Flew home and boy are my arms tired!

Literally!

The in-laws live out in Chandler, AZ. Each summer they escape the heat
by taking their 5th wheel and heading to cooler parts. We'll normally
fly the kids out to wherever they happen to be so they can spend a few
weeks with Grandma and Grandpa. A few weeks later we fly out to wherever
they've wandered to and bring the kids home to get ready for the new
school year.

Unfortunately, this year just as we were close to flying the kids out,
their Great Grandma fractured her pelvis. So the in-laws pulled up camp
and headed off to assist Great Grandma in Sacramento, and we adjusted
our plans to fly the kids their as well.

As these trips go, this was a short/routine one. We'd been to Sacramento
many times and knew exactly which airport and FBO we'd use. The plan was
to fly up Saturday and spend the night, then fly home late Sunday --
leaving the kids with the grandparents to tend to Great Grandma.

I'd been intending to get the oxygen bottle in the Lance (PA32RT-300T)
filled up for a while. Most of our flights don't require oxygen, so
typically it isn't even in the plane since it takes up most of the
forward baggage compartment. This is a big scuba tank sized Aerox
bottle. We don't have any O2 service in Fallbrook (L18), so flying to a
high end jet center seemed like an opportune time to have it filled.

When we arrived in Sacramento (I'll refrain from mentioning the specific
airport and FBO since the story has yet to fully unfold...), I checked
in at the FBO desk while the family unloaded the Lance. The eye candy
at the desk was obviously not hired for her aeronautical expertise, but
she seemed to take copious notes as I explained that the O2 bottle was
"in the forward baggage compartment which is unlocked. That is between
the engine and the cabin. The cabin is locked". She assured me that
they'd get the bottle filled before we departed late Sunday afternoon.

The next day we pull up at the FBO close to 5PM. They open the gate so
Grandpa can drive the family and our bags out to the plane while I
settle up the bill. At the desk yet another piece of eye candy is on
duty and informs me -- don't laugh -- that I'm "too big to service".
Well, at least that is what the note on her computer says. So this jet
center that handles 737's and G-IVs can't fill my Aerox bottle. Right.
So I settle up and head out to the ramp, knowing I don't need the O2 now
and I can get it filled at some other convenient stop.

When I get to the Lance, most of the gear is out of Grandpa's truck and
my wife has opened the rear passenger door to start loading. I open the
rear baggage door and much to my surprise find the 18"x18" access panel
from the baggage area into the tail cone of the plane is laying on the
baggage area floor! Hmm. The plane had been locked, and my wife did
unlock the rear passenger door before I got there, but she said it was
in fact locked. Can't imagine how it popped off all on its own. I
inspect what I can in the tail of the plane. All appears normal, so I
put the access panel back in place and finish loading.

Now I climb on the wing to put my flight gear up front, but I discover
the key won't turn the lock on the overwing door. Also the thumb latch
on the top of the door is in the unlocked position -- I never leave it
that way. At this point my wife mentions that the rear passenger door
upper latch was similarly in the open position when they got to the
plane while the lower latch was properly locked. Hmmm. I try pulling
gently on the lower door latch as I turn the key hoping it will let the
lock rotate, but instead the door pops open -- with the lock still jammed.

Now it starts to make sense. Whoever the FBO sent out to service my O2
bottle didn't get the message that it was in the forward unlocked
baggage compartment. They forced the cockpit door open, jamming the
lock. They didn't find the typical small O2 bottle near the pilot seat,
and crawled through to the back (the Lance has 3 rows of seats) to open
the rear door from the inside (hence the rear lock was still working
properly). Not finding the O2 bottle in the cabin, they opened the rear
access panel thinking it must be hiding in the tail cone. Not sure what
their logic was in not putting the panel back in place.

After my blood stopped boiling, I went back to the FBO and explained
what had apparently happened. They were attentive and sent a line
person out to talk to me. They took some notes, indicated that they
couldn't tell right now when the O2 service was attempted or who had
done it. But they'd have the operations manager call me on Monday.

I believe I did a more thorough that normal preflight at this point.
That rear access panel having been opened by someone who didn't know
what they were doing really had me concerened, but everything other than
the lock seemed to check out fine.

So a bit later than planned, my wife and I hugged the kids and
grandparents, and then we flew off -- and into a new adventure.

About 15 or 20 minutes after departing I went to level off at 11500ft,
only to find my trim control was free-wheeling and having no effect.
With cruise power, it took most of my strength to push forward on the
controls to maintain level flight. I powered back and diverted to
Calaveras (KCPU). Even at low power, up-trim was still a challenge to
overcome. By the time we got on the ground my arms definitely needed a
rest. Considering the dramatic up-trim and inability to adjust trim, I
was rather pleased with the landing.

Once on the ground, we unloaded the bags from the aft compartment and
popped the inspection panel off. Now the cables for the elevator trim
were quite obviously laying limp in the tail of the airplane. Looking
at the trim wheel, it was clear that the trim cable had unspooled from
the wheel. Hmm. Could it be that the bozo who climbed through the
plane to open the rear door managed to step on the trim control wheel
between the front seats and bend it out of position to the point that
the cable would unspool? Although visually it didn't look obviously
damaged, the clues were adding up. I had moved the trim wheel a small
amount before takeoff, but my bet was the stress in flight with airflow
on the elevator combined with someone having stepped on the wheel was
enough to let the cable unspool.

We called the FBO to inform them of this more serious additional
problem. I don't think the gal at the desk even comprehended what I was
telling her, but she did take accurate notes of what I was telling her.

Carefully inspecting the condition of the cables in the tail, and
looking at how they were running under the floor, I concluded that they
wouldn't cause any other problems than what this (such as jamming other
control cables). One of the benefits of owner assisted annuals is
getting to know how your plane is rigged.

In the never ending argument of which is better, Piper or Cessna, one of
the minor advantages claimed by Cessna lovers is that handy little gust
lock that drops into the control column. How quaint, says I the Piper
lover. Real men use bungee cords! Or at least I do to avoid cracking the
yoke as many have in the past by repeatedly using the seat belts as gust
locks. Since I had the bungees to use as gust locks, I decided I could
use them to help get myself home.

I estimated that my arms might give out after 20 or 30 minutes fighting
the full up trim with no help (my wife is petite and wouldn't have had
the strength to help much). So we moved all of the cargo as far forward
as possible to help shift the CG forward. We also topped off the fuel,
just in case. Then we departed for L18. After we got to altitude, I
rigged the bungees to pull forward on the yoke by connecting one end to
the rudder pedal. I still had to apply forward pressure, but it reduced
the load enough for me to make the 2+ hour flight home.

Coincidentally, the smoke from the Zaca fire in Santa Barbara presented
a substantial barrier from SB over to China Lake. I could see the smoke
dipping into the Lake Isabella valley on the bottom, and the top of the
plume was in the 11000-13000 foot range. We did pick our way around the
top of the smoke, but it would have been nice if I'd had O2 and could
have just climbed well over it. Kind of ironic that we were supposed to
have O2 for this flight! We were over Palmdale just as the sun was
setting -- quite spectacular looking back through the smoke.

For a Lance, L18 is a fairly small strip. So much so, that it was
difficult to find insurance when we bought the Lance. Most underwriters
wanted the home base to have a longer runway. I'd never tried landing
there with the elevator trim stuck on pretty much full up -- at night to
boot. We un-bungeed the controls over Temecula and made a really
un-eventful landing at Fallbrook. Not something I would have tried were
it not for my experience in the plane and familiarity with this airport.

It took 2 days for my triceps to stop aching, even with the bungee
assist. Our mechanic had the door lock and elevator trim fixed by the
following weekend, and he concurred that someone had stepped on the trim
wheel.

It looks like the FBO will cover the 8+ hours of A&P labor to fix the
lock and trim, though I haven't seen a check from them yet. That is why
I'm not ready to identify the field or FBO at the moment.

But at least I did get to say, "I just flew home and boy are my arms tired!"

I'll post another amusing story about our trip last weekend to Phoenix
(P19 -- Stellar Air Park in Chandler) to retrieve the kids from the
grandparents. That one will be titled with an exclamation from my
daughter as we arrived at Stellar, "Daddy! What did you do?!!!"

Steve
'78 Turbo Lance II, N3000A