PA-28-140 Cherokee advice

Grumman-581 wrote:
On Fri, 25 Aug 2006 13:09:55 -0500, (Jay Masino)
wrote:
Which STC? Petersen's version is now something like $2500, plus
installation, because it requires a bunch of fuel system changes
including dual fuel pumps. At this point, I can still buy a lot of
avgas for that $2500.

Yeah, mine was the Petersen's version and it was nowhere close to that
price... No modifications to the aircraft other than to put a sticker
near the each gas cap on each wing and a metal tag on the engine... It
was something like a buck or so per HP, if I remember correctly...

Did you get the autogas STC before you went to 160hp? Anyway, I
exchanged e-mail with them last year, and all the "high compression"
(ha, ha) PA28s (-160, -180, -161, -181, etc) require the "special" fuel
system mods. I'm actually in an even more uncertain situation,
because of my Powerflow exhaust. Since I don't have the rear mounted
muffler of a typical 140, they were uncertain of how/if the STC would
apply. Apparently, the exhaust heat being close to the fuel system
(near the firewall) was one of the factors that required the high
compression aircraft to need the upgraded fuel system.

--- Jay

--

Jay Masino "Home is where My critters are"
http://www.JayMasino.com
http://www.OceanCityAirport.com
http://www.oc-Adolfos.com

On Sat, 26 Aug 2006 19:01:24 -0500, (Jay Masino)
wrote:
Did you get the autogas STC before you went to 160hp?

Actually, I got it perhaps a month or so before I had the overhaul and
STC to 160 hp, but I bought the STC for the 160 hp engine even though
I used it while at 150 hp also... Technically, I was required to use
the 91 or better octane by what the STC said, but realistically, I
could have used 87 octane up until I had the overhaul...

No modifications whatsoever to my fuel system... I guess the Grummans
are a bit friendlier in that regard as compared to the Pipers...

The STC made quite a bit of difference while I was still with the 150
hp engine since it constantly fouled plugs on 100LL... With the 160 hp
engine, it doesn't seem to foul plugs on 100LL... It still gets a diet
of 100LL periodically whenever I'm flying someplace away from my home
airport, but the STC was definitely worth the price... I have a 55g
drum in my hangar that I have rigged up with a pressurization system
to act as a fuel caddy... When it gets empty, I toss the drum into the
back of my pickup, take it home with me, and fill it back up on the
way back to the airport the next time... I also fill the drum up prior
to any huricanes so that I have plenty of gas on hand in case of power
outages... If we don't lose power, it'll probably go into my autos
over the next couple of weeks... Or maybe I'll mix it with 93 octane
or 100LL to get 91 octane and put it in my plane... I probably need to
pick up a couple more barrels though... The last one I picked up was
while I was up in Cedar Rapids, IA on a contract for Rockwell
Collins... There was a place between my apartment and my hangar that
sold them for $10 each... The first time I filled it up, I more than
paid for the cost of the barrel...

Hehe.. did that.

Was accused of being a Dash 8 at night..

..not a DC 9, but a close enough nice complement on our new lights. :

Dave

On 24 Aug 2006 20:27:50 -0700, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

3. Landing at night with that single GE 4509 shining out front is a
drag. Taxiing at a dark, unfamiliar airport is REALLY a drag.

huh? Landing at night with the single 4509 is just fine. And taxing
at night isn't hard at all.

I guess everything is relative, but I found the landing light on a
Cherokee -- all Cherokees, not just 140s -- to be a joke. It's like
landing with a flashlight -- which really isn't too bad, but...

What IS bad (at our airport, especially, which has 50-year-old
reflectors instead of lights on the taxiways) is taxiing. That little
100 watt bulb out front (with its whopping 25 hour lifespan) is a
single point of failure that just, well, sucks. It doesn't light up
diddly squat, and if you don't know where you're going, a dark airport
is REALLY dark.

The solution is wing landing lights, which I've added to our Cherokee.
Put a couple of Q4509s out there and the taxiways look like broad
daylight -- and you look like a DC-9 on final approach...

:-)

Robert M. Gary wrote:
Christopher C. Stacy wrote:
"drclive" writes:

I recently acquired a share in a Piper PA-28-140 Cherokee. Any of you
with a lot of hours an experience could give me some hints and tips
about this airplane? Thanks in advance.

Don't spin it.

Why?

Because it probably has both a vacuum driven artificial horizon and a
directional gyro, both rather costly instruments. When you spin the
plane you'll cause the gyros to tumble, which is very hard on the
bearings and other moving parts inside these instruments and will
contribute to their premature failure. For each time you watch an AI or
DG tumble around, picture in your mind the sights and sounds of an old
timey cash register going "ka-ching" "ka-ching" with dollar signs and
numbers in the several hundreds showing in the display.