My aluminum mistress is back home!

Took a little longer to get here than expected. The SC pilot was supposed to leave Thunder Bay at sunrise (0515), but the 1200 RVR (fog) didn't break until around 0930.  Then GEN2 went off-line shortly after he departed and he returned to Thunder Bay to have it checked out. The problem was a corroded commutator which had nothing to do with the overhaul. A photo with annotation from the SC...

GEN2 is one of the few major pieces of the plane that does not have a required overhaul interval...goes until it stops (except for checking the brushes). After 14 years and 3,520 hrs it stopped. It was a quick fix (I authorized an exchange GEN2 which they had on the shelf) and the pilot was on his way to Austin again promptly. While it would cause Mike Busch as heart attack, I sort of wish GEN2 had a required overhaul interval. 

After a perfect 5.0 hour flight, the SC pilot arrives in Austin KAUS at 1700. A British Airways 787-9 flight from Heathrow lands everyday at around 1630 and totally swamps the small Austin CBP (customs and border patrol) staff. So, he pulls into the ramp at Atlantic Aviation and CBP tells him it will be 30-40 minutes before they can get there. They also say that he must not open any door to the plane until they arrive.  The OAT is 100 F. This is a Canadian pilot. 

We get a GPU hooked up as quickly as possible so he can run the electric air conditioning.  The electric air conditioning helps, but it can't keep the cabin cold in a 100 F Texas afternoon in direct sunlight. Poor guy was in a prison cell. The CBP show up around 1740 and he is released. 

I had spent 2.5 hours in a AATD simulator doing IFR work (six approaches and three holds, all hand flown) on Saturday, but I still wanted to do some take-offs and landings before flying with passengers tomorrow. As I rarely do, I called Austin clearance and asked for three circuits (to a full stop) in the pattern. Fired-up the bird. Holy cow...she was so smooth. It seemed smoother than the commercial jets I had (sadly) been flying in the last few weeks. I guess insisting that they get the prop balance down to .01 IPS made a big difference. Perhaps the freshly overhauled engine and new engine vibration mounts did as well, but I am told that it is most likely the fine prop balance that made the difference. 

Did my three circuits of the pattern (all full-stop...I don't do touch-and-goes) which worked out OK. Could tell I was a little rusty (some firmer than normal arrivals), but plenty safe.

So, that is the end of this story. We are back to normal flying tomorrow with a trip from Austin to Jackson Hole.

My take-away from this process is an PT6 engine overhaul is nothing to scare you. If you go the rental engine route (which I did not), the down-time is minimal.  If you have taken good care of your engine, there should not be huge surprises. Plus, with a good person managing the overhaul, you can learn a great deal in the process.  I thought I knew my engine three months ago, but I know a heck of a lot more now.