Down for Maintenance

My fingers are itching.  I'm antsy and restless, squinting against the light from a bright sunny Texas fall day.

I'm not sick.  I just want to go flying, and I can't.  My Sundowner is in pieces in the hangar, undergoing annual inspection.  I suppose I could rent a plane, but at current rental rates, I think I will just hold off until 49C is back in the air.

The annual, as usual, started in the the hangar next door, where I had the LORAN removed, and some weak signals from the ILS, DME and ADF systems checked out.  Since the US government turned off the LORAN signals last winter, the radio was just dead weight and the antenna extra drag.  The weak signals were as expected, poor contacts somewhere along the coax path.  My 1982 model Collins transponder just needed cleaning, not replacing as I thought might be the case.  The stuck mic issue on my Garmin 430W turned out to be a bad contact.  Nothing major, just annoying and a wallet drain.

Last week 49C was moved to A&P hangar.  I need new tires, some corroded screws replacing, an oil change and analysis, as well as the annual inspection.  Perhaps they can also solve the long standing problem where 49C just wants to turn left and dive, but I'm not holding my breath.  I hope they can fix the issue where the front wheel vibrates from side to side like a stuck wheel on a shopping cart.  Apart from the annual, none of these were enough to ground the aircraft, just niggles that built up until the annual strip down and inspection, when I also clean up my list of squawks.

But it's been 3 weeks now, and I want my plane back.  I need to fly.........