Not exactly sure why I'm typing this manifesto; maybe just to chronicle an interesting journey of an Aerostar owner. It's long, you'll either find it interesting and totally get it, or the opposite. It's all about the love, hate, love, hate, love relationship with this airplane. Wherever I happen to be on the cycle, just ask me tomorrow, it could be different.
I bought this exact airframe in about 2000. I was flying a B56tc, which I loved, but my wife hated wearing O2. I found the aircraft through Mr. Bridges in Utah, it had an interesting history - flown about 750 hours until the owner lost his medical, then sat for about 10 years without moving. Mr. Bridges resurrected the ac for the guy that made the hangar barn find, did a great job of bringing it to flying condition and he ended up with a nice ac, fresh paint, updated (for the time) Garmin avionics. I had him add known ice and 5.5 pressurization and purchased the ac from the finder.
I flew the ac quite a bit over the next 6 years and came to appreciate the flying qualities and capability of the aircraft. When it was running. In the Midwest, there was not an Aerostar expert nearby. The down time of the airframe without proper preservation resulted in a string of issues that I tried to bandaid. It was a Machen 700 conversion, with the S1A5MMs. I lost the left engine on climb out one day due to a hole in a piston, and about a year later the right one due to a loose turbo line. Both engine losses, incidentally, were nonevents from a management and flying perspective, but certainly confidence shaking on the reliability of the engines and aircraft. Along with other nagging issues - belts, alternator, fuel flow erratic, stuff you don't want to see at night or in IMC or anytime you're flying with your family on board, I began to plan trips looking for nearby Aerostar shops, and finally avoided using the aircraft out of concern of reliability. After about 700h flying time, I let it go in about 2006, got a Baron 58 which was far less sexy or fun but infinitely more reliable (which I still have).
Fast forward to November 2015. I flew a round trip to Las Vegas, and was worn out from the bouncing and weather stress. I had flown the same route a number of times effortlessly in the Aerostar and the pain of chasing the squawks had faded (somewhat). I had been following my old ac on FlightAware, it was in Tennessee, and had not flown for about 3y. I called the FBO at the field, who contacted the owner, who promptly called me back. His first words were "I can't believe the broker found a buyer so fast" - he had just decided to sell the aircraft as he had lost his medical and thought I was calling as a result of the broker he had contacted that day to discuss selling the aircraft. He was half right, wrong about the broker part. Serendipity.
Negotiating and agreement followed. The owner had great love of the ac and had given it great care, upgrading the avionics to a 750/650, Insight G4, fresh U2As. However, his health was failing, and in 10 years - the ac had flown less than 100h since I sold it. The engines had 8 hours on them since OH done 2 years prior and upgraded to U2As. The owner had done much of the maintenance himself, and had a minimal annual done each year which had the logbook appearance of a brief sign off. After a perfunctory prebuy by a reputable Aerostar shop, I got back into 12J for the first time in a decade and flew her home.
This time, the purchase and expectation was eyes wide open, particularly with the knowledge of the ill effects of sitting idle. The difference this time - the desirable engines were on the ac, they were not even broken in, and most importantly I now had a 135 shop with all the resources to work on the ac including a 30y IA champion who would serve as the crew chief for this ac.
And thank goodness. This was a well cared for, upgraded aircraft, with most the mods, fresh U2As and 1480 TTAF. We immediately started going through this ac that had been advertised as pristine and signed off by a reputable shop, and committed to making it a highly dispatch reliable aircraft. Here's our findings and the work list so far:
lh turbo repaired
lh engine fuel pump low flow and replaced
turbo outlet oil fittings replaced
lh fuel servo replaced with correct part
lh oil cooler hose incorrect and replaced
GAMI injectors both engines
ignition harness rh engine heat wearing through and replaced
rh engine oil scavange pump persistent leak and replaced
both auxillary fuel boost pumps low and replaced
air conditioner compressor leaking and overhauled
motivflo valve - engines
all wheels with incorrect parts or warping, replaced
steering actuator replaced
inner gear door actuators-reseal
hydraulic hoses replace
both flap actuators- resealed
hydraulic regulator reseal
rh fuel gate valve reseal
emergency exit door seal
lh horizontal deice boot replace
lh prop deice boot replace
At this point, we hooked up the huffer and tested pressurization. Oops. The 40yo sealant, along with that many years of dirt and dust at the outflow valve, and the workmanship of late 70s Los Angeles Smith plant were all about to be exposed.
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The pressurization check was impressive in the number of leaks; around the windows and multiple rivet sites, as well as the fuselage where the excess wrap around aluminum had been tacked down with rivets and had probably held at some point but not now. We looked at the design of the 700 around the windows utilizing screws instead of rivets and decided to incorporate it; it eliminates the fulcrum effect at the last inch of the window before the rivets. The interior skin/rib lines and rivet lines were all sealed as well; I'm not sure why that is not a practice at assembly but am guessing it is a weight consideration. All the sealant you see on the following pics we placed; it comes as bare panels.
Add to that an overhauled Dukes controller and refurbed outflow valve and she should be pretty airtight which means less work for the turbos. By the way the outflow valves are getting more difficult to come by.
I'm not sure why the photos are sideways; if you click on them they open with a 90 degree right turn and are correct. Some kind of aerobatic thing
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You could slide a small popsicle stick in the gap that was there after the failing sealant was taken out. This is after trim and re-rivet. You can see where, due to no seal inside, there has been leaking around the rivets and the non-Imron paint has been blown off. These will all be sanded, re-sealed from the inside and repainted
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Tim and Mark hard at work. About 70 years of experience there
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The finished product, ready for paint. This is the front aspect of the front passenger window
So the question now is whether to paint the treated areas or the whole thing. Hence the love/hate thing.
But, she is getting better. I will post photos as we proceed and of the finished product.
All credit to AAC for their support of this airframe and particularly the encyclopedic John, who is a constant source of knowledge and encouragement and on a first name basis with our shop. He feels like family.
Anyone else crazy enough to buy an aircraft for the 2nd time?
And this is the second time I've repurchased an aircraft. But that is another story -