817 SP goes into the shop

Our plane getting some new NAV/COM's 

basic instruments, plus Weatherscope (square upper right)

There she sits, this past Monday, in the hanger at Sarasota Avionics.   No flying that day, anyway - the fog was thick as my son did a slow taxi from our FBO at Rectrix North down to the Dolphin Aviation side (the other Fixed Base Operator).  By week's end, she'd be pushed back deeper into the hanger and the right side of her panel would be open and exposed.

We're replacing the upper left hand gauge which is actually a clock that performs other functions during instrument flight.  My son told me I shouldn't worry myself about what is going on, since I'm destined to be a VFR pilot forever, provided I get that far (ha ha).  When we purchased the plane, we knew we'd have to make some improvements, so now the dance has begun.

I've included a picture of what her instrument panel looked like last Monday morning.  When we get her back, it will look a bit different although the changes won't be all that apparent to the uneducated.  I may be the poster boy for the uneducated, mind you.

What we do know is that the plane will now have TWO working radios, allowing me to pre-set four different frequencies for ATIS (weather conditions), Ground (to taxi), Tower (to take off) and Tampa approach and departure (once I'm airborne).   We've had contact with the avionics shop, which is installing a Garmin 650 Nav/Com.  There were two radios (4 potential channels) in the plane, but we learned that the prior owner switched them, thus disabling a perfectly good glide slope indicator.  Faceplates were replaced on one of the radio's, the other had issues therefore we couldn't easily set them to different stations.  The "good" radio stays, and the 650 Garmin becomes the primary as a Nav/Com includes both Navigation AND Communications.  The stack will appear different, on the right side.  The basic "six pack" will remain on the left.

So, while the aircraft was manufactured in 2001, new instruments were installed in 2008, which included a KX155A Nav/Com, which will be replaced with the Garmin "touch screen" 650, and a second KX155A with Glide Slope, which stays.  Once installed, the confusion between the actual NAV unit and the glideslope indicator will get sorted out.  Sort of a 1=A and 2=B, instead of the current 1B, 2A setup.   The Garmin GTN (Garmin Touchscreen Navigation) 650 will offer a visual display will make it possible for my son to get his entire instrument training in our own plane.  That's a significant savings from having to use the school's aircraft with the Garmin 1000, which costs $150 an hour to rent.  What I like is the redundancy - two separate radios, independent of each other, and two glideslopes.   Shucks, even I might be able to operate with this stuff, and of course the autopilot.

The autopilot (as shown below) is really nifty - you simply set the heading "bug" to where you want to go, and flip it on - and Otto flies to that heading.  He also makes better banking turns than do I.  The other autopilot is 36, and calls me "Dad", when not calling me an immature teenager masquerading as a respectable sixty something.   I admit to a certain boldness, but only in the Corvette.   While there are Old Pilots, and there are Bold Pilots, there are very few Old, Bold Pilots.

If not perfect, damn close

Sitting on the ramp at Rectrix North FBO

Taxiing out for takeoff

It's been a month now since I flew over to Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport to look over this Cessna 172 SP, contemplating a purchase of same - and after a lot of paperwork, she's now all mine.   Well, mostly mine - the bank holds title and about fifty percent of the purchase cost, with me paying down the loan about 1,000 bucks a month.   I've had the opportunity to log perhaps six hours in the plane, while my son has flown it to Key West, Naples, and Ft. Meyers, Florida.  On Monday, she goes into the Sarasota Avionics shop to have some small "squawks" fixed, so we'll both be grounded for up to a week.  That shop is very busy, and they were working on several aircraft when we scheduled a nag/com upgrade, including a great looking O-2, which was
also known as a Cessna Skymaster, in genuine Vietnam era livery.  I've posted a clip art photo of the "push-pull" in-line engined twin, which Cessna sold as a model 337 to civilians.  The Air Force purchased 532 of this aircraft, with deliveries to SE Asia starting in March of 1967.  I got there in May of 1967 and got to ride in one (not assigned but as a broadcast journalist) later that same year.

USAF 0-2 - aka Cessna 337 Super Skymaster

When I was in Thailand, we had several of these planes, used by FAC's (Forward Air Controllers), and from Ubon field, they'd fly east toward Laos and Cambodia and spot North Vietnamese truck (and bicycle) traffic along the Ho Chi Minh trail.

Generally flown by young Lieutenants and Captains, these aircraft were so loaded down with smoke marker rockets and multiple radios they often were forced down by the loss of one of the two engines.  The last USAF O-2 was decommissioned in 2010, having served with distinction in the Vietnam War during the 1960's and 1970's.  It was powered by two 210 horsepower engines, cruised at 144 mph, could sprint up to 199 mph, and had a range of 1,060 miles and a ceiling of 19,300 feet.  As if you could see people from that high up.

If the O-2 is still over at the Avionics hanger, I'll try and get a picture of her to share.  The one I saw last week in Sarasota was an O-2A - complete with four underwing weapons stations.  A lesser number of O-2B's were used for psychological warfare, equipped with loudspeakers and provisions for leaflet drops.  The leaflets read Chu Hoi (surrender), but were used by the eventual winners (North Vietnamese) as toilet paper.
                                                                                                                                                                                                          My 172 is powered by one four cylinder 180 horsepower engine.  It has a 53 gallon fuel capacity and burns 100 octane low lead gasoline.   Oil capacity is 8 quarts, but we tend to fill to the minimum of six.  When we bought the plane, it had a bit over 1,300 hours total time (TT) and between JB and me over the month of December, we've added maybe twenty hours.  When the plane's engine gets to 2,000 hours. we'll have to start thinking about overhauling it, as recommended.  While the basic 172 Skyhawk goes back to the 1950's, the S model started in 1998, following the limited edition (96 & 97 172-R)  The R had 140 horses, my S has 180, and the Cessna 182 (a six person plane) runs 210 HP.

Cessna 172, tail number N817SP

So, far more than you probably ever wanted to know, with a bottom line of I love my plane, my son loves my plane, and someday he will actually be a CFI (certified flight instructor) and can actually teach his old man something.   And he won't get a dime out of me, as he's already done enough damage to the family net worth (per his mother, mind you) to equate this purchase with flushing money down the toilet and out into Sarasota Bay.  There's an old joke about the two happiest days of your life about boats - which also goes for planes.  The day you buy it, and the day you sell it.  I'm still basking in the radiance of that first part.