Dome Light LED

November 26, 2012

Also swapped out the overhead dome light for a cool 90 degree LED bulb.  Much brighter than the OEM bulb.

One Step Closer…

November 25, 2012

Got some good work done on the bird today.  (And I finally got to go fly her!)

We got the Rosen visors in today.  If you havent done the install, its really damn easy.  Two holes in each side, rivnut, and your off.  Truth be told, whats really hard is holding myself back from ripping everything out.  In peeling the headliner back I got a good peek at all the fiberglass insulation and the glue underneath.  Ugh… What I really wanted to do is just toss it all, but I have to try to show some restraint so I can fly it for a while.

Also was able to swap the map lights with LED’s.  Basically you pull the torpedo light apart, add the LED bulb, then fab a PVC shroud for the snout.  There is a good post on the International 170 board on this mod.  Works really well and is damn bright.

Also got a chance to add some fire extinguishers to the seats.  These are pretty light and real easy to get to in the cockpit.

Finally I added some “NO PUSH” stickers on the horiz and vert stabs.  Gotta keep those line guys away from reefing on those surfaces…

Perspective is Everything…

November 17, 2012

Finally got a decent look at what I had to deal with as a baseline spending some “quality” time under the panel just soaking it all in trying to make sense of 46 years of lazy, corner cutting wiring.  There has to be a good 40lbs+ or crap under there that can get tossed.

I also got a good look at the interior by pulling out the seats and carpet.  I had to laugh after it was out.  I had a “spec sheet” the old owner handed to me during the pre-buy.  Down near the bottom the had listed, “Interior Refurbished (8 rated.)”   I’m not sure what he was smoking, but the “refurbished” Home Depot carpet sure wasn’t going to cut it.  I didn’t care at all or make a stink as I knew it was going to all end up in the garbage.  All I cared about was a solid unadulterated platform to work with.  So far this is shaping up just fine!

One of the things that I really am interested in is keeping the weight down.  The W&B on this plane is paper only and the last time it was on scales was when it left Cessna.

When I left L.A. we were supposedly 1720lbs.  (my bet is a good 100lbs over that anyway)  I am going to try to get it on the scales for a good pre-op weight, but for now, I am keeping a detailed record of anything that gets removed.  The carpet above came in at 10.3lbs if you can believe it…

Next step will be to get on the squawk list so I can get her back in the air and get to do some flying…