Got back from Kansas City today. 8043Y is now roosting around the Lancaster area until it finds it's permanent home. I learned a heck of a lot in this trip.
1. Do not rush things on purchasing a plane.
2. Do not rush things on purchasing a plane.
3. Did I mention not to rush things?
I arrived at the airport at around 11:00 a.m., at the exact time the previous owner got there. I looked the plane over, although not really thoroughly, like I should have. We took it up and practiced a little. The gear down indication light took a little time to come on, although the more it got used, the better it was. It always came on, but sometimes it waited until final to light. I put about two hours on it, trying to perfect my landings. Some aircraft really do take a lot of practice to master. I never really got perfect at them, but I got adequate.
Then came the first of many mistakes. Since there was a lot of bad weather moving in, I decided that, in order to have a chance of getting home without flying in IMC, I would have to leave immediately and fly to Indiana. Atr least i made the right choice in not flying IMC. Got all of the paperwork done and left for Bloomington, IN at around 3:00p.m. Well, it was a good 3 hour flight to there, making it a night approach and landing in an unfamiliar aircraft. approaching an unfamiliar airport, with unknown terrain and obstacles. Since I hadn't mastered the speed and approach with this airplane yet, I found myself too high and fast, so I asked the controller If I could do a 360 for altitude and speed control. She said I could just go to the opposite runway, but i stupidly remained fixated to a 360. I never did get the speed under control, and I lost my situational awareness when I lost sight of the airport in a sea of lights. As I came around, I saw the runway and lined up for it, reaching the runway at the right height, but too fast. Just before touching down, the controller says that "you appear to be lined up on 06, cleared to land 06." Damn, wrong runway! Oh well, a little late to change now, I land with way too much energy and bounce around a good bit, but manage to survive the encounter. The controller decides to "remind me that she had cleared me for 35, not 06. Bless her heart, all I could do was apologize for my error.
At least, today, after a reasonable night's sleep, and finally having something to eat, I was able to rise and finish the trip at my leisure in clear VMC.
In retropspect, I should have just come back on Southwest and picked up the plane another time. That would have allowed more time to check out the aircraft and logbooks, negotiate the squawks, verifythat all the finacial aspects are completed properly,and familiarize myself with the plane. The pressure these last two days was enormous. At least I was smart enough to know that IMC in possible icing conditions in an unknown airplane would probably be a recipe for another headline.
By the way, the FBO at BMG is absolutely the tops. They have a very nice apartment they rent out to pilots. The fuel is cheap, as well. The staff is friendly and helpful. All in all, a very nice place to visit.
At any rate, it is definetly Twinkie time. I trued out at around 160 knots on 15-16 gph on the way home. Now if i can just clean and wax it, get the radios the way I want them, put in a new autopilot,.........
But seriously, mine runs pretty much the same 20 LOP or 80 ROP w/o GAMIs.
