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And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

L

lovetwinprops

New member
La Verne, CA
Aircraft Year
1978
Aircraft Type
114
Reg Number
N14SG
Serial Number
14434
Well, finally, on Thursday 9/3, ~3:40 p.m. Pacific Time, it was done. I'm now officially and legally a Commander owner! Yes, I have a 50% share, but I've been assured that I'm permitted to refer to it as "my plane." :D

Here are a few of the shots I took of it today (Friday):


Gerry
 

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Last edited:
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

kool beans, Gerry! welcome to CommanderWorld.

Judi
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

Congratulations, Gerry!
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

Congrats! N114SmilingGerry :)
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

Congrats Gerry. Here's to years of enjoyment!
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

Good job Gerry, enjoy.
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

Excellent! I like the paint scheme!
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

Also, please accept my heartiest "Congratulations".

Wishing you years of trouble free ownership and enjoyment.
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

nice one ! welcome !
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

Great looking plane...welcome to the group!
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

lovetwinprops said:
Well, finally, on Thursday 9/3, ~3:40 p.m. Pacific Time, it was done. I'm now officially and legally a Commander owner! Yes, I have a 50% share, but I've been assured that I'm permitted to refer to it as "my plane." :D

Here are a few of the shots I took of it today (Friday):


Gerry
Click to expand...

Like the 'B' look to the interior (door panels yoke and console covers).

Couple of my lessons learned: the square cowl knob will rotate 180* and still have plenty of throttle clearance - makes it easier on my right knee. I used a zip-tie around the center support beam / trim (above the standby compass) and secured it out of sight in the overhead trim. Mine would vibrate down a 1/2" or so prior.
I like your Rosens (visors) I could not get mine to mount and stow without interfering with normal line of sight.

Good luck with the panel upgrade.
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

Nice black/grey colors, I like that paint job.

Congrats!
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

Gerry Congrats. I too like the paint scheme. Hope it isn't long before you are up and enjoying it.
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

Thanks very much to all of you for the kind welcomes and words of congratulations. I'm happy to be a REAL member of the group, now!

As for the interior, the co-owners took the B model brochure to the shop, pointed to the picture of the B interior and said, "Make ours like this." I believe this occurred in about 2005.

I agree that the paint job is really nice. I think it was done in 1998 or 1999, somewhere in Florida. To me, the paint scheme has a tastefulness and elegance to it, and I like it a lot.

Again, thanks much for the warm welcomes, and I hope to start meeting more of you folks at future events. Unfortunately, this year's fly-in won't be one of them.


Gerry
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

Update:

I was able to secure a CFI through a friend from a pilot's club I'm in. He meets all the insurance requirements, so I didn't need to ask them to okay him. He has over 5000 total hours, over 2500 retract hours, and 31 hours in Commander 114(s).

On Saturday 9/12, after doing ground instruction for awhile, we flew for 1.3 hours (Hobbs time) doing basic maneuvers, climbs, descents, climbing and descending turns, turns around a point, steep turns both right and left, best glide (simulated engine out), and 1 landing.

Then on Friday 9/18 I got a real workout! 2.2 hours felt like 5.2! I asked to do slow flight and stalls, so we went out and did those. Then we came back to POC and did many landings and takeoffs, including normal, short field, and soft field. He pulled the power at one point and I had to do a near-idle short approach to get down. By the end, I was really ready to stop. It was in the high 90s and the heat and the workout were tough.

One interesting thing happened, now filed in my personal "I won't ever do that again" file: We stopped at transient parking for a break of about 15 minutes. When attempting to re-start the plane, using the hot start procedure in the POH, the engine would start briefly and then die. It happened several times. Finally, I called my co-owner (who's owned the plane for 15-1/2 years) and asked him what to do. At one point he mentioned "fuel flow" and both my CFI and I immediately looked down at the fuel selector valve; sure enough, I had turned it to the OFF position when parking the plane. Problem solved!

We have a storm coming into the area Monday, so we're not planning to fly again until Thursday. The CFI wants me to nail down the procedures for the various types of takeoffs and landings, and become VERY familiar with the emergency procedures. He said he expects to sign me off at the end of the flight on Thursday! So maybe this coming Sunday I'll take the plane and GO somewhere for the first time (*fingers crossed!*).

Have fun, everyone, at the annual fly-in! I hope to join you at the 2016 event.


Gerry
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

lovetwinprops said:
the engine would start briefly and then die. It happened several times. Finally, I called my co-owner (who's owned the plane for 15-1/2 years) and asked him what to do. At one point he mentioned "fuel flow" and both my CFI and I immediately looked down at the fuel selector valve; sure enough, I had turned it to the OFF position when parking the plane. Problem solved!
Click to expand...

Happened to me too, years ago. I was ferrying someone else's airplane. I never switch my fuel tanks to OFF, so didn't consider checking. Had the same engine start-stop problem. The mechanic that had done maintenance on the airplane walked over and told me to pick a fuel tank to make it behave better.

:o
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

Maybe not an issue with the non-turbo models, but on the TC vapor lock of the mechanical pump while sitting on hot asphalt is a legitimate problem, the heat from the turbo warms it up too much. I would make a habit of running the boost pump after start while taxi'ing to get enough flow through the system to cool it all off.

Just knock the boost pump off for a few seconds and then back on again during the run-up to check the mechanical pump.

Also, assuming this if your first retract as it was mine when I bought my TC, one thing that isn't in the factory checklists but you should add is checking the emergency release to make sure it's up during the run-up.

It's not difficult to kick the emergency release with your foot when you get in on the pilot's side. And taking off into a mountain to find that the get won't come up and you can't figure out why is bad juju. That happened to me (thankfully not much of a mountain...)
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

RNC said:
Also, assuming this if your first retract as it was mine when I bought my TC, one thing that isn't in the factory checklists but you should add is checking the emergency release to make sure it's up during the run-up.

It's not difficult to kick the emergency release with your foot when you get in on the pilot's side. And taking off into a mountain to find that the get won't come up and you can't figure out why is bad juju. That happened to me (thankfully not much of a mountain...)
Click to expand...

Good idea, Neal. Checking that IS in the POH in Section 4 Normal Procedures, under "Before Starting Engine." But it makes sense to make a final check of the knob during the run-up. Thanks.
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

When I posted a similar introduction to the plane on the Pilots of America forum, I expected some congratulations, "fly safely" comments, and some "nice plane" comments. I also expected, "Hard to get parts for that" and "Should have gotten a 182" comments.

Well, there were NO negative comments at all. Not one. I won't share all with you, as some were just of the "congratulations" and "fly safely" variety. But some of them you might be interested to see, as they are coming from non-Commander owners:

"Love these planes! Congratulations.

I looked at 114's and 115's when I was in the process to upgrading from my 172.
These planes just look like a plane "should" look. Love the trailing link landing gear...

I may get beat down for this comment but I think these are amongst the best looking GA SE aircraft ever made."


"Nice!"


"sweeeeet!"


"Yes, they are excellent looking planes, and the roomiest of them all. It's like flying first-class all the way!"


"Nice looking example! I have long coveted a ride in one. My old C150 partner and I agreed the Commander was our 'if I won the Jackpot' airplane. It reminds me of a Pipcomvikinger."


"Nice!"


"Gorgeous plane.
I think those are the best looking GA planes available."


"Nice. Never flown an AC but always liked them. Good looking, high stance, trailing link gear, plenty of room."


"Mine too Greg. Some friends came to a fly in in a 112 years ago and I fell in love with the airframe. After a bit of digging - I decided the 114 was my "hit the jackpot" airplane."


"I always thought those were cool looking planes."


"Like everyone else, I really like the way those look. Nice grab."


"Congratulations! And did you really intend to be an a-hat and post all the pictures to make us jealous?"


"Very nice! The Commander singles are among the best looking GA planes ever.

Hot Shot 112 is on my list."


"Love those planes. Congrats on the deal. I still remember seeing one for the first time as a teenager working at the airport fueling it up. Instantly fell in love with it."


"Nice, one of the best built SEL airplanes out there, and comfortable as well,..."


"Commanders are beautiful planes."


A friend of mine who owns a Cirrus SR22 posted this on my Facebook page:

"Oh my gosh absolutely gorgeous, Gerry. Now you need a name for her. Did I say she's a gorgeous plane? Congratulations!"

In another forum, the same friend wrote:

"I am so THRILLED for you. The plane is drop-dead gorgeous, and a retract! Can't believe it. ... Did I say your plane is GORGEOUS?"


I'm sure you all got similar comments, but it IS really something to see and hear the comments and compliments we get on these planes.

Happy to be a Commander owner! :D


Gerry
 
Re: And Now, FINALLY, Allow Me to Introduce...

lovetwinprops said:
Good idea, Neal. Checking that IS in the POH in Section 4 Normal Procedures, under "Before Starting Engine." But it makes sense to make a final check of the knob during the run-up. Thanks.
Click to expand...

They left that out of the later model manuals, for whatever reason.

I guess they missed a line on the copy/paste when they got to the 90s :confused:
 
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