260C first (to me) annual

[Andres Darvasi]

Missing bolts.jpg (38.5 KiB) Viewed 361 times

My new (to me) 1969 260C Comanche is in for its first annual under my care at Clifton Aero in Texas. The airplane is really in great shape, it had only 3,000 hrs total time when I bought it, had been completely overhauled 800 hrs ago (13 yrs): factory reman engine, overhauled prop, new wiring, new beautiful paint job, all Ads and SBs complied with and very good log books since new.
I am the fourth owner of the aircraft since new, the seller that I bought it from was beyond careful with the aircraft (he put a white towel on the floor when he showed me the aircraft the first time so I wouldn't dirty the carpet!).
I knew that I had two expensive ADs to comply with, one the 1,000 hrs MLG inspection and the horizontal stab AD, besides, there were a few discrepancies that I wanted fixed because I am anal about having everything working right, and up to spec, among them one of the strut tubes in the MLG had some pitting, so I wanted it changed, change the old ELT for a 406 MHz, take advantage of the stab AD to change the stab trim drum that had a bit of play, change all the engine hoses that were 13 yrs old, install a Lift Reserve Indicator, a new vacuum pump, etc.

There was a surprise though, when the stab was off, Tim Talley asked me if I wanted to have the rudder checked because he had seen cracked spars before, to which I agreed. There was a cracked spar which was changed, BUT there were also FOUR missing bolts, which were left out when they removed the surfaces for painting in 2000, that is THIRTEEN YEARS ago. These bolts were not visible unless a contortionist went looking for them with a mirror and a flashlight.
The bottom line is that you can be as careful as you want, do the best pre buy inspection, and still find hidden surprises caused by some negligent individuals.

[JIMICS2452]

Andres - I am glad the plane is working out for you. I very much enjoyed our short time together, your hospitality and flying with you in that Comanche. It sounds like, besides the planned inspections and the one surprise, that the annual has gone well.

How is the planning for your Caribbean trip coming? Are you going to use your Comanche?

[Andres Darvasi]

Hello Jim, nice to hear from you!
The plane is working out fine, I am getting used to it, and your transition instruction was a determining factor to make me feel confident, I am even making decent landings on a steady basis!
When I took the plane to Clifton, I left Mexico City on Friday, Sept 13, the day that the hurricane hit, and, as the weather reporting in Mexico is pretty much non existent, my wife and I left with light rain and decent visibility, which lasted for about 20 minutes, after that we were in solid IMC with heavy rain, no turbulence, for about 2 hrs until we got to the border, where we had to slalom around the CBs, so, it was quite an experience but also made me appreciate the stability of the aircraft and the instrumentation on board.

Really, even though it has been a very expensive annual, it was more less expected with the MLG inspection and stab horn AD, plus all the other stuff that I wanted done.

The caribbean trip is fully planned, hotel reservation made, my wife and I are going in the Comanche, other friends are going in a Mooney Acclaim, a C182, a C310, and a friend from Guatemala in a Seneca, so its going to be fun, and a variety of cruising speeds! My round trip will be around 28 hrs, excluding local sightseeing flights.