TomH

The hunt goes on

I was working on an oil change on my 63 d to c conversion and found the bolt in the attached image wedged in the cowl flap against the control rod attachment point. At this point I have looked for it’s home to no avail. Intake, exhaust, pistons, all are as they should be. Picture was taken on top of baffling, for context. Also, stamped with CP on top of bolt. Any help is appreciated. Thank you

When companies in aviation go above and beyond, it is our responsibility to recognize them... Had an issue while in flight with a Clarity Aloft headset - boom mike went completely dead. Once home, shipped off the headset for repair. Manufacturer wrote back saying the headset was out of the three year warranty and would update repair status and cost. At this point I was not feeling optimistic. About a week later received email with tracking number and invoice. On the invoice they detailed how they replaced the volume control box, microphone jack plug and wire and even installed a new microphone cover. Headset is being shipped back to me via UPS. No charge on the invoice. This is fantastic service and should be recognized. Also - for those who haven't used this headset, it is my go to during the hot weather months here in Texas (over the bose - so much ear sweat). Really enjoyed this product and now can recommend this company.

About the comment above where the small difference in weight would put tremendous stress on the hub - a story is in order. A few weeks ago during an dyna balance, I was in the mechanics hanger and was wandering and looking at the planes in process - usually 5-6 - everything from 310s to TBM to ratted out pipeline patrol. In the corner was a Lance that had the engine off. Looking under the wing, the prop was removed. One of the blades was missing the last 2”. Curious I asked what I’m the world had happened. Mechanic told me the wildest story. Owner pulled plane out, had to run errand, came back and fired up with tow bar still attached. Amazingly, he did not suffer the prop stroke on startup, taxi or takeoff. He flew the plane to an airport 100nm away, retracting the gear (and tow bar,partially???). Only on landing did he have a strike throwning the tow bar after shearing the 2” of the tip of one blade. The amazing part of the story for me, is that the owner assessed the situation, ran the engine up, decided it was good enough and decided he would rather his local mechanic fix it than the capable shops present on the field. My mechanic of course would not work on aircraft without an engine tear down. When examined engine cam was beyond wear tolerances, but no structural damage from strike or unbalanced operation was noted. Not sure what the point is of this story, except that our planes can be amazingly tough (until they aren’t) And that there are a lot of pilots out there with different decision making processes different from mine Anyway - I don’t post a ton, read quite a bit and value the community. The prop strike mentioned above in thread reminded me of this story and thought some might enjoy the crazy mess that is our fellow aviators.

Bought a d to c conversion this past summer. Similar situation to what you described - though only around 1100 on engines, and no adsb. Price was a little less than 30 and I ended up paying a little less than that. Definitely a gamble on this type of purchase. Since that time I’ve added 130 hours to the clock and had no significant issues outside of the starter going out. Good luck, I share the opinion of many around here that the C is the best deal going in aviation, both in purchase and operation.