Well, I finally was able to go up and pick up N46000 from Akron today
(I was on a cruise last week even though it's been declared "done" for
two weeks or so, this was the first day I could get away)

Some minor things were found after driving up there to fly it back
(people who'd offered me ride alongs in their aircraft weren't
available today). The seatbacks had pulled away from the glue so we
screwed them into the frame. They had dislodged a power wire so half of
he avionics stack didn't work. A bit of solder and a hot iron fixed
that problem. My wife and kids were real troopers hanging around the
FBO while we determined why the avionics stack wasn't working. After
figuring out what had happened and fixing it, I double checked the
weather (there were supposed to be thunderstorms in the area) I hopped
in and took it for three quick trips around the pattern before taxiing
back to the ramp to check for any strange leaks, etc. At this point I
sent my wife and the kids home even though my 3 (almost 4) year old
wanted to ride back with me. Even though initially everything had gone
swimingly, I didn't feel comfortable taking her with me so early after
putting things back together. Maybe when I have a few more hours logged
since re-assembly and feel more comfortable that everything is working
as it should. Having not flown since October as PIC in any aircraft I
must say the landings weren't that bad, but hey! It's a 152 so it
doesn't take much to get it right. So the first 1.7 hours of the year
logged today and it felt great! Now that it's back home at JeffCo
(KBJC) I'm expecting to do MUCH more flying.

Some pictures for those who are interested:
http://www.lp3.net/~lperley/N46000_Before_After/N46000_Before_After.html

I will probably ask some more questions (best way to remove bugs when
lemon pledge isn't around, etc.) as I go down the road, but for right
now, I'm just estatic to have the aircraft back and in the air again.

--
Louis L. Perley III
N46000 - C152
N370 - PA23-250

Louis,
That is the prettiest looking 152 I have ever seen!! I love the new
paint job... Did it take them 6 months to paint it or did I read the
post wrong? If so why did it take so long and you must have been going
crazy. Heck our annual is ending up taking a month and I feel like I'm
going nuts.

Jon Kraus
PP-ASEL-IA
'79 Mooney 201

Louis L. Perley III wrote:
> Well, I finally was able to go up and pick up N46000 from Akron today
> (I was on a cruise last week even though it's been declared "done" for
> two weeks or so, this was the first day I could get away)
>
> Some minor things were found after driving up there to fly it back
> (people who'd offered me ride alongs in their aircraft weren't
> available today). The seatbacks had pulled away from the glue so we
> screwed them into the frame. They had dislodged a power wire so half of
> he avionics stack didn't work. A bit of solder and a hot iron fixed
> that problem. My wife and kids were real troopers hanging around the
> FBO while we determined why the avionics stack wasn't working. After
> figuring out what had happened and fixing it, I double checked the
> weather (there were supposed to be thunderstorms in the area) I hopped
> in and took it for three quick trips around the pattern before taxiing
> back to the ramp to check for any strange leaks, etc. At this point I
> sent my wife and the kids home even though my 3 (almost 4) year old
> wanted to ride back with me. Even though initially everything had gone
> swimingly, I didn't feel comfortable taking her with me so early after
> putting things back together. Maybe when I have a few more hours logged
> since re-assembly and feel more comfortable that everything is working
> as it should. Having not flown since October as PIC in any aircraft I
> must say the landings weren't that bad, but hey! It's a 152 so it
> doesn't take much to get it right. So the first 1.7 hours of the year
> logged today and it felt great! Now that it's back home at JeffCo
> (KBJC) I'm expecting to do MUCH more flying.
>
> Some pictures for those who are interested:
> http://www.lp3.net/~lperley/N46000_Before_After/N46000_Before_After.html
>
> I will probably ask some more questions (best way to remove bugs when
> lemon pledge isn't around, etc.) as I go down the road, but for right
> now, I'm just estatic to have the aircraft back and in the air again.
>
> --
> Louis L. Perley III
> N46000 - C152
> N370 - PA23-250
>

Great looking plane!

A spray bottle with plain water works fine for bugs... Give em a spritz
every few minutes until they soften up to the point you can just wipe
em off... This is especially good for the windshield, water plus the
ham of your hand to wipe the bugs off, then an old T shirt to polish it
dry...

Now having said all this, let me make a pitch for DRY WASH-N-GUARD...
Great product... Keeps the paint polished with about 1% of the effort
of waxes, etc... I just spritz it on the bugs on the leading edge,
wander around for a few minutes while the bugs soften, smear it around,
let it haze, wipe it off, and VOILA, a shiny airplane... Do this after
every flight <takes only minutes> and the plane always looks fresh...

denny

Nice one!

I am going from Red interior to Tan myself. I used to wonder what they were
thinking with red interiors, but I saw one in a sports car the other day
that looked good. I guess its all a matter of times and fashions.

There were many things that delayed the plane being completed on
an earlier schedule, the parts we needed first were the last to arrive,
and the interior plastic took much longer than planned to cut and fit,
etc. The various delays ran into other shorter projects that had a
firmer timescale (I should have established one myself when starting).
I was also out of town quite a bit during this time. I've been in 8
countries since I dropped it off. In fact this week I was supposed to
be in Frankfurt, Germany but that trip was canceled.
Towards the end (the last three months or so) when it was a nice
day out, I would be somewhat bitter that had I had the airplane back, I
would have been up flying. I'm just happy as heck to have it back and
working on getting the rust out of my flying skills again. I don't
know, but I sure get grumpy when I haven't flown in awhile.

--
Louis L. Perley III

My wife designed the paint scheme. It actually was out for 8 months, 5
days. My flights back in October were in a C172SP working on my
instrument rating. The last flight I had (flying it to Akron) in N46000
was August 31, 2004.

--
Louis L. Perley III

Yes, I don't know what they were thinking, but the airplane was crying
for something other than orange seats with orange shag carpet. Then
again, 25 years from now, orange will probably be all the rage again
and by purple and blue will once again look dated. I do kind of miss
having the smaller tail number, because it was somewhat unique; however
with a repaint, I had to go with the current regulation size.

The original exterior paint was called "butterscotch", even though for
almost anybody, it too is orange.

--
Louis L. Perley III

> Well, I finally was able to go up and pick up N46000 from Akron today

Beautiful plane, Louis. Congrats on creating a real beauty!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"