The restorer called his approach to the next part of Sis’s story a flying restoration. She will be predominantly flyable but projects will happen as our schedule and weather dictate.
As the restorer has become more acquainted with the various systems that make up the 1947 Bonanza I have grown up with and now call Sis, he’s noted areas that can be made better than its current state. Some we will be able to address ourselves, others will take help.
This first one, I was surprised by how easy it was to take care of ourselves.
As the runway length at New Carlisle is shorter than where Sis was at before, the utilization of flaps on a normal basis for takeoff as well as landing would be necessary.
Using flaps allows for steeper and slower speeds during takeoff and landing, both of which are useful landing on a shorter runway.
On Sis, there is no internal designation of how many degrees of flaps are in use. Other airplanes have indicators, either mechanical or electrically actuated on the instrument panel.
When Sis left the factory in 1947, she had lines on the wing indicating how many degrees of flaps were extended. Over time, the indicators were obstructed with a new paint scheme.
I vaguely remember Dad using flaps for departure from shorter runways but the process was not discussed further as we were predominantly flying into places with runways over 3000 feet long, more than long enough for Sis to operate into and out of without concern.
The 1947 Bonanza has 20 degrees of flaps for use but it is not marked inside the airplane. Beechcraft placed an external placard for degrees used on the left flap. As the pilot has to turn their head to look outside, it is less than ideal.
Later Bonanzas and their variants, rolled off the assembly line with flaps up to 30 degrees and indicators included on the instrument panel.
In preparation for Sis’ freedom flight, the restorer and I discussed adding 10 degrees of flaps to the checklist, as recommend in the Pilots Operating Handbook. During the conversation, the restorer mentioned 6 rivets visible with 20 degrees and 3 rivets visible with 10 degrees of flaps in use.
That’s helpful, but it’s kinda hard to count rivets while flying. Is it possible to have a better indicator?
No problem!
The restorer asked me to sit in the left seat of Sis and look out on the wing after we had confirmed 10 degrees of flaps had been extended and verified with a protractor.
I was not sure how long it would take for the process to unfold. The restorer has a plethora of tools at his disposal, the idea of a small task taking only a short amount of time felt like a time suck. If we were able to enjoy a flight today that would be wonderful; if we had to wait for another day as darkness came too soon well, we would have made a dent in our list of improvements for Sis in the meantime which would still be wonderful.
The restorer assured me we would still have enough daylight to get a flight in.
Ok, this is certainly getting used to a new way of life.
Instead, the restorer placed a line indicating 10 degrees near the outboard attach point for the flap. While the pilot still has to turn their head to see the indicator, it is a good verification that partial flaps have been deployed.
The restorer pulled out a protractor and asked me to climb into Sis’ left seat to move the flaps until 3 rivets were visible.
After turning on the battery master, I selected flaps down until he called for them to be stopped.
Ok, that’s good.
The restorer placed a protractor up to the flap and confirmed it was indeed at 10 degrees.
He then placed a piece of tape on the flap and asked if I could see it; nope not there.
Moved the tape further outboard and asked if I could see it there; nope can’t see it there either.
Ok, let’s try another place.
Going yet further outboard with the piece of tape, the restorer asked again if I could see the tape. Finally!!! Yup – I can see that!!!
Yay!!!!
The restorer placed the tape in my field of vision on the flap. He then replaced the piece of tape with a permanent marker to prevent being removed inadvertently.
Once the flap indicator was in place, we needed to test it.
The restorer then pulled out his phone to confirm the weather and looked over at me with a smile; want to go fly?
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