Aviation

In the last video, I was about to get into the plane and take if for another initial break-in flight. I had my parachute and leg fire extinguishers all ready to go.

Ok, technically speaking, this video was "filmed" before that one was released, but here is how that flight went.

In this video I go over the engine data from my incident flight, talk about how adjusting the mixture affected the engine (it really didn't).

Talk about what the engine shop found with the engine.

Talk about what's next.

Since the airplane is still down without an engine, I wanted to talk about why I chose the Cessna 210, how big I am, my training experience, and other aircraft I considered before purchasing the Cessna 210. The Cessna 210 was not my first choice. Hint, I'm a big dude!

Since we're waiting on information about the engine, I've decided to begin preparing the aircraft for annual inspection.

I open up some of the panels, remove the seats and carpeting and discuss weight and balance issues. Come along as I discover my airplane.

I want to take a quick break from all of the maintenance issues and do some flying.

Since there is no engine in my airplane, and it has been 5 months since I've flown any approaches so my currency is about to lapse, come along with me as I refamiliarize myself with the six-pack in the 172 as Madisun helps me stay current, and we get some actual.

In this video, we flew the RNAV GPS 12 approach into Merced Regional (KMCE) with a published missed and hold. Later we flew the Localizer 28 Right into Modesto (KMOD) and the RNAV GPS 12 back into Tracy.

The engine has been removed from the airplane and taken to the shop.

In this short video, I talk about moving my annual inspection up since it is winter time where it is foggy in the central valley.

I'm also asking your opinion on my interior and carpet.

Should I clean and reattach the carpet, replace with a prefab kit, or go for a new interior?

Right now, the engine has been dropped off and we're waiting to find out about what went wrong this engine and when the replacement will be ready.

In this video, I discuss my previous maintenance issues, how I came to be where I am with this aircraft, and with the engine troubles I've been experiencing. Why I was rushing through some things and some frame by frame analysis of my previous video. Why straight ahead would have been a disaster.

This all is to help me learn as much as it is to help everyone else. I want to thank everyone who commented on my last video.

I was setting out to fly the first hour after the engine had been field overhauled/IRAN work performed. New cam shaft, lifters, bearings, connecting rod bolts, rings, and honed cylinders. Fresh zero-time propeller and prop governor.

We had started the engine 3 times and made sure everything was in great shape before this 4th time.

I performed a runup and everything was looking good, so I took off to break-in the engine. It ended up breaking instead.

First, I want to thank everyone for the kind words and praise, but more importantly, I also want to thank everyone for the constructive critical feedback. I will admit that there are some items that I was complacent in. And a lesson learned for the next flight is to create myself a special checklist for the maiden flight of the next engine, as well as many more lessons learned.

A bit of background. I am a sub-500 hour commercial pilot. I purchased the airplane in August 2020, and have 158 hours before it went down for this maintenance.

To be perfectly honest, I was in a hurry, for a couple of reasons. I had read many articles, for instance the savvy aviation article on AOPA's website at https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2019/january/pilot/savvy-m… ::

It’s very important to run the engine hard right from the outset. Keep ground running to a minimum, avoid a protracted preflight runup, and don’t cycle the propeller more than once (and as shallowly as possible). The reason for all this is that running a freshly honed cylinder at low power for any significant length of time can cause a condition known as glazing, in which a tough residue of carbonized oil builds up on the cylinder walls and stops the break-in process dead in its tracks. Once the cylinder has become glazed, it’s no longer oil-wettable, and the only solution may be to remove and re-hone the cylinder and start the break-in process all over again.

Or ECI: Page 12, step 16: https://www.jjairparts.com/images/uploads/files/Engine%20Break%20in%20I…

Or RAMAircraft.com: "Keep initial ground run to a minimum, only long enough to verify no fuel or oil leaks prior to the break-in flight. "

Another reason I was in a hurry, I was setting out at 4:20 PM PST, with sunset at 4:49, so I wanted to be in the air with daylight for the exact reason that became apparent in this video. Some get-there-itis. Get where? In the Air. Why? Because the shop would be closed for the next 4 days and I wanted to spend the weekend working on the break-in process.

There are a lot of questions about what would I do differently, use of checklists, procedures, the should harness, etc.

First thing I would change. Don't be in such a hurry.

A lot of the ground operations I'm performing while taxiing are me running through the runup and before takeoff checklists. This is not normal for me, I was rushing

At 3:16 I am performing a "Lights, Camera, with action to go" checklist as I turn on NAV and Strobe Lights for instance by pulling back the yoke so I can see what switches I'm flipping.

So you might be saying, how did you miss the should harness if you use checklists? Well, my only excuse is that I already performed that checklist when I taxied from the north side of the hangar to the fuel island just a few minutes prior. The "Before Starting Engine" is one I need to make sure I pick up from this point rather than the "Starting Engine" checklist.

As for what would I do differently in the air under these EXACT circumstances, I can't say that I would do anything differently, change the wrong thing I'm a smoking hole in the ground. I hope I never have to find out.

My Airplane is still down for maintenance again.

I've had a couple of lessons towards my CFI rating, so I decided to rent a plane and fly it from the right seat, solo.

Initially, I was planning to just fly around and perform a few "Stop and Goes" at Palo Alto (PAO), but because the Bay Area and coastal range were under a marine layer, I decided to request a pop-up IFR clearance into Monterey (MRY) instead.