AvTek Pulsar Installation PIREP (or "Why I'm Not an A&P")

[Jay Honeck]

http://www.alexisparkinn.com/avtek_pulsar_installation.htm

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jack Allison]

Aw...I wanted to see a video of the UFO...I mean Atlas...coming in for a
night landing :-)


--
Jack Allison
PP-ASEL-Instrument Airplane

"To become a Jedi knight, you must master a single force. To become
a private pilot you must strive to master four of them"
- Rod Machado

(Remove the obvious from address to reply via e-mail)

[Jay Honeck]

> Aw...I wanted to see a video of the UFO...I mean Atlas...coming in for a
> night landing :-)

I'll see what I can do...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Jim Stewart]

Jay Honeck wrote:
> http://www.alexisparkinn.com/avtek_pulsar_installation.htm

I'm sure there's more than a few A&P's that could
write a "Why I'm not an Innkeeper" story (:

[Viperdoc]

Is it my impression, or do even the simplest appearing jobs take a lot
longer than they first appear? Items that are supposed to be "bolt in"
replacements don't fit, screw holes don't line up, etc.

Installing HID lights in my plane took four hours, even though it only
involved two wires and didn't involve any metal bending or other
replacements.

I have a tool box with some great Snap On and Craftsman stuff, but I always
think twice before doing anything. It seems easy to get stuff apart, but
putting things back together in a working fashion is apparently a different
story!

Do other owner/pilots see the same thing? I am just hesitant to dive in and
start taking things apart.

[Dave Butler]

Viperdoc wrote:
> Is it my impression, or do even the simplest appearing jobs take a lot
> longer than they first appear? Items that are supposed to be "bolt in"
> replacements don't fit, screw holes don't line up, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstadter's_law

[Blueskies]

"Dave Butler" > wrote in message ...
> Viperdoc wrote:
>> Is it my impression, or do even the simplest appearing jobs take a lot longer than they first appear? Items that are
>> supposed to be "bolt in" replacements don't fit, screw holes don't line up, etc.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hofstadter's_law

Yep, pretty much everything takes twice as long as I expect, even when I expect it to take twice as long as I
expected....

[Jay Honeck]

> Yep, pretty much everything takes twice as long as I expect, even when I expect it to take twice as long as I
> expected....

You're talking to the guy who has yet to complete his three-year hotel
remodeling plan. We celebrated our fifth anniversary in August...

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Mike Spera]

> Is it my impression, or do even the simplest appearing jobs take a lot
> longer than they first appear? Items that are supposed to be "bolt in"
> replacements don't fit, screw holes don't line up, etc.
>
> Installing HID lights in my plane took four hours, even though it only
> involved two wires and didn't involve any metal bending or other
> replacements.
>
> I have a tool box with some great Snap On and Craftsman stuff, but I always
> think twice before doing anything. It seems easy to get stuff apart, but
> putting things back together in a working fashion is apparently a different
> story!
>
> Do other owner/pilots see the same thing? I am just hesitant to dive in and
> start taking things apart.
>
>

I have lived a life repairing, building, and installing things. My
earliest jobs were at machine shops as a fabricator and assembler. I did
sound systems for rock n' roll bands for 12 years. On the road, I fixed
everything from the tour busses to the lighting/sound systems to the
rental cars. My dad owned a body shop for 22 years and I worked there
doing body work, painting, mechanical work, fiberglass repair, stereos,
and interiors. At home I do all the plumbing/electrical/carpentry/etc.
Around 1985 I got involved with repairing computers and did so until
today. I am the family "go to guy" whenever anything breaks. If I don't
fix it, I give them the rundown on what is involved and all the ways the
repairman can screw them. 13 years ago we bought the airplane and I
pretty much did everything in partnership with a mechanic (including
painting the beast and redoing the interior).

In my youth I used to attack every job fearlessly and think it would
take little time to get things apart, fixed, and put back together (and
was seldom wrong). Cars and other mechanical stuff were simpler then. I
now find that the opposite is true for me. I look at any job and figure
out EVERY step, tool, process, and nuance. I go over it again and again
replaying the job in my mind for a day or more before doing it. I try to
anticipate and prepare for EVERY oddball thing that might come up. I
have a plan B... and C... and D. I estimate wildly in excess of what it
actually will take.

In the end, I breeze through most operations pretty well unscathed. But,
as I got older, my experience in doing things made me much more hesitant
to start things. I farm out the knuckle busting garbage I would never
consider letting anyone else do a few years ago. Having a few more
dollars in the kitty to do so makes this more and more attractive. I
actually TOOK MY CAR TO THE DEALER AND PAID OFF-THE-RACK PRICES!! Even
though I had all the OEM parts and special tools lined up, I anticipated
many potential pitfalls and decided to let the local Audi dealer tackle
the job (bumper off, core support back to the "service" position, timing
belt, water pump, cam/crank seals, valve cover gasket, tensioners,
idlers, etc.). I did this job on nearly every car I have owned before.
Not this time. The personal satisfaction of doing the job would be
offset by the nagging feeling that something may have been overlooked or
improperly done. If that nice new timing belt breaks and YOU put it on,
so sorry, here is a new belt. Too bad you have to do a $4000 valve job
because our part was defective out of the box. Now, if the job blows up,
I actually have a warranty for 12 months.

I have now done enough work that I know better when to walk away and let
someone do it who does it all day. Yeah, I hate it when they take 4
hours and charge me 9 because that is the "book price". But it would
take me 6-8 hours IF everything went as planned.

I think the reason a lot of nonprofessional mechanics always
underestimate is because they really don't have an extensive background
to anticipate problems. They also seldom have the extensive special
tools required. Also, I believe many things are much more difficult or
impossible to repair outside a specialty shop. Many electronic "modules"
can only be "tested" by swapping them out with known good units. Many
internals of things are made of crappy plastic that cannot be repaired.
Parts are hard to get for things unless you are an "authorized" repair
shop. Hell, they are talking about banning the sale of water heaters to
the public because we might hurt ourselves. What crap. The stupid ones
are SUPPOSED to get bumped off. Its natural selection. This is AMERICA
dammit! I have the RIGHT to kill myself!!!!! But I digress.

To all those brave souls who blindly tackle a job, I say "Go get 'em".
Ya never know until you try. When you do so on an airplane though, I ask
that you please work with a wrench to keep from making your passengers
very much dead.

Good Luck,
Mike

[nrp]

Mike - Obviously you have a lot of experience that yet may make you
change your mind a little the first time you encounter a stripped
drain plug (who in hell put in that rubber plug?) in that Audi!
NRP

[Mike Spera]

> Mike - Obviously you have a lot of experience that yet may make you
> change your mind a little the first time you encounter a stripped
> drain plug (who in hell put in that rubber plug?) in that Audi!
> NRP
>
Actually, I still do change the oil in all the infernal combustion
engines I own. I have heard so many horror stories about the local oil
monkeys I am afraid to take any of the cars to them. I do the airplane
because it gives me an excuse to poke around under the cowling and look
for anything that may be amiss.

Oh yeah, I own the "House from Hell". The former hillbillies who lived
here did everything on the cheap with "Bubba the carpenter".

So, I do get mired in goofy projects that go wrong because the last
idiot did it the "easy way". The roof "repairs" they did damaged over 80
sheets of decking. I let the roofing pros rip off, resheet, and replace
the entire thing (Bye Bye $18 grand). The thought of 3400 square feet of
exposed roof (and hauling 120 pound rolls of torch down roofing up
there) was enough to make me throw in the towel right away. I knew I had
done the right thing when they hauled away the SECOND 40 foot dumpster
filled to the top with the old tar and gravel. It took 5 24 year olds
over 5 days to do it. Yikes! Probably would have killed me.

Fun stuff,
Mike

[Jay Honeck]

> Oh yeah, I own the "House from Hell". The former hillbillies who lived
> here did everything on the cheap with "Bubba the carpenter".

Sounds like the hotel.

We have spent five years remodeling two 3-story buildings. Mary and I
do most of the work ourselves (I'm a much better carpenter than I am
A&P!), but we're smart enough to farm out stuff like plumbing,
roofing, and (most of all) drywall. I HATE drywall.

I have discovered so many slip-shod, cheapest-possible modifications
and repairs over the years, it's hard to imagine. I'd be willing to
bet that 40% of the work we've done has been directly related to
repairing stuff that was screwed up by previous carpenters/workers/
plumbers/electricians...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[[email protected]]

Mike Spera wrote:

> Oh yeah, I own the "House from Hell". The former hillbillies who lived
> here did everything on the cheap with "Bubba the carpenter".
>


I can sympathize with you Mike. I've also got a HFH....got 99% of the
way through a remodel
that took 5 different contractors 16 months to get to the point that I
tossed them all off the job.
Worked for about four months cleaning up their screwups and poor
workmanship and the huge
punchlist, all to have it flood a month later. Now we are tearing it
all out and getting ready to
completely gut the place to fix all the "Bubba fixes" so that I can
sell it and get us into a better
situation. Probably the funniest of the "Bubba fixes" was from when
the house was built. Two
sinks 3 feet apart in the big bath.....had at least 30 elbows and a
dozen couplings for the water
lines between them. Total piping run for both hot and cold was about 7
feet. Looks like they
built that and other things from the job junkbox. Too cheap to buy the
correct materials, and
way too cheap to have the work done correctly. I figure it will take
me probably six months to
redo everything after I gut the place, just so we can sell it.

Craig C.

[Margy Natalie]

Jay Honeck wrote:
>>Yep, pretty much everything takes twice as long as I expect, even when I expect it to take twice as long as I
>>expected....
>
>
> You're talking to the guy who has yet to complete his three-year hotel
> remodeling plan. We celebrated our fifth anniversary in August...
>
Ok, many years ago I figured I could remodel the bathroom in the week
between Christmas and New Year's (when I was a teacher and had the week
off). So, the day after Christmas I walk into the bathroom with an air
chisel and remove walls, ceiling, floor. I took it all down to the
studs. Anyone want to guess how long it was before it was finished?

Margy
> ;-)
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"
>

[RST Engineering]

If you would give us the year that you started I could probably guess the
year it was done. Plus or minus a year or so.


{;-)

Jim



--
"If you think you can, or think you can't, you're right."
--Henry Ford

"Margy Natalie" > wrote in message
m...
> Jay Honeck wrote:
>>>Yep, pretty much everything takes twice as long as I expect, even when I
>>>expect it to take twice as long as I
>>>expected....
>>
>>
>> You're talking to the guy who has yet to complete his three-year hotel
>> remodeling plan. We celebrated our fifth anniversary in August...
>>
> Ok, many years ago I figured I could remodel the bathroom in the week
> between Christmas and New Year's (when I was a teacher and had the week
> off). So, the day after Christmas I walk into the bathroom with an air
> chisel and remove walls, ceiling, floor. I took it all down to the studs.
> Anyone want to guess how long it was before it was finished?
>
> Margy
>> ;-)
>> --
>> Jay Honeck
>> Iowa City, IA
>> Pathfinder N56993
>> www.AlexisParkInn.com
>> "Your Aviation Destination"
>>

[Ray Andraka]

Margy Natalie wrote:

Anyone want to guess how long it was before it was finished?
>

Is it finished yet? ;-)

[Jon Woellhaf]

Great story, Jay!

"Jay Honeck" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> http://www.alexisparkinn.com/avtek_pulsar_installation.htm
>
> :-)
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"
>

[Jon Woellhaf]

> Mike Spera wrote:
> ... Probably the funniest of the "Bubba fixes" was from when
> the house was built. Two sinks 3 feet apart in the big bath.....
> had at least 30 elbows and a dozen couplings for the water
> lines between them. Total piping run for both hot and cold was about 7
> feet.

Got a photo of that? I'd love to see it.

[Mike Spera]

O.K. I have a good one. The doorbell mounted high on a soffit overhead
in the kitchen. What could they POSSIBLY screw up?

When I tore down the drywall (ALL 4 LAYERS - the DIP****S just kept
piling it on for the backsplash) I found the wiring for the doorbell.

It was an old 110v system. They used zip cord (brown 18 gauge lamp cord)
STAPLED TO THE 2X4 stud. It was wired into one of the legs to the
electric stove. Big lug with electrical tape around it. This was on a 50
amp circuit breaker. Remember that lamp cord is rated for 8 amps or so.

I found the doorbell shorted, the zipcord completely devoid of the
insulation because the short had cooked it off, and the remaining
strands of wire burned/buried into the scorched and blackened 2X4. I
have no idea how this did not start a fire.

I also found a "new" outlet some bubba installed. 2 pieces of insulated
wire strung between the drywall and studs, around and inside corner to
the new outlet. Real nice.

Finally the topper. They turned the former laundry room into a bathroom,
complete with shower. For an exhaust fan, they plastered in the wrong
sized unit into a big hole high up on a wall (2+ inches of plaster
oozing out the back). Now, the $6000 punchline. Since it was too much
trouble to run the vent hose properly (through a roof vent), they simply
left it hanging IN THE DROP CEILING COLD AIR RETURN. The warm wet air
from the bathroom was being pumped into this drop ceiling where it went
straight into the roof insulation and finally the roof decking. 80+
sheets of rotted decking (an additional $6k for the roof) because Bubba
Jackass did not have the brains to know that you NEVER run a bathroom
vent ANYWHERE but out of the house, preferably out the roof.

What have you guys seen? Don't limit this to your house, this is an
aviation group. I'm sure we have some real winners in the airplane
category...


Can't wait
Mike

[[email protected]]

Wish I did Jon. At the time I was putting in 12+ hours a day at work
besides the 2.5 hours of
commute time, and at the same time staying one step ahead of the EMT's
and going to the
hospital. I had about 10 minuets of coherent time a day with the
contractor.

Craig C.

[Jay Honeck]

> What have you guys seen? Don't limit this to your house, this is an
> aviation group.

Ha! In 5 years of remodeling at the hotel we have found...

- "Emergency" lighting that had no battery backup
- "Fire alarms" that did nothing. Pull 'em all you want...
- Plumbing that was apparently soldered by my daughter, when she was 8
years old
- Drywall that was GLUED over old drywall
- Balconies painted with sand paint. Walk on 'em and track sand paint
EVERYWHERE throughout the hotel suites.
- No flashing on ANY exterior boards. None, so that the water can
pool on top of every board, and migrate into the buildings...
- Popcorn ceilings applied over un-primered drywall, so that over time
(and with humidity) it simply falls off in sheets
- Unwrapped air conditioning cold water lines that dripped
condensation onto drywall ceilings throughout the hotel, ruining
dozens of sheets of drywall and all the drop ceilings.
- "Window" air conditioners that were "plumbed" with ducting into
other rooms (in multi-bedroom suites) in order to provide cooling to
multiple rooms without buying multiple air conditioners
- Exterior lights that were wired into an individual suite's bathroom
GFI circuit
- Exterior lights that were not wired into ANY circuit with a breaker
on it
- A giant hole in the concrete floor (of a first floor room) that was
filled with sand and covered with an old rug
- 300 pound fire doors held up with 1" screws in the hinges

I could go on, and on, and on. It is just astounding what some
people will do to save a buck that will ultimately cost $100 down the
road...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Gig 601XL Builder]

Jay Honeck wrote:
>> What have you guys seen? Don't limit this to your house, this is an
>> aviation group.
>
> Ha! In 5 years of remodeling at the hotel we have found...
{SNIP}
>
> I could go on, and on, and on. It is just astounding what some
> people will do to save a buck that will ultimately cost $100 down the
> road...

But it didn't cost THEM $100 down the road it cost YOU $100 down the road.

[Jay Honeck]

> But it didn't cost THEM $100 down the road it cost YOU $100 down the road.

True, in these instances -- but it's an ongoing thing. The hotel has
been here since 1980, and I've seen enough to know that this
"pennywise-but-pound-foolish" approach to maintenance was endemic
throughout its history.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[Margy Natalie]

RST Engineering wrote:
> If you would give us the year that you started I could probably guess the
> year it was done. Plus or minus a year or so.
>
>
> {;-)
>
> Jim
>
>
>
'98

[Margy Natalie]

Ray Andraka wrote:
> Margy Natalie wrote:
>
> Anyone want to guess how long it was before it was finished?
>
>>
>
> Is it finished yet? ;-)
>
More or less, but some things are wearing out for the 2nd time :-)

[Margy Natalie]

Mike Spera wrote:
> O.K. I have a good one. The doorbell mounted high on a soffit overhead
> in the kitchen. What could they POSSIBLY screw up?
>
> When I tore down the drywall (ALL 4 LAYERS - the DIP****S just kept
> piling it on for the backsplash) I found the wiring for the doorbell.
>
> It was an old 110v system. They used zip cord (brown 18 gauge lamp cord)
> STAPLED TO THE 2X4 stud. It was wired into one of the legs to the
> electric stove. Big lug with electrical tape around it. This was on a 50
> amp circuit breaker. Remember that lamp cord is rated for 8 amps or so.
>
> I found the doorbell shorted, the zipcord completely devoid of the
> insulation because the short had cooked it off, and the remaining
> strands of wire burned/buried into the scorched and blackened 2X4. I
> have no idea how this did not start a fire.
>
> I also found a "new" outlet some bubba installed. 2 pieces of insulated
> wire strung between the drywall and studs, around and inside corner to
> the new outlet. Real nice.
>
> Finally the topper. They turned the former laundry room into a bathroom,
> complete with shower. For an exhaust fan, they plastered in the wrong
> sized unit into a big hole high up on a wall (2+ inches of plaster
> oozing out the back). Now, the $6000 punchline. Since it was too much
> trouble to run the vent hose properly (through a roof vent), they simply
> left it hanging IN THE DROP CEILING COLD AIR RETURN. The warm wet air
> from the bathroom was being pumped into this drop ceiling where it went
> straight into the roof insulation and finally the roof decking. 80+
> sheets of rotted decking (an additional $6k for the roof) because Bubba
> Jackass did not have the brains to know that you NEVER run a bathroom
> vent ANYWHERE but out of the house, preferably out the roof.
>
> What have you guys seen? Don't limit this to your house, this is an
> aviation group. I'm sure we have some real winners in the airplane
> category...
>
>
> Can't wait
> Mike
We took out a DG that had a piece of masking tape that said "$5" on it.
Does that count? BTW the system had NO filters, at all.

Margy

[Montblack]

("Margy Natalie" wrote)
>> If you would give us the year that you started I could probably guess the
>> year it was done. Plus or minus a year or so.

> '98


Down the hill of our freeway exit ramp, 35W(N) & US10(W), is an expansive
new townhouse development. Margene said it took less time for them to build
125 units than it took me to put up the shelves in the garage. In my
defense, they used nail guns!

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MN/Airfields_MN_Minneapolis.htm#university
Former University of Minnesota Airport (great nationwide site!)

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/MN/Blaine_MN_01.jpg
Same page - pic of new townhouses sitting atop the old airport


Montblack

[flyngrl]

[QUOTE=Dave Butler;568358]Viperdoc wrote:[color=blue][i]
Hey Dave, please email me at . The former Cathy Croy - a last name you unfortunately know quite well. Just want to catch up.