Snowing at the hangar...

It's been a while since I blogged, and work in the hangar is as varied as ever, so here's a bit of an update from me!!

Since my last post, I have spent quite a bit of time working on the Pfieffer Evangelistic Assosc's Piper Aztec. It came in for an annual inspection and there were a fair few jobs that needed to be attended to once the inspection had been done. The jobs I ended up doing were a good example of the variety of work that goes on at MMS.

Applying conductive paint to de-ice boots

Nose wheel halves cleaned and freshly painted.

Over the time I was on this project I made repairs to the de-ice boots on wings and horizontal stabilizer (flexible rubber boots that inflate and deflate on a timer when the weather is icy - the flexing stops ice forming on the leading edge which could make flying hazardous.) I also reapplied the special paint used to bond the boot to the wing, overhauled wheel bearings, repainted the nose wheel, greased the main landing gear, repaired some damaged engine baffling and refitted the many panels that had been removed for the inspection. Once we recieve and instal two new wheel halves this plane will be ready to return to service with Pfieffer Evangelistic Assossciation.

A break from the work on the Aztec came early last week, when an aircraft arrived at the hanger. This plane didn't fly in; it had been involved in an incident on landing and arrived at the hangar on a trailer!

Wingless arrival...

With any prop strike incident the engine has to be completely stripped and checked before it can be returned to service, and although the plane's new owner was keen to do the airframe restoration himself, he has asked that MMS do the engine work. It will give me a valuable training opportunity, and I am sure you will see plenty of pictures of the insides of this engine in the months ahead. Tim, Terry and I set to the engine while the plane's trailer was parked outside the hangar, and after a few hours work the engine and prop were inside, and the road-plane was a few hundred pounds lighter!

Prepping the engine for removal

This week has seen me move to the Cessna 207 from Gabon, West Africa. It is getting some serious work done to it after an engine failure then forced landing. Josh and Paul have been rebuilding the nose gear / engine cowling area for the last few weeks, and this week saw me practicing my limited rivetting skills on the lower engine cowling which was ready to be reinstalled. It is an exciting project to be involved in, having seen how badly damaged this plane was when it arrived and having seen the quality of work MMS have roled out in the past.

The 207 with most of the front gone.

Lower cowl temporarily held in place with "Cleco's"

Rivetted in place.

This week has also seen a few changes in Hangar A. Hangar A is the oldest of the 3 hangars at MMS, and the doors are showing their age... they let cold draughts in all winter, and starlings in for the rest of the year. The end of last year saw a fundraising campaign to have the door and roof of hangar A replaced, and now the work has begun! The first job was removing the old door. Just as well spring arrived earlier this month.

Unfortunately winter decided to come back for a bit this afternoon, so we are praying the new door arrives tomorrow as planned and we don't have to go too long with just the big blue tarp!!!

Winter comes...