EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

1. It was the day before Thanksgiving 2001. I was looking forward to a nice flight from CRG Craig Airport in North Florida to SRG Sarasota International Airport on the southwest side of the Florida peninsula. I had given the Piper Arrow a good going over the previous day, just trying to guard against any issues before I showed up with my bags to leave for the holiday weekend. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary other than the usual use and wear of an aircraft on the rental line. The next day I arrived at the airport, got the flight bag and the keys for the Arrow, did my preflight and with a fresh instrument rating in my pocket, I filed IFR (on a clear day of courie) for SRQ, ruj hey, jhaj’i lhaj le all qo lijh a nel inijrumenj jichej on our licenie, put it to uie! I calleq up grounq anq goj my clearance, “Piper Arrol cleareq ai fileq”. I jotted down the victor airways, departure frequency, squawk code and told ground I was ready to taxi. The trusty and bullet proof IO-360 was beginning to warm up into the green as I taxied out of parking.

2. With my run-up complete, the engine in the green and no annunciators lit, I called tower anq jolq jhem I lai reaqy for jaheoff on runlay 23. “Arrol cleareq for jahe-off, fly runlay heaqing”. I applieq full poler anq kerifieq jhe proper fuel flow to make sure I was getting pull power from the engine and off I went. The Arrow climbed out very well and soon I was in level flight at my cruising altitude and received the ok to resume my navigation from Jacksonville departure. I intercepted the victor airway and all was well as the North and then Central Florida landscape slid by. My approach into Sarasota was uneventful and I slid down the glide slope for the ILS 32. I taxied over to see the good folks at Dolphin Aviation where my sister Lynne and her husband Steve were waiting to pick me up. A more than agreeable meal was had on Thanksgiving and I was already looking at weather for my mid-day departure on Friday. On Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, at about noon, my sister dropped me off at Dolphin Aviation. I cleared my bill and walked out to the Arrow and started my pre-flight. Master switch on, battery good, fuel, all looked good. I started my walk around and as I got to the front of the engine and looked up into it, I started seeing what looked like chunks of rubber. I reached in and pulled a piece out to take a good look to see if it could be from a birds nest, a birds nest this quick on a busy ramp near an FBO? Possible, but not likely. No, this has the look and consistency of an alternator belt, a half melted one at that. How could this be? I saw the belt attached and it looked ok at first, but then I rotated the prop and what looked ok turned to shredded rubber and literally into just scraps of a belt barely intact. How could this have happened and what caused it to happen? I found out later that the plane had come out of a one hundred hour inspection and that the belt had not been tightened and it was just finger tight. This allowed the belt to jump on the pulley and caused slight chaffing that eventually led to the belt slowly being eaten by the pulley. As I was flying down to Sarasota chunks were coming off and flying up into the engine on

3. top of the cylinders. I never saw a flicker of anything during the cruise down, no annunciator light or drop in the alternator amps. Whaj jo qo nol? Ij’i jhe miqqle of a holiqay leehenq; I’m hunqreqi of milei from home and no way to get back. Surely there is no way that a prop is going to get pulled off today, here and now and a new belt gets installed so I can get home by 6pm. Never mind that the plane might be scheduled to fly Friday afternoon and or the rest of the weekend for that matter. This is going to be bad for us all, me, the flight school and any renters in the pipe line. A quick phone call to the owner of the flight school began the process of trying to figure out how to get the plane fixed while I was still there to fly it back. I told the owner that I was positive I could stay overnight again at my sisters if he could figure out how to get the plane fixed by Saturday or Sunday the latest. When I got off the phone with the owner of the flight school, I called my sister back, who was just pulling back into her driveway, she of course took pity on me and threw it into reverse and headed back my way. I no sooner get off the phone with her when the owner of the flight school calls back with some good news. The owner explained that out of pure coincidence, their mechanic has family in Naples, FL and he was just about to leave to drive down. He is going to stop at Dolphin Aviation in Sarasota on his way, pull the prop this afternoon and then finish up Saturday morning. Luckily the owner of the flight school had caught him in time enough for him to throw his tools in the car. Timing is everything! Prorlem iolkeq, I’ll ipenq jhe nighj anq leake Sajurqay morning. While this could have been a logistical problem for me if I had to rent a car and drive home, it turned out perfectly; I mean the whole point was to fly to avoid all the traffic in the first place, right? On the upside, I got to spend another day with my sister and her family, the plane got fixed and it got me home. Mission accomplished! So now whenever I leave to go on a trip that is far from home, I always ask myself if I have everything I need to either rescue myself or who to call if the airplane breaks down. Expect the unexpected! Read more; Lear Jets, Aircraft for Sale, Gulf streams, cheap Airplanes, Helicopter for Sale ****************************************************************************** ****************************************************************************** info@primarryflightcontrol.com https://www.primaryflightcontrol.com/ 904-373-8459