What to look for - bringing an aircraft back to life

I'd be more concerned with looking for nests and other damage by
rodents, insects, birds, etc., since I once saw a plane that sat in a
hangar unflown for a couple years whose ailerons' movement were
severely restricted due to mud dauber (mud wasps) nests build inside
the wings on the control bellcranks. There were also rodent nests and
chewed wires in the aircraft.


It was in a hangar most of those two years, and I have gone out an checked
the plane during the time it's been on the ramp. I was mindful of this
because my C152 was nested by some wasps over a weeks time last summer.

Being a retract twin, I'd also have it put up on jackstands and make
sure all the landing gear mechanicals and electricals are in perfect
condition. I'd want to see the gear flawlessly perform a couple dozen
cycles while the aircraft sits on the jacks just to make my wallet
feel better before flying the plane.

When I get it annualed, the mechanics will hook it up to an external
hydraulic pump and we'll cycle them a number of times for both gear and
flaps. I was actually wondering how this was done without running the
engines, as you can do it with the hand pump, but figured it wouldn't be the
same. Mechanics called the external pump a mule? or some such animal, cannot
remember now. I guess it's a pretty standard thing to do when the gear is
hydraulic. The other thing I need to do some research on is the STC for dual
hydraulic pumps, as the Aztec only has one on one engine by default truly
giving it a critical engine.

--
Louis L. Perley III
N46000 - C152
N370 - PA-23-250