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![]() Literally! The in-laws live out in Chandler, AZ. Each summer they escape the heat by taking their 5th wheel and heading to cooler parts. We'll normally fly the kids out to wherever they happen to be so they can spend a few weeks with Grandma and Grandpa. A few weeks later we fly out to wherever they've wandered to and bring the kids home to get ready for the new school year. Unfortunately, this year just as we were close to flying the kids out, their Great Grandma fractured her pelvis. So the in-laws pulled up camp and headed off to assist Great Grandma in Sacramento, and we adjusted our plans to fly the kids their as well. As these trips go, this was a short/routine one. We'd been to Sacramento many times and knew exactly which airport and FBO we'd use. The plan was to fly up Saturday and spend the night, then fly home late Sunday -- leaving the kids with the grandparents to tend to Great Grandma. I'd been intending to get the oxygen bottle in the Lance (PA32RT-300T) filled up for a while. Most of our flights don't require oxygen, so typically it isn't even in the plane since it takes up most of the forward baggage compartment. This is a big scuba tank sized Aerox bottle. We don't have any O2 service in Fallbrook (L18), so flying to a high end jet center seemed like an opportune time to have it filled. When we arrived in Sacramento (I'll refrain from mentioning the specific airport and FBO since the story has yet to fully unfold...), I checked in at the FBO desk while the family unloaded the Lance. The eye candy at the desk was obviously not hired for her aeronautical expertise, but she seemed to take copious notes as I explained that the O2 bottle was "in the forward baggage compartment which is unlocked. That is between the engine and the cabin. The cabin is locked". She assured me that they'd get the bottle filled before we departed late Sunday afternoon. The next day we pull up at the FBO close to 5PM. They open the gate so Grandpa can drive the family and our bags out to the plane while I settle up the bill. At the desk yet another piece of eye candy is on duty and informs me -- don't laugh -- that I'm "too big to service". Well, at least that is what the note on her computer says. So this jet center that handles 737's and G-IVs can't fill my Aerox bottle. Right. So I settle up and head out to the ramp, knowing I don't need the O2 now and I can get it filled at some other convenient stop. When I get to the Lance, most of the gear is out of Grandpa's truck and my wife has opened the rear passenger door to start loading. I open the rear baggage door and much to my surprise find the 18"x18" access panel from the baggage area into the tail cone of the plane is laying on the baggage area floor! Hmm. The plane had been locked, and my wife did unlock the rear passenger door before I got there, but she said it was in fact locked. Can't imagine how it popped off all on its own. I inspect what I can in the tail of the plane. All appears normal, so I put the access panel back in place and finish loading. Now I climb on the wing to put my flight gear up front, but I discover the key won't turn the lock on the overwing door. Also the thumb latch on the top of the door is in the unlocked position -- I never leave it that way. At this point my wife mentions that the rear passenger door upper latch was similarly in the open position when they got to the plane while the lower latch was properly locked. Hmmm. I try pulling gently on the lower door latch as I turn the key hoping it will let the lock rotate, but instead the door pops open -- with the lock still jammed. Now it starts to make sense. Whoever the FBO sent out to service my O2 bottle didn't get the message that it was in the forward unlocked baggage compartment. They forced the cockpit door open, jamming the lock. They didn't find the typical small O2 bottle near the pilot seat, and crawled through to the back (the Lance has 3 rows of seats) to open the rear door from the inside (hence the rear lock was still working properly). Not finding the O2 bottle in the cabin, they opened the rear access panel thinking it must be hiding in the tail cone. Not sure what their logic was in not putting the panel back in place. After my blood stopped boiling, I went back to the FBO and explained what had apparently happened. They were attentive and sent a line person out to talk to me. They took some notes, indicated that they couldn't tell right now when the O2 service was attempted or who had done it. But they'd have the operations manager call me on Monday. I believe I did a more thorough that normal preflight at this point. That rear access panel having been opened by someone who didn't know what they were doing really had me concerened, but everything other than the lock seemed to check out fine. So a bit later than planned, my wife and I hugged the kids and grandparents, and then we flew off -- and into a new adventure. About 15 or 20 minutes after departing I went to level off at 11500ft, only to find my trim control was free-wheeling and having no effect. With cruise power, it took most of my strength to push forward on the controls to maintain level flight. I powered back and diverted to Calaveras (KCPU). Even at low power, up-trim was still a challenge to overcome. By the time we got on the ground my arms definitely needed a rest. Considering the dramatic up-trim and inability to adjust trim, I was rather pleased with the landing. Once on the ground, we unloaded the bags from the aft compartment and popped the inspection panel off. Now the cables for the elevator trim were quite obviously laying limp in the tail of the airplane. Looking at the trim wheel, it was clear that the trim cable had unspooled from the wheel. Hmm. Could it be that the bozo who climbed through the plane to open the rear door managed to step on the trim control wheel between the front seats and bend it out of position to the point that the cable would unspool? Although visually it didn't look obviously damaged, the clues were adding up. I had moved the trim wheel a small amount before takeoff, but my bet was the stress in flight with airflow on the elevator combined with someone having stepped on the wheel was enough to let the cable unspool. We called the FBO to inform them of this more serious additional problem. I don't think the gal at the desk even comprehended what I was telling her, but she did take accurate notes of what I was telling her. Carefully inspecting the condition of the cables in the tail, and looking at how they were running under the floor, I concluded that they wouldn't cause any other problems than what this (such as jamming other control cables). One of the benefits of owner assisted annuals is getting to know how your plane is rigged. In the never ending argument of which is better, Piper or Cessna, one of the minor advantages claimed by Cessna lovers is that handy little gust lock that drops into the control column. How quaint, says I the Piper lover. Real men use bungee cords! Or at least I do to avoid cracking the yoke as many have in the past by repeatedly using the seat belts as gust locks. Since I had the bungees to use as gust locks, I decided I could use them to help get myself home. I estimated that my arms might give out after 20 or 30 minutes fighting the full up trim with no help (my wife is petite and wouldn't have had the strength to help much). So we moved all of the cargo as far forward as possible to help shift the CG forward. We also topped off the fuel, just in case. Then we departed for L18. After we got to altitude, I rigged the bungees to pull forward on the yoke by connecting one end to the rudder pedal. I still had to apply forward pressure, but it reduced the load enough for me to make the 2+ hour flight home. Coincidentally, the smoke from the Zaca fire in Santa Barbara presented a substantial barrier from SB over to China Lake. I could see the smoke dipping into the Lake Isabella valley on the bottom, and the top of the plume was in the 11000-13000 foot range. We did pick our way around the top of the smoke, but it would have been nice if I'd had O2 and could have just climbed well over it. Kind of ironic that we were supposed to have O2 for this flight! We were over Palmdale just as the sun was setting -- quite spectacular looking back through the smoke. For a Lance, L18 is a fairly small strip. So much so, that it was difficult to find insurance when we bought the Lance. Most underwriters wanted the home base to have a longer runway. I'd never tried landing there with the elevator trim stuck on pretty much full up -- at night to boot. We un-bungeed the controls over Temecula and made a really un-eventful landing at Fallbrook. Not something I would have tried were it not for my experience in the plane and familiarity with this airport. It took 2 days for my triceps to stop aching, even with the bungee assist. Our mechanic had the door lock and elevator trim fixed by the following weekend, and he concurred that someone had stepped on the trim wheel. It looks like the FBO will cover the 8+ hours of A&P labor to fix the lock and trim, though I haven't seen a check from them yet. That is why I'm not ready to identify the field or FBO at the moment. But at least I did get to say, "I just flew home and boy are my arms tired!" I'll post another amusing story about our trip last weekend to Phoenix (P19 -- Stellar Air Park in Chandler) to retrieve the kids from the grandparents. That one will be titled with an exclamation from my daughter as we arrived at Stellar, "Daddy! What did you do?!!!" Steve '78 Turbo Lance II, N3000A |
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