How Warrior 481 Got Her Groove Back

Conjoined

Warrior 481 was reborn from the unlikely womb of Dansville's World War II era hangar. Jeff from Dansville Aero was kind enough to keep her under a roof while Ray hung the engine (June 26) and completed the annual (July 2).

"Unfortunately, the roof leaks," Jeff lamented. "I don't understand why we were funded to replace the door before the roof."

"I guess that depends on what you want to keep out," I rationalized for him. He responded by making a face.

I visited on July 1 to prepare the Warrior for annual by opening inspection panels, removing the interior, etc. While I was at it, I gave her a much needed sponge bath in the hangar. The filth was abundant and contact of my wet, fleece-wrapped sponge with the airframe immediately blackened the water I was using. I also learned that there is nothing quite like (almost) four months outside to remove all vestiges of wax.

We had a good spa day together on July 1.

Slacker

I use MyFlightBook for my electronic logbook needs. Sure, ForeFlight has a built in logbook function, but I think that MyFlightBook is more powerful in its ability to process and sort data.

MyFlightBook sends a monthly email to users summarizing recent experience. My June summary read more like an admonishment than anything else and contained significant reminders that I have been slacking as an aviator. My 90 day passenger currency lapsed for the first time since I earned my certificate in 2002.

On top of that, the airplane was out of annual as of the end of May and the IFR / transponder certification lapsed in April.

This will not be a matter of simply picking up right where I left off in March. There is work to be done.

First Flight

Ray completed the annual on July 2 and released the aircraft for flight.

"It's smooooooth," he commented by text message after wrapping everything up.

"When I get home, I'll do all the paperwork so that you'll be legal when you take off tonight," Ray explained by phone that afternoon. He can be thoughtful like that. He provided some updates and warned about the momentary stumble that occurs with the SureFly while checking the mags. Having read through SureFly's FAQ, I was already aware of the possibility.

I am always delighted by how helpful members of the aviation community are to each other. I had multiple offers of a ride to Dansville for the pickup. In the end, I made the flight with Ed in his Archer II. It was a great opportunity to admire his airplane's beautiful new interior, which caused me to reflect on how tired Warrior 481's interior has become. One thing at a time, I guess.

Arriving in Dansville after hours, I needed access to the hangar after it was closed up for the night. Fortunately, I already knew Bernie, a Dansville-based pilot who keeps his Skylane in the same hangar. I met Bernie last year when he joined us for a tour of Lycoming. Bernie was happy to spring Warrior 481 from maintenance jail and was already opening the hangar for us when we arrived.

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
02 Jul 2020	N21481	DSV (Dansville, NY) - SDC (Sodus, NY)	1.1	2097.0

After a more exacting preflight than usual, I cranked the engine. It fired almost immediately and positively purred.

At full power, we broke ground and, despite the 90°F heat of the day, climbed at 800 feet/minute at 79 knots indicated. The old engine was not capable of that kind of performance in recent years. Once I had a couple hundred feet of air under the wings, I pushed the nose over into a shallow climb to increase cooling airflow over the engine.

Although this was the engine's first flight, it was not untried. Penn Yan runs their engines in a test cell for ninety minutes before draining the oil and shipping them off to customers. Some of the break-in was likely already completed.

I had two hours worth of fuel on board, what remained of the avgas I carried with me from Sodus to breakfast back in March. Remarkably, it contained no detectable water even after four months of the airplane sitting outside. Out of caution, I resolved to orbit Dansville for about 40 minutes (5 orbits) before completing the overdue return leg of my March 7 breakfast flight.

GPS ground track from ForeFlight showing five laps around Dansville and the flight home.

After four months away from the cockpit, rusty skills were evident in the amount of concentration and work required to maintain heading and altitude. As I worked at it, the effort slowly decreased.

For engine break-in, the object is to run at high power to help the rings scour freshly-honed cylinder walls, but cylinder head temperatures need to be managed. While high temperatures are unavoidable, they should not be punishing. As I orbited, cylinder head temperatures stabilized around 390°F on the front cylinders and 415-425°F on the back cylinders. I maintained 3,000 feet, 2600 RPM, and indicated about 120 knots. Though a higher altitude cruise would be safer from the perspective of an engine catastrophe, flying lower is preferred for break-in to ensure that the air is dense enough for the engine to make high power while receiving adequate cooling.

Ray was right. She was smooth.

The flight home was without incident and as I flared mere inches above the familiar runway at Sodus, the stall warning horn chimed moments before the wheels eased onto the pavement. It was a gratifying 9.5/10 landing after four months without practice.

Yes, the right strut was a little soft. Ray took care of that the next morning.

I topped off the fuel tanks and Ed was kind enough to help me push the airplane back to my hangar, eliminating an unnecessary ground run. With Warrior 481 back under my own roof, I felt a significant amount of the stress I had borne since March finally slip away.

Certifiable

I scheduled the Warrior's IFR certification at Boshart Enterprises for July 1, but had to cancel when the airplane was still in pieces in Dansville that day. Jake was flexible with me and agreed to do the work on Friday, July 3 despite the rest of the shop being closed in observance of Independence Day.

Date	Aircraft	Route of Flight	Time (hrs)	Total (hrs)
03 Jul 2020	N21481	SDC (Sodus, NY) - GVQ (Batavia, NY) - SDC	2.5	2099.5

In the interests of proper engine break-in, I wanted at least an hour at high power before shutting down at the Genesee County Airport and so plotted a scenic route from Sodus to Batavia via Weedsport, Skaneateles, Seneca Falls, Canandaigua, and the Geneseo VOR. It was a great opportunity to dial-in my ability to hold heading and altitude. Along the way, I did the 30 day VOR check off of Geneseo, checking off another lapsed item from my aeronautical to do list.

Actual GPS ground track from Sodus to Batavia as captured by ForeFlight.

On-air congratulations were offered by Don, Alan, and Lee when they heard my callsign over the radio. I felt as though I had not only reunited with my airplane, but with the broader aviation community.

In Batavia, Jake connected Warrior 481's pitot-static system to the test stand and artificially brought her up to 16,000 feet and back down. Everything performed flawlessly, but the ancient altitude encoder supporting my Mode C transponder output was slow to warm up. Jake explained that my G5 is now an approved altitude encoder source, so we resolved to make that change on my next visit and eliminate the old 1970s encoder hidden under the panel.

Darrell was visiting from Florida, so we held an impromptu ex-Le Roy Pilot's Association meeting there at Boshart Enterprises. It was good to see him again. As he laid hands on Warrior 481, he explained how much the Warrior sitting outside in Dansville had stressed him out.

Happy pilot. Photo by Darrell.

3.6 hours SMOH

With the first few flight hours complete and the paperwork done, Warrior 481 is mostly back in service. I'll need to complete Penn Yan's break-in regimen, which recommends avoiding punishing power changes in flight for the first 30 hours. This means that I will not be regaining my instrument currency anytime soon unless I fly a different airplane.

Acknowledgement

This adventure has not been my cross to bear exclusively. I am grateful to many in the aviation community for their help since March 7.

• Brad R for rescuing my passengers Derek and Dan from Dansville on March 7 when the failure occurred.
• Denny A for rescuing me from Dansville on the day of the incident.
• Lee S and Alan V for checking on Warrior 481 periodically in Dansville and cleaning nesting materials out of the cowling.
• Ed C, Paula S, and Tom C for taking me flying when I was unable to fly myself.
• Bernie Q for helping with the hangar in Dansville
• Darrell K and Mark B for useful discussions about the SureFly.
• Jake from Boshart Enterprises for being flexible with scheduling the IFR cert.
• Jeff from Dansville Aero for providing Ray a clean, dry place to work out of the weather.
• Most of all, thanks to Ray C, Mike S, and Jack F for multiple trips to Dansville to diagnose, dismantle, and eventually resurrect Warrior 481.

One of the best parts about being a pilot is being a part of the pilot community and I am grateful to everyone for their support.

Post Script: February 2022

After two years of  global pandemic, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions have upended many aspects of life, including the aviation industry. Lead times on engine overhauls have stretched into multiple months, new Lycoming cylinders are extraordinarily difficult to obtain, and overhaul shops are littered with partially assembled powerplants in need of components. Rumors of poor quality control at stalwarts like Lycoming -- that I might speculate to result from the unholy combination of labor shortage and high demand -- are being described by industry experts like Mike Busch. Avionics installs are also impacted with a shortage of integrated circuits placing delays on new avionics as well. An airplane belonging to a friend of mine has been sitting in an avionics facility for months with its instrument panel gutted and the technicians unable to obtain the latest magic boxes from Garmin.

I was angry when a defective magneto needlessly shortened the life of my engine, both forcing the overhaul and ending my goal of running past TBO. As of February of 2022, I have put 300 hours on the new engine and, had the failure not occurred, I might be contemplating an overhaul right around now depending on engine condition. While I was furious about pulling the overhaul trigger in 2020, perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. Now is clearly not the time.