My New To Me Aztec

Kuma

Kuma

Filing Flight Plan
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Sep 17, 2019
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Kuma
It’s perhaps fitting to my bank account that Piper named this bird after a tribe of Mesoamericans who practiced human sacrifice, but here is my new bird. I got her for a good deal, and the airframe is a cherry. Needs a couple minor things like ads-b and a few maint items. Thanks to those of you who gave me some items to look for on the prebuy; I was able to give the list to the shop and they followed it to a t, yielding some important items that needed attention. Will post updates soon, closing Halloween.

edit: Pics are here now. The annual was underway in the first one obviously. It is back together in the later ones. The great A&P's found a few issues that I was able to leverage a bit, a fuel cell needing replaced, Janitrol heater inop, some leaky hydraulic hoses, and some missing screws in a few places. Other than that she passed the prebuy with flying colors. Has a Garmin 430W which should be fine for now, hoping to upgrade to one of the newer Garmins soon (that might also be my ADS-B Solution, or I might stick with the Alabeo ESG Stratus I have used previously).
 

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Kuma said:
It’s perhaps fitting to my bank account that Piper named this bird after a tribe of Mesoamericans who practiced human sacrifice, but here is my new bird. I got her for a good deal, and the airframe is a cherry. Needs a couple minor things like ads-b and a few maint items. Thanks to those of you who gave me some items to look for on the prebuy; I was able to give the list to the shop and they followed it to a t, yielding some important items that needed attention. Will post updates soon, closing Halloween.

edit: just realized I need 5 posts to add links. Will post pics later tonight.
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Congrats!!!!! Tell us more. Year key options, where you’re based and who you’ll give rides to for us wanna be’s


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
This is the 4th post I make, which moves me closer to being able to post pictures.
 
Kuma said:
This is the 4th post I make, which moves me closer to being able to post pictures.
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Hey, this is the 5th, so now we should be all set, brother!
 
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GRG55 said:
Congrats! :thumbsup:
Always nice to have another twin piston victim, ahhh, Owner on the forum.
Double bonus for the few of us here carrying the burden of being Aztec owners. ;)




'73 turbo-E from his last thread.

https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/com...d-from-any-aztec-drivers.121886/#post-2808719
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GRG 55, I wanted to thank you publicly for the list of maintenance items you posted previously. I have to confess I copied and pasted it directly from the forum to a word document, and then sent it to the A&P doing the prebuy, "this is from a friend who knows his way around Aztecs, and I want you to check each of these items thoroughly in addition to what you would normally do on a prebuy." I think you might've saved me a couple thousand with your post.

Now, they did find the following after looking at the structural tubes per your suggestion:

26. Under floor welded tabs show some corrosion

27. Main structural tubes look good

How worried about those under floor welded tabs should I be?
 
Kuma said:
See original post in thread, pics (should) now be there.
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Nice looking Aztec! De-ice, built in O2, 430W, good looking interior, its nicely equipped. :thumbsup:
You can do a lot of serious flying just the way it is. And that is what I would do before you do anything else to it, other than the ADS-B.

Duma said:
...Now, they did find the following after looking at the structural tubes per your suggestion:

26. Under floor welded tabs show some corrosion

27. Main structural tubes look good

How worried about those under floor welded tabs should I be?
Click to expand...

Great to hear you had a good inspection and it passed.

In addition to my '79 'F', I have the remains of a '76 gear-up I use for parts. They both have some surface rust, especially on the tab welds where the protective coating has come off over the years. I'd expect they all show that at this age. During one annual I touched mine up with a brush with some paint my mechanic gave me. But he was clear there was no structural issue and I was merely fussing over cosmetics. As long as you are not seeing the material flaking off (the steel itself, not the coating), and the tubes are sound I would not think your mechanic will see it as a problem.

I also replaced all the thin felt strips on the top of the tubes the floor panels contact. Some had gone missing over many annuals, and that can compromise the protective coating on the top of the tubes.
 
Good luck and nice looking Aztec. This is how a new owner should post...... loaded with pics.
 
GRG55 said:
Nice looking Aztec! De-ice, built in O2, 430W, good looking interior, its nicely equipped. :thumbsup:
You can do a lot of serious flying just the way it is. And that is what I would do before you do anything else to it, other than the ADS-B.
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yes - very nice plane. You may want to consider the Lynx transponder for ADSB. You will replace a very old transponder with a new ADSB in/out unit that has a separate display for traffic and weather. I really like ours. It keeps the clutter down on the small gps screens.

On a separate note- what do you think about getting a multi engine rating in an Aztec? There is a flight school near me doing initial multi ratings in one. I wondered if it is a good option for 0 time multi students.
 
Jim_CAK said:
You may want to consider the Lynx transponder for ADSB. You will replace a very old transponder with a new ADSB in/out unit that has a separate display for traffic and weather. I really like ours. It keeps the clutter down on the small gps screens.
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I really liked my NGT-9000 too until the touch screen decided to stop working 8 months after being installed on an IFR flight in my previous Bonanza (it was a new unit). No way to change transponder codes once that happened and recycling the power didn't help. I went with the Stratus ESG in the Travel Air after that debacle and no issues so far in 9 plus months and 120 hours of flight time.

Could it happen to any transponder with a touch screen, sure. Lnyx (L3) customer service was very supportive and changed out the unit under warranty, but what happens once it's out of warranty? I'd expect better for the amount of money it costs. The Stratus was much cheaper to install. The WiFi module in the Lynx was another sore spot as it didn't like playing with my iPad Mini for some reason and it would drop the connection like a hot potato at really bad times...I've heard others have had this same issue with no resolution. :dunno:

Hope you have much better luck with yours than I did with mine.

Cheers,
Brian
 
Congrats on the Aztec purchase. I had been looking at that one for awhile, but decided the turbo's weren't needed since I hate flying with O2 unless it's really, really necessary. Best of luck and you'll love flying with two engines purring out there (at least I do...:happydance:)....that usually wears off once I pull up to the gas pumps though...:rofl:

Brian
 
Pretty bird.
I randomly clicked on a pic and I was looking at the turbo intake - instantly all I could hear was the sucking sound of fuel to mix with all that air Gave me the chills. :)
I have a few hundred in aztrucks, good old planes. Hauled some auto parts at night. What I found was if you could wedge the door shut, it would lift it.
Enjoy.
 
My favorite Aztec!!The first Nomad, Made by Clayton Scott for Jack Murdock.

bnaTDu.jpg
 
Jim_CAK said:
yes - very nice plane. You may want to consider the Lynx transponder for ADSB. You will replace a very old transponder with a new ADSB in/out unit that has a separate display for traffic and weather. I really like ours. It keeps the clutter down on the small gps screens.

On a separate note- what do you think about getting a multi engine rating in an Aztec? There is a flight school near me doing initial multi ratings in one. I wondered if it is a good option for 0 time multi students.
Click to expand...

I did my multi in the Aztec after I bought it. Great airplane to learn in (it can actually climb on one engine!), although not the lowest operating cost trainer you might find.

Having said that I would do some additional type specific training in most other twins (Baron, Twinkie, 310, whatever) before flying them solo.
 
Dr. O said:
Pretty bird.
I randomly clicked on a pic and I was looking at the turbo intake - instantly all I could hear was the sucking sound of fuel to mix with all that air Gave me the chills. :)
I have a few hundred in aztrucks, good old planes. Hauled some auto parts at night. What I found was if you could wedge the door shut, it would lift it.
Enjoy.
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Might as well burn it before the global climate emergency crowd shuts down the oil industry. ;)

When I was an expat living in the Middle East the Chairman of my company owned a G550. His chief pilot was Swiss. One night we got chatting and he told me about time building flying freight in turbo-Aztecs from Italy to France, over the Alps at night. The company gradually retired the 'truks, replacing them with first generation Caravans. He told me despite the fact they were turbines, he was never as comfortable flying them over that terrain in the dark as he was in the Pipers.
 
flight2000 said:
Congrats on the Aztec purchase. I had been looking at that one for awhile, but decided the turbo's weren't needed since I hate flying with O2 unless it's really, really necessary. Best of luck and you'll love flying with two engines purring out there (at least I do...:happydance:)....that usually wears off once I pull up to the gas pumps though...:rofl:

Brian
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Were you the folks who had it in pre-buy prior to me? Or did you not make it that far? The seller told me the previous person backed out after the pre-buy because of the very issue you just mentioned. I really like turbos, have since one of the first cars I owned (an old Saab 900T) and when I saw those giant nautilus shells I couldn't resist.:D I doubt I'll ever use the 30,000 plus service ceiling though.
 
That's a pretty plane right there. Congrats on the purchase.
 
Very nice. Enjoy!

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
Kuma said:
Were you the folks who had it in pre-buy prior to me?
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No, just had it on my short list of candidates when I was moving from our Bonanza to a twin. I had access to an Aztec in the D.C. area and liked everything about it so I added it when I was doing my "shopping." Got lucky when my current Travel Air basically fell into my lap when the previous mover accepted a job in England and didn't want to pickle it for 3-5 years. That Aztec would have been serious overkill for me, but it was nice. :)

Brian
 
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