To
order a spar kit or a lIew rudder. call
RAPID,888-727-4344.
ABS member Dick Wi/son, Palos Verdes, California,
was a strength engineer at Douglos from 1942 fa
1977. He ownedA35 N8669A from 195710 1987.
He now owns and flies 1986 F33A N7229K. He developed the SMP and OW Brackets. For more information. call him at his TOA hangar (3 /0-326-8516)
days or e-mail [email protected].
in
from the
oswell as
advanced pilot
praiseworthy peer
trOlmng
and
I on aViation
maintenance technology recognized
widely by peer groups. exceptionally
effective seMce in the upgrading of the
technology through vonaus Industl'(
forums.
ABS June 2001
Page 6803
•
to Sydney Air Race anracts six
hirty-three teams of professional and
amateur pilots recently duplicated
the historic London to Sydney Air
Race of 1919 and "The Great Race" of
1934-two intercontinental adventures
that paved the way for what is now
known as the Kangaroo Route.
Six ABS members participated in this
2001 London to Sydney Air Race which
took off from Biggin Hill aerodrome near
London on March II and loosely followed the original route with 28 stopovers in Europe. Egypt, the Gulf states,
Pakistan. India, Thailand, Singapore,
Australia and some other locales.
After 28 days of flying across half the
world over some of the world's greatest
natural and manmade wonders, the race
ended on Saturday, April 7. The Hong
Kong team of James D' Arcy, Mike Miller,
Mark Graham and John D' Arcy in a twinengined Piper Aerostar won first place.
Here's how theABS members placed:
Tim Ellison, Stamford Lincs, United
Kingdom, won 2nd in his A36TC Bonanza. Ninth place went to Anthony
Toscano, Southampton. New York, flying a 58 Baron and 10th was captured
by Jeall Turnbull, Morristown, New Jersey, also flying a 58 Baron. David
McDonald from Sydney placed 12th in
an A36 Bonanza. TOllY Lavan,
Queensland. Australia, took 16th in a
B55 Baron which he flew with his coowner Murray Rowley. Willie Tashima,
Honolulu, Hawaii , a Bonanza owner,
flew as a crew member in a Cessna 421B
that was 27th.
This 12.000-mile epic flight over the
longest air roUle in the world was con·
Page 6804
ducted underthe Rules of the Federation
Aeronautique Internationale. Teams included entries from Australia, the United
Kingdom, the United States. Canada, the
Netherlands, Switzerland, Portugal.
Hong Kong and New Zealand. To level
the playing field, each aircraft was given
a handicap based on its maximum speed
measured against actual speed.
Project Director and Chief Executive
Officer of the race, Wilf Barker, said,
''This Air Race demonstrates that the
spirit of adventure amongst aviators has
not changed. There has been plenty of
action and excitement and healthy competition through to the last minute. Each
and every competitor earned the right to
win, but at the end of the day, the bestof-the·best gained the accolades."
TIM ELLISON (2nd) spent t 3 years in the
Royal Air Force. He became a paraplegic in
the crash of a Harrier jump jet in 1992 at
RAF Wittering where he had worked as a
weapons instructor. An engine failure at 100
feet allowed no time to eject. Tim regained
his nying ability and worked as a Forest Service attack pilot in California. He flew a
Beechcraft 36TC to the UK via Canada.
Greenland and Iceland. In April 2000 he was
awarded a Royal Aero Club silver medal for
his achievements in aviation. He is vice
chairman of the British Disabled Flying Club
that boasts a membership of more than 200.
Tim says: "An aim is to promote the awareness of what disabled people are capable of
doing. Obviously, aviation is a great medium
for achieving this goal, and this is my prime
reason for entering the race."
ANTHONY TOSCANO (9th) is the owner
of Southampton Brick & Tile in New York.
His copilot. John Dawson. is an engineer and
project manager for Phillip Morris in Richmond, Virginia. The race was the most exciting event they had encountered so far.
participants
JEAN TURNBULL (10th) is a retired New
York City investment banker, now a self-employed consultant to corporations on acquisi tion strategies. structuring and financing.
With single. mulliengine and instrumem ratings and 2,500 hours. she has almost 20 years
of flying experience. In June 2000, Jean participated in her first air race. the Air Race
Classic, a long-distance all-wornen's event
held every year in the United Stales.
DAVID McDONALD (12th) and his copi·
lot have 4,000 hours of flying. They have
competed in several other air races together.
Together, they participated in the 1988
Hiokler Queensland Race, the Bicentary
Round Australia Race and the Round New
Zealand Race. In April 1995, he broke the
Cross-Australia nonstop speed record, and
David has also compered solo in the
Singapore to Christchurch Ajr Race.
TONY LAVAN (16th) is a professional en·
gineer who runs a forensic enginering and
disaster management business in Brisbane.
Australia. He has a commercial license, is
instrument-rated and has about 900 flying
hours. Tony flew in a Baron he co-owns with
Murray Rowley, who is instrumented-rated and
has around 3.500 hours experience. They have
a working friendship: Murray travels the world
adjusting large insurance claims and Tony follows to help people get back in business again.
After much talk about the race. one day Murray
said to Tony, ''I'm going and you're coming."
It was the start of a great adventure. which Tony
imends to share more about in a future issue of
this magazine.
WILLIE T ASH1MA (27 th) is a retired gen·
eral surgeon living in Hawaii who has been
fascinated with aviation from the time that
he first fabricated model airplanes out of
paper and balsa wood during his treen yeas.
After medical training. he earned his private
pilot's license in 1971 and has since been an
avid general aviation pilot. He enjoys nying
his Beech Bonanza and a Cessna 421 B
around the Hawaiian Islands. He participated
in the 1994 Around the World Air Race and
the 1996 Air Race of the Americas.
ABS June 2001
NEWS
Northeast Bonanza Group
Our NEBG Fly-In to ew Castle, Delaware, on April 21 was a great
success! We landed at Wi lmi ngton (LLG) and were bussed over to the old
town of New Castle. Our hosts were Clem and Kathe Zilka assisted by
Everet! and Carolyn Williams and Rich and Jeannine Campbell who perfeclly planned and executed the even!.
These three couples-and I understand a lot of credit goes to the ladies- set up a great day starting with a wonderful lunch at the old arsenal
in the middle of town in a 17th century building that had been used as a
military fac ility and a hospital.
Afterwards, the 45 attendees split into three groups; the smallest group
returned to the airport to fly home. The other two went on walking tours of
the old city. We saw where William Penn landed in the new world (yes, he
landed in Delaware, not Pennsylvania), saw the Read House, an old Engl ish courthouse, the Town Hall and other historic buildings. We visited the
waterfront on the Delaware River and a small portion of an old railroad line
whose train was horse-and-mule powered.
We learned about the 12-mile arch drawn as a part of the Mason-Dixon
Line separating pan of Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. We also
learned that the only part of the separation of the North and the South by
the Mason-Dixon Line that runs north to south (instead of east to west) is
the pan that separates Delaware from New Jersey.
It was a special treat to have former NEBG president Dick Endres and
his wife Elaine with us. Others in attendance included Ed Brin and Jay
Robinson, Warren Oxman, Lee and Margaret Rome, Randy and Sue Schmidt,
Clark and Marlene Billie, Walter and Carolyn Knouse, Dale and Alice Williams, Marvin Heyser, Henry Schmidt, Herb Henze, Dick and MaryAnn Boden,
Barbara and Many Rappaport, Bob and Marcy Gordon, Tony Moccaidl, Peter
Cruz, Jim Babb, Dave Ross, Stet! Harrison, Mary Hengst, Rob Morlara, Roben Mark and Phil and Lesley Divirgilio-the couple who "flew the funhes!."
They came from Bar Harbor, Maine. -Steve Oxmall
Rocky Mountain Bonanza Society
The RMBS is fast approaching 200 members, and if you live in our
eight-state area and haven't heard from us, it is only because we do not
know your e-mail address or have a wrong one. All it takes is a quick note
to Bill Stovall at <stovalls @compu serve.com> or Ron Schmidt at
<schmidts@ lakemac.net>orcheckourwebsite at <http:!www.rmbss.org>.
ABS June 2001
Page 6805
There was a sustained, very high and
gusty wind with driving rain. I had my
airplane, a barnstormer New Standard D25 biplane with a Wright J-5, 225 HP
engine, tied down on the only airport
there at the time, a grass field right next
to the west shore of Mobile Bay where
the famous Battle of Mobile Bay occurred in the Civil War.
Trees, perhaps 50 feet high, lined the
shore between the field and the water of
Page 6806
the bay. [ was at the airport to make sure
my airplane did not blow away in the
high wind, when a man came to me requesting that [ fly over the bay to search
for his young son and another boy who
were sailing a small open motorboat from
ew Orleans to Mobile. They were long
overdue to arrive.
There were no TV satellite depictions
of weather at that time, so the storm had
struck the boys without any warning. The
father was frantic because he said
the Coast Guard had been searching for the boat on its route along
the north side of the Gulf of Mexico
with no success. The Coast Guard
did not have airplanes then, so they
were searching with a small e.G. CUlter, leaving a search of the bay until later.
The father had decided the boys had
probably progressed far enough east to
be in Mobile Bay by that time, where the
Guard was not yet searChing. The
wind and waves on the bay were
really far too violent for any
small boat, especially a small
open inboard motorboat. [
could see the churn ing water
from the airport and conditions were positively forbidding and definitely dangerous.
With a very low ceiling of about
60 feet, getting over the 50-foot
trees looked impossible in the
gusty east wind and heavy
rain.
At first I declined to fly
at all , but then [ felt sorry for
the father and, of course, for the
two boys. Finally, agai nst my
better judgment I decided to try
and my mechanic helper consented to go with me as an observer. Both he and I realized
that I would be so busy merely
flying the airplane under that very
low ceiling in fog, heavy rain and
high gusty wind that [ could not do
much searching over the water while flying in those conditions. We had no radio
and no life-saving equipment whatever.
If we hit the water, it would be fatal.
White-capped waves of at least four feet
were extremely dangerous for a small
open boat. With visibility at less than half
a mile, I knew I had a tough job ahead of
me. I told the father I would charge him
$60 an hour for my nying time, but I
could not promise success.
I took off toward the trees, barely
skimming the tops of them. The water
under the plane was really wild. Rain was
pounding the little windshield in front of
the open cockpit. Any attempt to stick
A BS June 2001
my head into the slipstream was painful
to my face and clouded my goggles. I
headed east, out of sight of land until I
could see the eastern shore and then
started a right turn to head back west,
with the inside wing almost touching the
water and the outside wing cutting into
the low clouds. It was a really wild ride
with those vicious waves just below the
wingti p in 45 degree banks and giving
me false sensations of drifting.
I had to fly the turns by feel to avoid
slipping due to the waves moving under
me. We flew back and forth from one side
of the bay to the other, each time covering an area farther south to cover the entire bay.
Just as I was running out of hope, we
found the tiny boat at the south end of
the bay. It was barely afloat and the two
boys were frantically bailing water, one
with hi s bare hands! With the boat
flooded, of course, the inboard engine
was dead and the boat was being tossed
about with water sloshing around in it. I
could see no life preservers on the boys
Just as I was running out of hope, we found the tiny boat at the
south end of the bay, barely afloat and the two boYS frantically bailing
waterl The boat was being tossed about by the four-foot whitecaps.
as I circled overhead. It was chill y
weather for Mobile. They were so busy
bailing water that they could not even
take time out to wave at us as we circled,
our wings barely above water.
I headed north along the west shore
until I saw the trees along the airport,
then made a circle out over the water to
get headed directly toward the trees,
hopped over them , agai n scrapin g
through the bottom of the overcast,
downwind and across the field at high
speed. Then as I passed west of the airport I made a 180 barely over trees to
land east on the grass. The airpl ane did
not roll a hundred feet in that wind, with
power on. What a ride!
The fath er paid me the $60 for my 60
minutes and rushed off to find a telephone to call the Coast Guard. That $60
would probabl y be worth $600 in today's
More Miller mail
At the ABS Convention last year, I was stopped by many
members I did not even know and told how much they enjoyed
my stories. I wi h myoid English teacher were still alive to
hear them. She gave me a 99, saying that 100 was impossible
for anyone. Here are portions of some of them. - John Miller
I'm sure you don 't remember me, but we mel in the ABS tenl at
Oshkosh '99. I had yo u sign the bill of my Oshkosh hat, ri ght next
to Patty Wagstaff and Bob Hoover. Thanks for the great stories in
the ABS Magazine. I sent your article from the December 2000 issue to my parents in Florida. My dad, who is 85 but not flying
anymore, enjoyed it immensely since he and his airplane partner
took an alm ost identical trip wi th their wives in their
Beech Travel Air in the late 1970s. As fo r me, I' m still looking for
that perfect Bonanza, my life's dream.lt 's why Ijoined theABS, to
learn as much as I could about the aircraft before I purchase one.
-Gary Mulligan, Kingston . New York
I just finished reading your article about Howard Stark in tbe
January issue of the ABS Magazine. It is amazing to me th at I had
never heard of Stark. What a great story-and what a terrific job of
- Michael D. Nolan, New York. New York
telling it!
['ve really enjoyed the articles you've written for the ABS Magazine. Your insigh tfu l comments about society and government are
as interesting and valuable as those on aviation.
- Michael Truffer, DeLand, Florida
ABS June 2001
paper money, but they were about the
hardest dollars I have ever earned. I
learned later that the boys were resc ued
by a private boat for the Coast Guard was
still out on the Gulf where the conditions
must have been much worse.
I never heard a word from the father
or the boys. The $60 certainly did not
compensate me for the extra danger of
the job, and I certainly would not do that
flying again for $600.
A few days later, I new over the Mobi le annual Mardi Gras night parade with
fireworks streaming from the airplane.
Lotsa fun!
During the past 76 years.ABS member John M. Miller
has flawn just about everything from Jennys to jets. He
owns a V35A Bonanza and a 56TC Baron hotrod.John
has many moregreal stones 10 re/afe./fyou enjoy reading /hem. tet him know with a note to 201 Kingwood
Fork. lbughkeepsie. NY 12601.
Just fini shed read ing your article on the Pitcairn . Sounded like a
great bird . Please keep up the articles for ABS , as they are enjoyable and I reall y li ke the hi story.
- Mike Woods. Brookfield, Wisconsin
I want to tell you how much my wife Pat and I enjoy your articles in ABS Magazine. We look forward to each issue and immediately search to see if you are there. We hope you will con tinue to
share with us some of your vast experiences, as vicarious ly we can
look at the history of aviation in our country. through you.
- R.M. Miller, D. v'M., Ashlalld, Ohio
I have read with great interest your exploits with the Pitcairn
autogyro. I have also followed some of you r art icles in the
Rerired Eastern Pilot Association Ma gazine . I have a Beech S8
Baron. My father was an Eastern Airlines captain based in Miami
from 1942 until he retired in 1972. I believe his original seniority
number was 367. He spoke of you enough to where I thought you
both may have known each other.
- Jolm C. Nordt. M.D .. South Miami, Florida
My wife and I enjoy your articles. We live in Wabasb, Indiana.
about 4S minutes in a V-tail northeast of Terre Haute, the firsl leg of
your very interesti ng trip in the Decem ber 2000 issue. As a hopeless airplane nut, I hope someday to do the same in my Bonanza
18ME, a G model th at I am currently restoring. We had an N
model that I sold in May 1999 for a business expansion. I missed it
so much th at in August that year I sold the busines$ and purchased
NI8ME. There seems to be something addicti ve about a Bonanza.
- Rollnie W Combs, Wabash. I"diana
Page 6807
Pilot experience forms
the high tech way
(ezpilotlog.com)
a "long-time" insured go two to three years without the
form being required. Unfortunately. it seems that the longer
the period of time between completion of the forms, the
more time-consuming it becomes to bring several years of
flying up to date on paper.
Making it easier
BY JOHN A LLEN
t seems that one of the most dreaded requests that an
insured or pilot receives from their insurance agent is
a letter asking that they "complete, sign and return the
enclosed pilot experience form." We know this can be a
real bother for a busy pilot. We know this because rarely is
a pilot experience form sent back to us on the fIrst request!
It normally takes two requests and sometimes three before
pilots take the time to bring their logbooks current, fIll out
the form and eventually return it.
We fInd that most pilots try to be conscientious about
their record-keeping. They want to have the available time
and current information before they fI ll out this dreaded
piece of paper. Unfortunately, this takes a lot of cajoling
from the agent before the policy expires. Many times they
will call back at the last minute and ask for a copy of last
year's form to update the one for thi s year. Does any of
this sound familiar?
I
Why it's important
Knowing all of this and in an effort to make the process
easier for all busy ABS members, we offer a possible solution to this process.
We have assisted in the development of a secure website
that will allow you to record your pilot experience form and
maintain it in your own fIle that is protected by your own
"user narne" and "password." Anytime during the year you
would then be able to update your pilot information as your
time allows, download the form onto your printer whenever
it is needed, sign it and return it to Falcon by mail or fax.
The site will even prompt you bye-mail when it is time
for your yearly update, wish you a happy birthday and remind you to keep your medical and BFR current.
The name of th is website is <easypilotlog.com> or
<ezpilotlog.com>, and we hope you will find it a convenient place to keep your pilot information ready for that next
dreaded request. (At the time of this writing, this site was
under construction, and should be completed by June I.)
We understand there wi ll soon be an online logbook
feature added to the site and several other improvements
for our busy hard-working pilots, all free of charge. This
is our gift to you to make your life a little easier and less
stressful at renewal time. We trust that you wi ll fInd the
site benefIcial.
In an effort to encourage all of our insureds and pilots to
tend to these requests a bit more expeditiously, I would like
to give the members a better understanding of why this piece
of paper is so important to the underwriting process.
Falcon Insurance is the agency for the official ABS insurance program.
This form gives the underwriter a picture of the pilot's
John Allen moy be reoched oll·800·259·4ABS (4227). Falcons websile
credential s, incl uding occupation, age, flight hours and
is <WW\'I.falconinsurance.com>.
logged time, training, loss experience and much more. If it is
2001 SERVICE CLINIC SCHEDULE
completed legibly, it can relay
DATES
FBO
AIRPORT LOCATION
your accomplishments as a pilot
quickly to the underwriter in a
CID Cedar Rapid s, Iowa
June 8-11
PS Air Inc .
professional manner. If it is
July 13-16
Styles Rebuilding
44N Lagrangeville, New York
thrown together and illegible, it
Augu st 10-13
Spokane Airways
GEG Spokane, Wash ington
can send the wrong message to
Batavia, Oh io
September 7-10 Air Mod
169
the underwriter. As your agent,
we want to present your account
Cruisea ir Aviation
RMN Ramona, California
October 26-29
in the best possible tight to the
underwriter in a Limely manner.
This helps the underwriter, Falcon and most of all , you-the insured-to arrange broad coverage at a competitive premium.
Some companies would like
to see these forms completed
each year and others may allow
Page 6808
November 16-19 W.H.P. Aviation, Inc.
November 30December 3
D73
Chandler Aviation Inc . CHD
Monroe, Georgia
Chandler. Arizona
THE ABS SERVICE CLINICS RUN FRIDAYTHROUGH MONDAY.
Call ABS Headquarters (3 16-945-1700) to make arrangements to attend,
or sign up via the ABS website: <www.bonanza.org>. Cost of these exce~
lent on&hour visual inspections is $140 for Bonanzas and $175 for Barons
and Travel Airs. Time slots are limited to 32 during each four.<:fay clinic.
A BS June 200 1
For ihe Ijrsi ijme. ABS .m haye a 8011 iOIIl...11
jn con;uncijon .jih our Annual Conyeni.on.
.,he iournameni .m be held on amyal day•
• jih a hole-jn-one coniesi io folio. on Frjday.
Wednesday, October 10, at the magnificent Rock Creek Golf Club in Fairhope.
The Lauderdale-lour-player best-ball lormat with shotgun Itart wIU lie nlll.
PI8nnBtI limit " l1li flnt 12 fltl/f1ll'B to 1'fIII/BtBl', III IIign up Brlyl
Tournament proceeds will benellt the ABS Air Salety Foundation Endow.ant
Fund. That means 840 01 tha 8100 tournamant registration lae Is TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
Reglltratlon covers green 1888, carl, rllllle bell . , lunch. 'D'Mlfllll'tla. . . III
provided to and lrom the gall course.
Awards will be presented at the welcome Banquet on wednllday RiIIIt.
'rake your besi shOi(S) jn ABS hole-jn-one co......
Friday, October 12, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Gulf Pines Golf Co urse
next door to Brookley Field (Downtown Mobile Airport). 'D'ansportallol
lor participants will be lurnllhed to and lrom the Convention canter.
ABS HOLE-IN-ONE CONTESTS
New A38 Airplane
Valul: 8800,000 Sponlor: Raytheon Alrt:rlft
New 10-550 Engine
Valua: 827,785 Sponsor: Teledyne Contlnilltl!
Garmln GNS 630 GPS Value: 815,000 Sponsor: Garmln InternatlD'"
Open to averyone wishing to win one or mora of then fII'8It prizes.
Everyone getting a hele-ln-ooe wins the prlzl. No IIlIlt on the. IIF II
(Prolelslonll golfers are not eligible.) AU 01 tbne hole-In-one ....11 . .
the Red Tee (shorlest tea) 01 187 yards lor man and 157 yarlll IIII' _
100% TAX-DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTIONS
ill
IHiII
I Shot - 8360
3 Shots - 81,000
8 Shots - 82,500
1 Sbet - 825
4 Shotl - 875
10 Shots - 8200
630 GPS
1 SIItIt - 816
4 SIItItl - 860
10 Shots - 8136
Full details will be In your convention conllrmation package. III
meantime, contact Harold BOlt (nO-718-0838) with any qUldlu.
Register NOW lor this nent ... and GOOD LUCK I
JUNE
9-' 0 - Bonanzas 10 OshkoshRegiona l Formation Practice.
New Bedford. MA (EWB). Che<:k
<WINWb2osh.org> or contact Elliott
Schiffman 781 ·749-9610 for details
15-17 - North East Bonanza Group
Weekend Fly-in and Saturday
luncheon. Basin Harbor.Vermonl .
Contact Bcb Gordon. 516-673-9837.
Staggerwing Beech Museum & Twin
Beech 18 Society For more
information, call 931-455-1974
-
19-21 - BPPP, Inc.
little Rock, Arkansas.
Conlocl BPPP.lnc .. 970-377-1 B77.
20 - North East Bonanza Group
Fly-I n.Wilkes-Barre/Scronton,
Pennsylvonia.lunch and tour of
roilrood museum. Contact Steve
Harrison,
15-17 - Pacific Bonanza Society
Fly-In. Corson City, Nevada. Conlact
Roger Murray, 775-746-1566.
22-24 - BPPP. lnc. (Mounlain Flying)
Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Contact BPPP.lnc .•970-377-1877.
JULY
, 3-15 - Rocky Mounta in Society
Fly- in. Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse
Memorial. Cusler, South Ookota. COntact
Ron Schmidt, 308·284-6090; e-moil
<[email protected]>
or Bill StovolI.303-<i70-2244.
e-moil <[email protected]>.
13-16- ASS Service Clinic
Styles Refurbish (44N).
lagrangeville. New York. Contact ABS.
, 7-22- Ninety-Nines Internotlonal
Conference, Calgary. Alberta. Canada.
21 - North East Bonanza Group fly-i n.
Old Rhinebock, New York. flying activities
of '#WI airplanes. Contact Everet1
Williams. 717-569-9293.
22 - Bonanzas to Oshkosh Briefing,
Rockford. Illinois. Conlact Elliott
Schiffman. 781-749-9610 or viSit
website <W'IIW.b2ash.arg>.
24-30- EM AlrVenture
Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
AUGUST
3-5 - Pacific Bonanza Society Fly-in.
Scn luis ObiSPO, Colifornia.Contact Poul
Boum. 805-461-3643.
5-19 - Austral ian Bonanza Society
Safari. Alice Springs throughout the
Kimberly region.
10-12 - Midwest Bonanza Society
Fly-In. Boyne Mountain Resort.
Boyne Falls. Michigan. For reservations,
call 1-800-B62-6963 and indicate you
are with the MBS.Contact Craig Baitey.
847-265·9344, are·mail
<[email protected]>.
26-29- ABS Service Clinic
Cruiseair Aviation (RMN), Romano,
California. Contact ABS.
AMERICAN BONANZA SOCIETY HEAOQUARTERS
1922 Midfield Rd./P.O. Box 12688/Wichita. KS 67277
Phone: 316-945-1700 - Fox : 316-945-1710
Web Site: http://www.bonanza.org - e-mail: [email protected]
8-10 - AOPA Expo
Fort lauderdale, Florida
18 - North East Bonanza Group Fly-in,
Block Island. Massachusetts lunch
and lour of island. Contact Everett
Williams. 717-569-9293.
SEPTEMBER
2-4 - Cleveland National Airshow
Cleveland, Ohio.
7-9 - BPPP. lnc.
Manchester. New Hampshire.
Contact BPPP.lnc .. 970-377-1877.
7-10 · ABS Service Clinic,
Air Mod (169), BataVIa, OhiO, Contact
A8S.
13-16 - Southeast Bonanza Society
Fly-in. Jefferson, North Carolina.
Repeat of a great fty-in in Ihe
mountains. Contact John Sellmer,
770-4B7 -8386. or Stu Pigman.
941-731-2352 .
28-30 - Midwest Bonanza Society
Fly-i n. Shangri-la Resort on Grand
lake.Afton, Oklahoma . Reservations,
coli 1-8Q0-331 -4060. Contact Craig
Bailey, 847-265-9344, or e-mail
<[email protected]>.
28-30 · Rocky Mountain Society Flyin Durango, Colorado. Railroad trip to
Silverton. Contact Ran Schmidt, 308·
284·6090; e-mail <schmidt@lakemac
.neb or Bill Stovall. 303-670·2244,
e-mail <[email protected]>.
OCTOBER
10-14 - American Bonanza Society
Annual Convention
17-21 -"Beech Porly 2001 .A Family
Afta lr" Agathering for Slaggerwin(W'
Twin Beech 18/Beech owners!
enthusiasts sponsored by the
16·19- ABS Service Clinic
W.H.P.Aviolion Inc. (073).
Monroe, Georgia. Contact ASS,
17 . North East Bonanza Group
Fly-In. Millville, New Jersey.
lunch and tour of Aviation Museum.
Contact Clem Zilka. 215-638-B035.
17 - Rocky Mountain Bonanza
Society. Mexican Flying Seminar.
Jefferson County Airport (BJC). Denver,
Colorado.
11/29·12/02 - Southeast Bonanza
Society Fly-in . Mystery destination in
the Bahamas. Contact Harvey
Kriegsman, 407-725-9226, ore-mail
<[email protected]>.
11/30-12/3- ABS Service Clin ic
Chandler Aviation Inc. (CHo),
Chandler.AriZona. Conloe! ASS.
13·16 - Reno Air Races.
Reno, Nevada.
2002
14·16 - Pacific Bonanza Society
Fly-i n. McMinnville, Oregon (MMV).
Conlact John Fedriu i. 541·593-2535.
MAY
TBA- Midwest Bonanza Society
Spring Fly· in. Rough RIver State Pork.
Falls of Rough, Kentucky.
15 - Narth East Bonanza Group Fly-in.
Penns Cave (N74), Pennsylvannia.
lunch and tour of cave. Conlact Rich
Campbell. 610-678-0942.
, 5 - Aviation Day.
Goderich, Ontario. Hosted by
COPA 45 and Sky Harbour Aircroft.
Breakfast provided. If you will be
offending, contact Jerry Hal!, general
10-13- ABS Service Clinic. Spokane Air- manager, to put an information sheet
ways, Inc. (GEG). Spokane, WaShington. together for your aircraft.
519-524-2165 or lox 519-524-8421 .
Contocl ASS.
16-19 - Southeast Bonanza Society
Fly-in. Huntsville.Alabama.Visit U.S.
Space and Rocket Center. Contact Jessie
Stuffs. 256-883-8460. and Ed Zompo,
256-971-8973.
NOVEMBER
2-4 - BPPP, Inc.
Norfolk, Virginia . Contact BPPP.lnc ..
970-377- t 877.
18-20 - NBAA, New Orleans. louisiana
21-23 - BPPP.lnc, Fresno. California.
Contact BPPP.lnc .•970-377-1877.
ASS cOlWlen~neet'l1 w1!14miO¥
the convention seHing aI
Arthur R. Outlaw Convention
Center. The Adorn's Mark
Hotel is connected to the
convention center by
on elevated, covered sidewalk.
Web: www.strikefinder.com
E-mail: [email protected]
(905) 871-0733
(716) 852-3217
for your
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