Mobileman
New member
Bankstown (Sydney) NSW, Australia
- Aircraft Year
- 1976
- Aircraft Type
- 114A
- Reg Number
- VHKEF
- Serial Number
- 14133
Hello COG Members - I am a new owner of 14133 a 1976 114A with low airframe hours (~1650) and very low engine & prop hours (~250). It had sat for 19 years in Perth as the previous owner had medical issues. After I purchased in May 2021 when the annual was completed they locked the borders because of Covid 19 so it was not able to be picked up for 7 months! I am still getting accustomed to her but very happy. I have had a few issues - I was doing circuits with an instructor here in Sydney and we had smoke in the cabin! There was a short in the fuel pump and its active wire became hot and melted all the plastic coating. Luckily we were able to land without incident. It turned out that somewhere in the history (I suspect in NZ where it had been at a flying school before 2010 when it came to Perth, Australia) someone had replaced the fuel pump switch which has an inbuilt circuit breaker with a cheaper Piper switch without a circuit breaker - hence the short and almost fire in the motor!.
Anyway I am looking forward to getting to know you all even if from the down under! My son and his young family are living in Orlando at the moment and we intend to come in February.
One thing I will ask is I am looking for a place to find the seat handles as the rear seats didn't have any so the kids cannot recline during long trips?
Also I am having trouble with a leaking fuel drain (AVI-971D) and landing light. The globe doesn't seem to be blown but it doesn't work? I have ordered drain valves and an LED landing light from Spruce and hopefully I have the right ones but if other have had similar issues I would love to hear the best solutions.
Rory McDonnell
Sydney, Australia
1976 114A 14133
Anyway I am looking forward to getting to know you all even if from the down under! My son and his young family are living in Orlando at the moment and we intend to come in February.
One thing I will ask is I am looking for a place to find the seat handles as the rear seats didn't have any so the kids cannot recline during long trips?
Also I am having trouble with a leaking fuel drain (AVI-971D) and landing light. The globe doesn't seem to be blown but it doesn't work? I have ordered drain valves and an LED landing light from Spruce and hopefully I have the right ones but if other have had similar issues I would love to hear the best solutions.
Rory McDonnell
Sydney, Australia
1976 114A 14133
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