Almost….
As a newly minted PPL I bought a C150 from the other side of the country.
i had a really fun day doing a flight home in two legs (1st solo post qualification)save for the weather diversion and unscheduled overnight hotel
The next day flying home I had a full electrical failure whilst near to a large (and I’ll keep it nameless) airport. Mayday transmission after giving the battery a chance to recover light signals, flapless landing, all executed perfectly- I think the plane flew itself.
I thought it would be a little problem…
…for those who don’t know the engine in a C150 directly drives the alternator, the drive shaft had sheared, there was metal in the oil - full overhaul required
the ‘maintenance organisation’ persuaded me that as it was out the air I should have a full tear down inspection of the plane - it was ‘normal’ they said, remember I was inexperienced.
As a result of which it soon resembled a Meccano set - and was then told they didn’t have the skills to put it back together, plus some key parts had been lost/broken
The financially easiest option at this point was to scrap it. In fact it should have been the only option, as many friends said- forget it and go buy another one
it had flown its last flight.
….But I couldn’t bring myself to do that - the plane had seen 40 years of training students, goodness know how many dodgy landings, for it to end up scrapped in a workshop as a reward for landing me safely
in desperation I contacted the previous maintenance organisation, who agreed to collect it on a low loader and put it back together at cost. I could swear that one of the mechanics who collected her (who I later found had looked after her for 20 years) was in tears as he loaded one of the many boxes of parts into the van.
Eight weeks later I had a ‘new’ C150. It had cost four times as much to get back in the air as it did to buy.
the phoenix flew again….
To complete the story - eight years on, I’ve kept it maintained with the original maintainers, given the distance/weather I sometimes fly in at a weekend, leave the keys and train home. One Sunday afternoon a couple of years ago I’d landed and was tying it down in a deserted part of the aerodrome when a chap locking up a Cirrus came up to me, shook my hand and thanked me for what I’d done.
It turned out that he was a previous owner, and my plane was held in high affection by a great many pilots in the region who had trained in or hired her before my period of ownership began.
The story above had reached folklore and he said “on behalf of all of us I’d like to thank you for saving her”
Last edited by 150 Driver; 7th Oct 2021 at 03:27.