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The NOVEMBER 2017 TWIN CESSNAFlyer FEATURING: FISHER 414AW NEW STEC 3100 AUTOPILOT 414 PROJECT - YEAR ONE RESULTS PIREP: MT PROPS ON A T303 READERS WRITE AND MUCH MORE... SupportingSupporting TwinTwin CessnaCessna OwnersOwners WorldwideWorldwide sincesince 19881988 OEM & PMA CLAMPS PMA ENGINE CABLES PMA Upgrade for Janitrol & SouthWinds Style Heaters Engine Induction & Exhaust Clamps Premium Engine Control Cables PARTS • Twin Cessna IN STOCK • Single Engine Cessna Ask about custom cables PARTS for experimental aircraft! IN STOCK PROP SUPER CENTER From 172s to King Airs we have the prop you need! FREE SHIPPING ON ALLORDERS PARTS OVER & $500 PROPS CONTINENTAL USA • GROUND FREIGHT LIMITED TIME OFFER RAM AIRCRAFT, LP • SINCE 1976 • ©2017 RAM Aircraft, LP TCF100517 The SM TWIN CESSNAFlyer FEATURES The Twin Cessna Flyersm P.O. Box 12453 FROM THE EDITOR 414 PROJECT - YEAR Charlotte, NC 28220 4 16 Phone: 1-877-977-3246 Seminar updates, landing gear rig- ONE RESULTS Email: [email protected] ging, new Garmin products, good- In a way, all Twin Cessnas are project Website: www.twincessna.org bye to Cape Air 402s, landing on the planes in that there is usually a lot of The Twin Cessna Flyer Magazine is the official publication of the The Twin wrong runway, In This Issue, and catch-up maintenance after purchase. Cessna Flyersm owners organization, P.O. Box 12453 Charlotte, NC 28220. more. What happens if you deliberately buy The price of a yearly subscription is $85 ($130 international), which includes one that you know will need a lot of a one-year membership in The Twin FISHER 414AW maintenance? You got a deal on the Cessna Flyersm owners organization. 8 414As are the most sought-after purchase price, but is it worth it in The Twin Cessna Flyer is not affiliated with or sponsored by Textron Twin Cessnas. Owners who buy the long run? Ted Dupuis gives us his Aviation or the Cessna Aircraft Com- pany. them typically make significant answer. upgrades, and George Fisher is no Twin Cessna owners and operators are encouraged to submit articles and exception. His article gives the de- PIREP: MT PROPS ON A pictures for publication. Once submit- 20 ted, the articles and pictures become tails, and it is accompanied by some T303 the property of The Twin Cessna Flyersm and cannot be returned. The great pictures. More and more Twin Cessnas are act of making a submission for publica- tion is an express warranty that the converting to composite props, including submitted material does not infringe on NEW S-TEC 3100 a few T303 Crusaders. Most owners the rights or copyrights of others. 12 AUTOPILOT report improved performance, but Published articles may include opinions or specific recommendations on aircraft This new state-of-the-art digital most of the information out there is maintenance or operational practices. These opinions and recommendations autopilot was announced at anecdotal. Member Tom Srachta was are solely those of the article author Oshkosh, and it has since created able to conduct an actual fly-off with and not necessarily those of The Twin Cessna Flyersm. The Twin Cessna Flyersm quite a stir. Plans are for it to be another T303. He reports his detailed does not endorse any practice that would be in violation of FAA regulations STC’d for most Twin Cessnas next results. or the aircraft POH/AFM. year. I interviewed Jamie Luster, Nothing appearing in The Twin sm Director of Sales and Marketing READERS WRITE Cessna Flyer may be reproduced 24 or distributed without the express at Genesys, to learn more about Inflight problems, prop-cowl alignment, permission of the publisher. the autopilot, its pricing and Colemill engines, leaking fuel selector, availability. alternator circuit breakers, heater AD questions, air conditioning, and more. The twin cessna flyer advisory committee CLASSIFIEDS Larry A. Ball - New Haven, IN 32 Anthony R. Saxton - Defiance, OH 36 UPCOMING SEMINAR INFORMATION Cover photo provided by Eddie Liendo. Editing assistance provided by Rose Comaduran. Copyright 2017, The Twin Cessna Flyersm. All rights reserved. THE TWIN CESSNA FLYER • NOVEMBER 2017 | 3 from the editor by Bob Thomason, Editor SEMINAR UPDATE Our winter seminar will be held in sunny St. Petersburg, FL, at the Albert We had a big crowd at our seminar in Whited airport (KSPG). This has Defiance, OH, last month. Tony’s hangar always been one of my all-time favorite was packed with owners soaking up airports. Within walking distance of valuable knowledge about their Twin downtown, it is right on the water. The Cessnas. If you missed it, don’t despair. runways are short enough at 3,675 and Join us this month, November 2 - 5, 2,865 feet to mean it is a true GA-only when we’ll be in the California wine airport. No big jets here, although it country at the Nut Tree Airport in does have a control tower. Vacaville, KVCB. Note that the Systems Seminar will be held on the first two There is a superb terminal, complete inspection, which resulted in the days and the Engine Seminar on the last with an excellent restaurant. This right MLG collapsing during two days. is where we will hold the seminar. landing. Only a short walk away is the Dalí It’s not too late to register. You can find museum (www.dali.org) which houses Given this Probable Cause, I suppose we complete information and registration an incredible collection of Salvador can’t fault the magazine too much for forms on our website at www. Dalí’s works, including some of the the article title, however it is inaccurate. twincessna.org. Or just call me at 1-877- surrealist paintings for which he is so FAR 43, which defines the requirements 977-3246. I’ll answer any questions you famous. Downtown is alive with music for maintenance on Part 91 operated have and sign you up. festivals and other events, and the aircraft, gives maintenance shops lots beaches are not far away. If you can’t of leeway in how to conduct an Annual Don’t forget that some of us will be Inspection. There is no legal requirement visiting the ICON A5 factory on the field make it out to California in November, put this one on your calendar. that a shop follow specific inspection on Wednesday afternoon, so let me know timelines in the Maintenance Manual if you will be joining us. We had a great unless they are contained in an official time a few years ago at this location and GEAR RIGGING - WHO’S Airworthiness Section - which the 310 I am really looking forward to returning. RESPONSIBLE? manual does not have. See you in Vacaville. A recent article in a major aviation Further, FAR Part 91.403 (a) states: publication profiled a Cessna 310J gear collapse accident. The title was: The owner or operator of an “Mechanic’s Error Bends a 310.” The aircraft is primarily responsible story was the age-old tale of a 310 for maintaining that aircraft in with out-of-rig landing gear which an airworthy condition, including finally collapsed. An Annual had been compliance with part 39 of this performed on the airplane four months chapter. prior to this particular accident, and the gear system had not been rigged Thus, proper inspection/maintenance as specified by the Cessna factory is the owner’s responsibility, not Maintenance Manual. The manual states necessarily the shop’s. And while there that the landing gear must be rigged per the specific instructions in the manual at every Annual Inspection or 200 hours, whichever comes first. This applies to all Upcoming Seminars “People ask why I keep Twin Cessnas with electro-mechanical 1) November 2 - 5 at Nut Tree coming back. It’s simple: landing gear. Airport in Vacaville, CA these seminars are the The NTSB Probable Cause for this (KVCB) best value I have ever accident stated: encountered in aviation.” The insufficient right main landing 2) February 8 - 11 at Albert gear (MLG) down-lock tension due Whited Airport St. to maintenance personnel’s failure Petersburg, FL (KSPG) — Carl, 310 Owner to perform a rigging procedure during the airplane’s most recent 4 | TWINCESSNA.ORG web site: https:// explore.garmin.com/ en-US/txi/. It’s in line with past pricing and there are trade-in/ upgrade programs. Units will begin shipping by year’s end. These new products are a big advance It’s the owner’s responsibility to make sure for our panels. The the landing gear is rigged properly. That large screens that are means using both the schedule and the highly customizable, Shown above is one possible configuration of the new Garmin procedure prescribed in the Maintenance with units that talk Manual. TXi series of displays. They are highly configurable, are to each other and interlinked, and include battery backup. is no legal requirement for Part 91 emergency battery backup availability, are the things I be configured for VIP transport, cargo, operators to comply with any inspection parachuting, and medevac, and can even procedure in the Maintenance Manual, like. Further, database updates will be easier, and downloading and analyzing be equipped with floats for amphibious any good Twin Cessna shop and any operations. The airplane is not yet FAA reasonably-informed owner should be engine and flight data will be enhanced. The avionics revolution continues. certified, but that is expected in 2018. aware of the gear-rigging requirement. I’m no expert, but I think this design The Twin Cessna Flyer has been What might we see from the other manufacturers? will see a lot of success. I think the publicizing the need for proper gear U.S.