Good to hear about the progress!
Buying an Apache
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It has taken quite a while but it looks like the “year long annual” may be coming to an end. We are doing some nice cosmetic fixes while we finish out. The plane is on jacks now and we will do retract tests and service the brakes and pack the bearings. At that point we should be done! The picture is while we were painting the glareshield and and instrument panel. We had to make a new glareshield and so needed to paint it as bare aluminum was going to be a bit too bright on the glare! (Note: I never did hear back from Grover Matthews on the used glareshield so we just made our own. A fairly simple piece.) Since we were in painting mode we decided to freshen up the look and cover most of the tan and brown on the panel. The picture is taken in the middle of painting. We have more done now and only have a little touch up left.
Door going back on Apache. The door has been the most difficult part of our project. I anticipated everything being much faster but this has been our “boat anchor”. So it’s great to have it rebuilt and going back on. We will still need to get everything “tweaked” but the door now latches and has a proper lock as well. Goodbye bungee cord!This has been a tough year for everyone. I bought the Apache late last year. Found out we had more to deal with than we first thought although not much more. Then my father passed away. Then COVID hit. And then I lost my medical due to a dying pancreas. I now have to take medicine before each meal just to digest food. Also, I am now considered diabetic (although technically not Type 1 or 2) so need another Special Waiver from the FAA to add to the one I have to get due to my heart attack in 2018.
So, Here we are at the end of the year and my buddy and I have been “slow walking” the Apache repairs due to financial cutbacks and lack of medical. During this time he bought a Cessna 182 RG that will need some rehab as well but his plane is flying now. So at least we have enjoyed flying his plane. Now it’s almost time for me to start enjoying flying the Apache (hopefully!).
All that to say I hope everyone is ending the year doing as well as possible. Even with all my setbacks I am doing and feeling very well and I’m very optimistic that I will have my Medical back in early 2021 and can start flying both professionally and for fun again.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope everyone can enjoy the holidays!
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