New member from New Jersey

[CommanderBob]

[FONT=&quot]Hello COG's!
My name is Bob and I was invited to join the group by Judi Anderson. I live in Pompton Plains, NJ home based at Lincoln Park Airport (N07) After flying it for 7 years, I recently sold my Piper Dakota, so I'm currently plane-less but I still have a hangar! Although the Dakota served me well, I'm tired of sliding over to the left side and sitting shoulder to shoulder...I'm looking forward to a little more room and jumping up in class of airplane too. Sooo...With the help from Judi over the phone (looking forward to the day we meet), I've been looking for the right 114B to park in my empty hangar. Any and all suggestions are appreciated I look forward to meeting you all when I can fly In with my own Commander.[/FONT]

 

[Carbine31]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Welcome to the group from a 114B owner. Hope you find a good one for yourself. I'm sure you will love it.

 

[JimParker256]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Welcome to the COG. You'll find a wealth of knowledge here - starting with Judi's assistance in finding a good one for you! She's the best!

You'll love the Commanders. Most room this side of a cabin-class twin, and having doors on both sides is sooo nice! Extremely comfortable for long trips, as well.

Good luck with your search!

 

[Jamesdub]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Welcome Bob,
Too bad you couldn’t have hitched a ride with some of the N E crowd and attended the Dayton Fly-In this September. Fifty plus AC11’s on the field was pretty impressive and you could have checked them out per your schedule.

I too was drawn to the Commander for its reputation of having a comfortable cabin. Which it DOES!! No problems with a couple of ‘manly sized’ guys up front.

If you can swing the ‘B’ I’d recommend going for it, the base 114 and then the 114 A had incremental adjustments to the CG charting, with the ‘B’ being the most forgiving. All have equal performance +/- a knot here or there.
Judi provided the name of an owner in up-state Alabama (that sounds strange, we don’t use that term down here that often) and after he demonstrated his Commander - the rest was history.

Judi also assisted with a name of good shop to conduct the pre-buy and of a local area CFII for the insurance checkout requirement.

Good luck with your search,
John

 

[gmores]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Welcome Bob. Many of us made the transition from a Piper and after about 10 minutes of flying in a Commander you won't want to ever go back.

And well done getting connected with Judi. She'll take good care of you.

Good luck with your search.

 

[CenAir]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Bob

Congrads on selling you Dakato in a tough market as I did with my Archer, but don't miss all those single door planes that should have had two doors and comfort like the Commander has. Best wishes on finding one and welcome to COG, Judi is the best and will help and find you a nice Commander like she did for me.

 

[Joe Tagliareni]

Re: New member from New Jersey

I too switched from a Dakota to the Commander just over 3 years ago but not for the exact same reason. Hurricane "Irene" was the primary contributing factor.

 

[Philip]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Hey Bob
I can also attest to the remarkable capability of the commander. I had owned a serious of Mooney's over the past several decades so moving to the Commander was carefully considered. On a side note I have a hangar that was perfect for the Mooney but less so for the Commander. The Commander has a high tail configuration and my 77, 114 was equipped with a beacon that stood proud on the vertical tail. My challenge was my ceiling height left only an inch of clearance and was problematic especially when going in and out over the door rails that caused the airplane to bounce and hit the ceiling of the hangar. The remedy for me was to embed the beacon in the tail as a mod which now allows me the clearance I need. So, my only caution would be to cross check the height of your hangar against the height of the Commander. Perhaps my particular hangar (not very old) with a dry wall ceiling is an anomaly.
Best of luck in your Commander search.
Philip

 

[Joe Tagliareni]

Re: New member from New Jersey

I bet you don't miss that single door submersible Piper Dakato anymore, and hey it was a single door like most of Pipers Fleet.

RNC- One more owner from the Piper Forums sold his Piper and converting to Commander this weekend if all goes well this weekend, doing a pre-buy Saturday with his A&P/CFI and flying it home Sunday with him if all goes well.

I try not to mention I own a Commander 114 over there, as I had an Archer for many years and great plane and have some great friends like GM and a bunch of others, but think this about the 5th owner that bought a Commander and I usually PM them about our aircraft and keep it off the public forums.

Very interesting on your insurance and never heard about that moving and getting paid to do it by the insurance company, and will have to check my policy.

I was very fond of my Dakota - Had it many many years. And there are certain things I miss like full fuel and load it with anything that will fit and never worry about Gross Wt. or C.G. Climb at over 2,000 fpm in winter was not unusual.

Had a similar clause in my Policy with a 5% penalty if you didn't move it. But fortunately Irene was downgraded to Tropical Storm before it hit N.J. so I won that argument.

The Commander handles turbulence with Yaw as opposed to hard bumps and that takes some getting used to. And the steering can be quirky during take off roll not to mention the lack of Rudder Authority.

Hey, nothings perfect but other than that, it's all you could possibly ask for.

 

[CommanderBob]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Thanks for your welcoming remarks guys! I'm looking at a few but not ready to pull the trigger just yet. Joe from KFWN, do you ever use Jorge the mechanic on your field? He's seems like a fair and reasonable AP IA. If I had a plane I would fly over to meet you; I would love to check out your Commander. If you have the time and want to come over to N07, I live very close by, actually under the base leg to 19!

 

[nruzic]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Hi DakotaBob welcome aboard.

JamesDub said:
"If you can swing the ‘B’ I’d recommend going for it, the base 114 and then the 114 A had incremental adjustments to the CG charting, with the ‘B’ being the most forgiving. All have equal performance +/- a knot here or there."

JamesDub is a good guy but as a 114 owner he may have B envy.
As a 114B owner I can attest to the fact that we cruise @ 150 - 155knots true in the 4500 - 12500 ft altitudes. The 114s are under 150 knots.

The main advantage the 114B has is that the cowling is cleaner.
In aeronautical engineering terms the 114B has lower cooling drag.

 

[janderson]

Re: New member from New Jersey

hi John I know of a 114B cowling, but its only the top. They also want a huge premium for it.

Judi

 

[Jamesdub]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Thanks Judi,
We’re very satisfied with 4JA as is; but if the opportunity presented itself to update I would be interested in a complete setup.

Jim explained in Dayton that you would also need an extension for the prop. And I’m sure there is that ‘also something’ else that would surface . . oil cooler lines, cowl flap electric control (24v vs 12v) (something?)
Thanks again,

Happy Holidays
John

 

[CommanderBob]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Hi all, I am very proud to announce I am the new owner of N7MA, 1992-B model. The former owner replied to one of my letters, he wasn't flying the airplane and decided to sell it. 7MA was formerly located in S. California at Cable Airport. Many thanks to Vince Giampa for eyeballing it, and recommending a good mechanic at Chino. I am overall very happy with my purchase but I do need to shake the bugs out. There is approx. 2200hrs on the AF and 400 on the engine, overhauled by Poplar Grove. There's a King stack: audio panel, mode C trans, ADF, DME, 2 kx155's and a KLN94 GPS. There is also an insight GEM, S-Tec 50 w/yaw, hoshkins fuel computer that works great, and a factory O2 system. I plan to upgrade the panel, and will be on the hunt for a 530W/430 combo and eventually will upgrade to ADS-B compliance via GDL-88.
My first takeoff/landing revealed poor steering and nose wheel shimmy. The shimmy damper was rebuilt in Chino and helped it somewhat to get it home to NJ, but there is more to it; the many posts on this topic have been very helpful. In reading through the logs, over the past 7 years 7MA has flown under 200hrs, and the annuals were obviously fly by's. Due to it's superb geographic location, there is no corrosion, and the paint is going to shine up nice once I get a good detail on it. Aside from that, I never realized how tall in the seat you are. The extension of the glare shield makes it difficult to see the very top of the panel, without reclining the seat a little. From what I understand there are no vertical adjustment on any Commander seats. Any tricks/comments on that would be greatly appreciated. The cockpit is very comfortable and is exactly what I was looking for. I expected it to be similar to flying a Dakota, but theses birds don't jump off the ground, not even in 15 degree NJ! I'm looking forward to flying and getting more acquainted with her, my first excursion (wx allowing) next week is to Aerodyme, South Burlington. If any of you have any recommendations, they are sincerely appreciated. Thanks

 

[jmcb]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Bob, Congrats on your purchase. I've seen 7MA a number of times at Cable. She's a good looking bird! Enjoy!

 

[DKrueger]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Bob,

Great work and welcome. I had a similar shimmy issue with a rebuilt shimmy damper. I installed the Aerodyme Torque knee and drag link kit today, like magic no more shimmy. Check those areas for excessive play. Very easy to install both kits.

 

[TKutchera]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Congrats Bob. When you get rid of your DME and if you aren't trading it in & are willing, I may be interested in purchasing it from you if it works.

Tim

 

[proppilot]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Very nice looking airplane Bob. Welcome to the group. All the information you will need is within !

Cheers, Tony

 

[janderson]

Re: New member from New Jersey

welcome to CommanderLand, Bob!
..maybe you should change your user name now to CommanderBob?

Judi

 

[mrolih]

Re: New member from New Jersey

Welcome to Commander ownership, Bob. When I first got 1161J she had a horrible taxi shimmy. A new front tire and tightening of the bungees and there have been no problems in 60+ hours.