Where has the time gone!?
A little over a year ago, my life changed in a wonderful way, though I didn’t know it at the time.
Beyond confused on how to proceed but determined to keep the 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza now called Sis that I had grown up with, some new friends, and now family, took a chance on Sis and me.
Sis’s tail was moving, which is not a good thing. Because of that, she was not flyable and my local contacts did not know how to proceed. In fact, I was told it would be better to sell Sis, possibly for salvage.
My dad had bought Sis before my parents were married, some of my earliest memories were in and around Sis. Especially memories of my mom, who died when I was little, were strong and tied to the airplane she too was a pilot.
Sis was not going anywhere but I didn’t know how to proceed.
Spending time at a restoration shop in the area, I was getting hands on experience with the inner workings of older airplanes like Sis.
After a conversation with the restorers about our adventures related to Airventure Oshkosh each summer, they learned of Sis’ plight and asked for a video of the tail movement.
After reviewing the video, the restorer asked for the aircraft logbooks and suggested there was a path towards flight.
My heart skipped a happy beat hearing that request and I brought the logs with my next time at the shop.
The restorer, Rosie, her husband and one of their daughters, descended on Sis’s hangar to see for themselves what the tail was doing internally and to devise a course of action.
The restorer had spent decades working on small aircraft as a passion and heavier aircraft as his profession. In the past he had owned two Bonanzas of his own. Even working for a time at the local Beechcraft service center as part of their maintenance and quality assurance team, he understood what was necessary for Sis to fly.
Rosie has been gaining experience towards her maintenance credentials at the restoration shop. As most of her experience had been with fabric aircraft and their structures, the time spent on the Bonanza gave more experience with metal structures.
Examining the aft bulkhead for damage, it was discovered the casting that held the tail on was to blame and needed to be replaced.
Great! There’s a part that can be replaced.
As the airplane is 75 years old, and the part in question was only used on the earliest of Bonanzas, it was uncertain if a part could be located or if it would have to be manufactured.
The holiday season meant finding parts would likely take time.
Removing the Ruddervators, Stabilators and the casting needed to happen regardless of having the part in hand.
Tail surfaces were removed and wrapped in moving blankets for safe keeping and transported to my home in the case of the ruddervators and to the restorers hangar in the case of the stabilators, for additional inspection and repair.
The restorer was looking for items for a project at the restoration shop, a Beech 18 also built in 1947, and included the search for the casting in with his other items and found a new old stock casting that had never been installed on an aircraft.
The restorer continued work on the parts independent of our time together and invited Rosie and I to come to his workshop for work on the stabilator once the casting had arrived.
After ensuring the casting would indeed work, the restorer and I took a closer look at the aft bulkhead where the casting attaches to the structure to confirm the size of bolts needed for attaching.
The restorer and I then attached the casting to the aft bulkhead.
The next workday, the restorer directed Rosie, her husband and me through the Stabilator reattachment process.
The restorer began to inspect other areas of Sis, which led to our next adventure.
The inspection of Sis’ engine became a turning point, the time she had spent sitting had not been kind and she needed engine work too.
Inspection of the cylinders revealed corrosion, but the interior of the engine was in good shape.
The day the restorer’s airplane family along with Rosie and husband came to attach the ruddervators, engine work began with the removal of baffles around the engine and cylinders for overhaul at a reputable engine shop.
Engine work can be the following:
- Top overhaul – remove cylinders and rework. Honing would be the least invasive, depending on the amount of pitting in place would then go to oversizing and chroming to replace the thickness of the cylinder walls.
- Refresh – removing the engine, splitting the case and performing a detailed inspection of the engine internals with the replacement of necessary parts.
- Overhaul – as above, the engine is removed and restored to the manufacturers’ new specifications for all areas.
The restorer turned his attention to the inspection of the baffles removed from the airplane.
Baffles direct airflow through the engine compartment effectively. The placement of baffles pulls air from the top of the engine around the cylinder heads and engine case down through the engine compartment, eventually being pulled out through the cowl flaps adjacent to the exhaust mufflers below the engine.
The baffle and baffle seal work together to direct air through the engine compartment. High pressure above the engine and lower pressure below the engine ensure continuous airflow through the engine compartment.
Ill-fitting or missing baffles will increase cylinder head temperatures and can harm engine health.
All needed attention, some it was just a cleaning while others needed to be rebuilt completely.
Again, due to the age of Sis, baffles were not readily available as kits.
In the case of the side baffles, the restorer used the existing side baffles to make paper templates for entirely new baffles. We suspect the side baffles are original to the airplane, from 1947.
Until the engine was installed back into Sis, the baffles could not be finished as they require customization.
As part of the baffle inspection, the restorer located new seals to replace the existing seals which in some areas were beyond their useful life.
The cylinders returned from the engine shop ready to be installed.
Before beginning the cylinder installation process, we cleaned Sis up inside and out. Dry washing the top and sides with Stoddard solvent used to clean the belly as well as the inside of the engine.
Cylinder attach came next with the restorer and I doing most of the work.
After the cylinders were attached it was push rod tubes and rocker arms turn before finally installing the cylinder covers and leaving the major engine work behind.
The restorer had said installing the rest of the engine compartment would take more time than the engine – it didn’t make an impression at the time but now it makes sense as its been a lot more tweaking on the new baffles in some instances than expected. In other cases, a baffle might not have been on Sis when we removed everything this spring and needed to be replaced.
While working on the baffles, the restorer and one of his airport friends brought the aircraft jack down to begin the remainder of the annual inspection necessary before flight can occur.
Some days the amount of progress made does not feel like nearly enough as we still have things that have to be addressed before flight but looking back, we have made a huge change over this past year. Making small, consistent steps each day will lead to a huge change in time – looking at Sis now is proof of that.
Life truly is what happens while we are making plans. When we were planning out everything last year, I knew it would take time and effort just not the amount.
Through this journey I have learned about Sis more intimately than ever before. We while that has been the vehicle for new horizons, I have learned the most about myself.
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