I replaced a set in a 185 in 2006 and when people ask how it went, I said I wouldn't do it for money but would do it to help a friend . I had a set of scaffolds I had used when building my house. Easier than working off a ladder. A bakers scaffold would work for a tall guy like you.

Tim

We’re back!!


We finally got the new Eagle fuel cells installed. It’s unbelievable how little room there is to work in the wing roots, you gotta get the hose clamps in at an angle and try to rotate them into place, it’s tough. Not to mention it was a huge pain getting the rubbers on. Thankfully while we were in there, we were able to get the STC’d drain valve kit from Eagle installed. It’s a lot better than the old corroded drain valves. They need some touch up paint, but I’ll get that taken care of when I paint the door. All good, right?

Unfortunately, the airplane decided to take a huge dump on the last trip I was planning to take this year. I went to test fly and the right mag drops 400 rpm and backfires. Not to mention how bad the engine stumbled passing 1700ish rpm. I got the buzz box on the mags and that checked out, so we moved onto the plugs. Some of the plugs looked a little dirty/wet, but nothing in the fouled territory, so we got them cleaned up and they tested ok. I ran it again today and it seemed to make good power with an in tolerance mag drop but then as I flipped the avionics master on as I get ready to taxi out, my buddy the electrical gremlin decides to show up. Now every time I flip the avionics master on, a horrible horrible screeching noise comes out of what seems to be the radio rack. Not to mention that I’ve now lost my lading light, taxi light and my beacon. My cowling lights are due to a bad molex connector (which will get replaced shortly), but I can’t determine where the issue is originating from with my beacon. I put my fluke on it and the socket is only receiving 5 volts. More shooting of the trouble tomorrow.


Thankfully I didn’t get stuck in the baggage compartment while shooting the trouble today. Since I am 6’7, one could say that I’m at high risk for Winnie the Poohing myself into the back of my airplane. Surprisingly enough, I can’t reach the door handle on the later model Cessna doors through the baggage compartment. I guess I’m too short for some things.




To be continued...

where are things now Ryan? Interested pilots want to know.

gypsywagon wrote:where are things now Ryan? Interested pilots want to know.

I have something very exciting to announce that could quite possibly break the space time continuum.

as it was suggested to me, I haven’t done anything to this airplane other than preventative maintenance. She’s been turn key with almost 100% reliability. I’ve flown over 150 hours in the last year, became a Flight Instructor in the airplane (last week actually), have already given 20 hours of dual. I have to say that my period of ownership has really helped me to pass my Airframe & Powerplant practical tests last month.

This week I’ve had to temporarily rewire the landing/taxi light quick connect in the cowling. The molex connector that was in there was absolutely worthless and was falling apart. It was causing some intermittent issues with my landing light and my taxi light in which this was the solution.



For some reason the taxi light is getting power when the landing light is on. I spent some time troubleshooting it with my avionics buddy and we think the fault is near the switch. AeroLEDs just released their 14v Equinox series and I’ve placed an order for it since I’m going to end up rewiring the entire circuit anyways. This is what I’ve put together and it works well enough that I can go out and fly at night, so I’m happy with it (for now).



Additionally this week, my vacuum pump went out as the whole shear section let go on me. Thankfully I wasn’t stirring up the soup in hard IFR, but I was in the middle of giving some simulated instrument instruction. Thankfully he caught that the suction gauge was at zero and didn’t follow the artificial horizon into the ground. I flew up to Park Rapids to go talk to them about their panels and they sold me a replacement pump which I got installed this morning.


I’m hoping to install my GTN750 and my G5s in the airplane and then using it to get my instrument instructor rating. I’m not super confident about doing the install myself, so I’ll most likely have a shop do that. I’m also trying to acquire a Cessna 310 so I can start building some multi time and additionally get my multi-engine instructor rating along with flying the family around on our frequent 1000nm+ cross countries.

So yeah, that’s where things are right now. I know you guys want to know what’s up with the 185, but I don’t really have an update on that airplane. The whole thing is in limbo and I’m still having a hard time getting an IA to work with me on what we need to do to get the airplane fixed and make it airworthy without hunting all the wild geese in the northern Midwest. However, I am in the process of disassembling the airplane to take up to my new heated hangar that’s up in Anoka. It should make working on it a whole lot better up there.

Fwiw, lots of Cessnas have a diode between the landing and taxi light switches so that the taxi light also turns on with the landing light. Mine does.

Cannon wrote:Fwiw, lots of Cessnas have a diode between the landing and taxi light switches so that the taxi light also turns on with the landing light. Mine does.

So that's what the diode and jumper cable are for. For some reason that was not clicking at all
Strangely enough the taxi light previously would not turn on with the landing light but would turn on when you flipped the taxi light switch. There is all kindsa weirdness going on behind that panel but at least it's working properly now.