PREFLIGHT
Pam and decided to take a getaway 3 day trip to Las Vegas landing at Henderson (HND). We had 30mph headwinds and had to catch the 10AM shuttle to our hotel. We arrived at 9:45 and tied the plane down, we would refuel at the self fuel island before leaving.
I’m not mechanically inclined and there are areas of my engine compartment I can’t get to to inspect.
Upon returning to the plane we loaded our luggage and taxied over to the self fuel island and filled up. I then performed our preflight. I fly an old V Tail Bonanza with an electric propeller. I got to the prop area and noticed the electric motor for the prop was out of position. I grabbed it with my hand, and it had a wide range of motion where it should be completely secured.
Pam and I walked back to the terminal building and asked if there was an FBO on the field. The first guy I called was not returning to his business until Monday. This being Thursday it was not an acceptable option. I then asked if there was another FBO on the field and got lucky. Glen Austin of Kings Avionics met me at my airplane and was knowledgeable about my Beech electric prop. He towed the plane back to his shop. I was hoping that some attachments had come loose, no such luck. After taking the cowl and spinner off Glen found that the prop motor bracket was broken in half. I was able to find a new prop bracket that would be shipped out Monday from CA. Glen did a further inspection to find out why the bracket broke. He found the propeller not to be turning correctly and the gears didn’t look good.
We will be sending the prop and motor to be overhauled. While I was in the hangar a Cirrus pilot was having a flat tire replaced. He sated that I was lucky this happened on the ground, and that I found the problem in preflight....no kidding. I’m very lucky and and look forward to being back in the air in about 4 weeks and several thousand dollars poorer. Welcome to the world of plane ownership.
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