The-sky-captain

Bryan- Looks like you have the hard part done and the fun part on the way. Looking good.

Looks great Jim. I hope you enjoy the process and end results as much as I did with my plane. BTW I had my 2 straps reupholstered by a furniture shop for $10. Got to pick the stiching color and everything:)

No problem Bryan. I look forward to seeing the finished product. Good luck.

What's a good product to keep it shiny and get rid of fingerprints and bugs? Windex??

I bought my J last October and go a smoking deal in my opinion. It needed to be sold and I was able to get a new interior, STEC 30 with alt and a 430W for just 5k over what he was originaly asking with a ratty interior and no radios or A/P. I just pulled up V REF and it is showing to be worth 13k MORE than I paid for it. I am pleasantly surprised to say the least...

I always use flight following when flying VFR and Flightaware usually has me in the system about 75% of the time. I actually had a recent IFR flight where I did not show up on Flightaware . Go figure:)

Well I finally took the bull by the horns and stripped and polished my spinner last weekend. Over all it took me about three hours to strip, sand and polish it to my liking. The materials I used were Aircraft Stripper, 1000 grit sandpaper and Mother's polish. Everything was purchased at the local auto parts store. I polished it by hands a few times before moving on to a power buffer to really bring out the shine. Pics are posted.

I've had my plane for 12 months now and have put right at 200 hours on it. It was down for a 45 day annual during that time due to getting my prop OH. This first year has been pretty expensive getting the plane to where I want it mx wise and the small issues that happen with a plane not being flown much in the previous years. On top of the prop OH, I had to OH the starter, OH the gear motor (luckily it got stuck in the down position) and put in a new boost pump. Hopefully the next 12 months will hold less surprises!

No doubt Jim. There are some huge ones around the Dallas area that I'm sure the Texas guys are very familiar with.

Steve- Glad you joined the forum, it's good to have another local guy (AR) on here. I have heard nothing but good about the Mena shop and plan on having my OH done there when the time comes. Fly safe.

The really scary part wasn't that he accidently got into IMC it's the fact that he did it with TALL mountains all around him. Inadvertant IMC is one thing in the flat lands when all you need to worry about is keeping the plane right side up and the wings level, hit the A/P and compose yourself. When you mix those scary little bushes that pop out of the clouds on your wingtip it's a whole new ballgame. I agree with Jim about the VFR minimums. Just because it's legal does not mean it is safe.

My '77 is step free. No complaints here...

I wonder if the FAA will have any interest in this little video?

I felt bad for the young guy facing the camera towards the end of the video, he didn't have a clue that he was about 5' away from a fiery death. As pilots we have a HUGE responsibility to our passengers and I take it very seriously. The ASF program talks about the "chain of events" that leads to an accident. The pilot in the video had many "links" leading up to the point where he scraped the side of the mountain with his wing tip. IMO he should have stayed on the ground that day. Of course this is just armchair piloting and it is always easy to point out fault in others while sitting in front of my computer.... Fly safe gentlemen.

I use Rejex. It's made by the same company that produces Corrosion X and works great.

Just got the mag in the mail.... Can't wait to crack it open.

Is it just me or is the MAPA magazine running a little late this month? I've only been a member for about five months but the first two came about a month apart.

Scott- What product did you use to strip the spinner? Thanks...

Jeev- Ditto on what Jim said. I replaced all of my grommers, retainers and studs and even my battery panel hardware. Make sure Milspec sends a few extra on everything. In my case they ran one short on about everything and it got to be very frustrating. The pliers and retainer tools cost about $50 or so. They will let you rent them for about half the cost of buying the tools but I went ahead and bought mine. If you want to save the $50 fly down to NW Ark and I'll let you use mine... free of charge:)

Jeev, I just replaced all of mine. There are many sizes so it depends on which ones need to be replaced. Give these guys a call and give them the serial number of your plane http://www.milspecproducts.com/

Sounds like a plan... I plan to get started on it next week. Thanks for the heads up Scott.

My spinner is currently painted and in descent shape but I would like to strip and polish it. It seems to be a fairly easy project that I could do myself. If anybody has any knowledge about this please chime in with any suggestions.