Best time to do inspections in Oregon is near the Summer Solstice. Stationed in the high latitudes daylight is abundant 12+ hours for several months now. Natural light beats artificial lighting in my opinion. It’s officially T-shirt weather.

In contrast to Winter where gales slam the hanger for weeks at a time, temps at night are below freezing occasionally too. And the art and science of preheating the engine consumes hours of effort.

Today is fantastic! Join me as we print paperwork, remove panels and research service information:

I just waiting to win the lottery so I too can someday own a helicopter!

I'm guessing an annual inspection is quite a bit more indepth than the typical single engie bug smasher.

WWhunter wrote:I just waiting to win the lottery so I too can someday own a helicopter!

I'm guessing an annual inspection is quite a bit more indepth than the typical single engie bug smasher.

It’s for the “Well seasoned aviators”!

The aluminum mast fairing (2024T3 Alclad) has quite amount of “preloading “ . The fairing can snap open (during inspections) which could damage the helicopter or hurt someone if removed incorrectly.

Luckily, one of the primary mechanics who assisted Frank Robinson assemble R44 serial #1 circa 1990 (almost 36 years ago at Torrance Airport) is here visiting me this weekend and assisting with various inspections. Great guy to have help with the nuances of the ship.

I learned a little trick today: use clecos (interlaced with the primary machine screws) when removing and or installing the mast fairing.


Copper colored clecos 1/8” :

Revised W/B to be entered in cabin POH and Maintenance Records 2026.05.22:

Cool stuff, I like following along on your annual’s. Thanks for posting.

G44 wrote:Cool stuff, I like following along on your annual’s. Thanks for posting.

You are always welcome aboard! I appreciate your comments, G44.

We really didn’t have too much time to video/photograph the inspections because of time restrictions etc.. Unfortunately, I’m getting a little burned out making pictures in my older years apparently.

However, the 100/annual went very well. (2) mechanics total time about (4) days. A few minor discrepancies were fixed and she’s airworthy. The ship is hovering with about 19” of manifold pressure. Which is definitely good.

There’s a gale forecasted for tomorrow. I might have time to fly in the morning before the brunt of the weather arrives. But, Tuesday should be an epic day CAVU and light cool winds.

Note: the reason the W/B was revised is because we removed fixed ballast (9.25 lbs) in the nose which was no longer needed.

I hosed off any remaining salt and cleaned up a bit before putting the panels on for a test flight: