It
was the day before Thanksgiving 2001. I was looking forward to a nice flight
from CRG Craig Airport in North Florida to SRG Sarasota International Airport
on the southwest side of the Florida peninsula. I had given the Piper Arrow a
good going over the previous day, just trying to guard against any issues
before I showed up with my bags to leave for the holiday weekend. Nothing
seemed out of the ordinary other than the usual use and wear of an aircraft on
the rental line.
The
next day I arrived at the airport, got the flight bag and the keys for the
Arrow, did my preflight and with a fresh instrument rating in my pocket, I
filed IFR (on a clear day of course) for SRQ, but hey, that’s what we all do
with a new instrument ticket on our license, put it to use! I called up ground
and got my clearance, “Piper Arrow cleared as filed”. I jotted down the victor
airways, departure frequency, squawk code and told ground I was ready to taxi.
The trusty and bullet proof IO-360 was beginning to warm up into the green as I
taxied out of parking.
With
my run-up complete, the engine in the green and no annunciators lit, I called
tower and told them I was ready for takeoff on runway 23. “Arrow cleared for
take-off, fly runway heading”. I applied full power and verified the proper
fuel flow to make sure I was getting pull power from the engine and off I went.
The Arrow climbed out very well and soon I was in level flight at my cruising
altitude and received the ok to resume my navigation from Jacksonville
departure. I intercepted the victor airway and all was well as the North and
then Central Florida landscape slid by.
My
approach into Sarasota was uneventful and I slid down the glide slope for the
ILS 32. I taxied over to see the good folks at Dolphin Aviation where my sister
Lynne and her husband Steve were waiting to pick me up. A more than agreeable
meal was had on Thanksgiving and I was already looking at weather for my
mid-day departure on Friday.
On
Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, at about noon, my sister dropped me off at
Dolphin Aviation. I cleared my bill and walked out to the Arrow and started my
pre-flight. Master switch on, battery good, fuel, all looked good. I started my
walk around and as I got to the front of the engine and looked up into it, I
started seeing what looked like chunks of rubber. I reached in and pulled a
piece out to take a good look to see if it could be from a birds nest, a birds
nest this quick on a busy ramp near an FBO? Possible, but not likely. No, this
has the look and consistency of an alternator belt, a half melted one at that.
How
could this be? I saw the belt attached and it looked ok at first, but then I
rotated the prop and what looked ok turned to shredded rubber and literally
into just scraps of a belt barely intact. How could this have happened and what
caused it to happen? I found out later that the plane had come out of a one
hundred hour inspection and that the belt had not been tightened and it was
just finger tight. This allowed the belt to jump on the pulley and caused
slight chaffing that eventually led to the belt slowly being eaten by the
pulley. As I was flying down to Sarasota chunks were coming off and flying up
into the engine on top of the cylinders. I never saw a flicker of anything
during the cruise down, no annunciator light or drop in the alternator amps.
What
to do now? It’s the middle of a holiday weekend; I’m hundreds of miles from
home and no way to get back. Surely there is no way that a prop is going to get
pulled off today, here and now and a new belt gets installed so I can get home
by 6pm. Never mind that the plane might be scheduled to fly Friday afternoon
and or the rest of the weekend for that matter. This is going to be bad for us
all, me, the flight school and any renters in the pipe line. A quick phone call
to the owner of the flight school began the process of trying to figure out how
to get the plane fixed while I was still there to fly it back. I told the owner
that I was positive I could stay overnight again at my sisters if he could
figure out how to get the plane fixed by Saturday or Sunday the latest.
When
I got off the phone with the owner of the flight school, I called my sister
back, who was just pulling back into her driveway, she of course took pity on
me and threw it into reverse and headed back my way. I no sooner get off the
phone with her when the owner of the flight school calls back with some good
news. The owner explained that out of pure coincidence, their mechanic has
family in Naples, FL and he was just about to leave to drive down. He is going to
stop at Dolphin Aviation in Sarasota on his way, pull the prop this afternoon
and then finish up Saturday morning. Luckily the owner of the flight school had
caught him in time enough for him to throw his tools in the car. Timing is
everything! Problem solved, I’ll spend the night and leave Saturday morning.
While
this could have been a logistical problem for me if I had to rent a car and
drive home, it turned out perfectly; I mean the whole point was to fly to avoid
all the traffic in the first place, right? On the upside, I got to spend
another day with my sister and her family, the plane got fixed and it got me
home. Mission accomplished!
So
now whenever I leave to go on a trip that is far from home, I always ask myself
if I have everything I need to either rescue myself or who to call if the
airplane breaks down. Expect the unexpected!
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