In the fall of 2015, I made some avionics upgrades to the Bellanca. The Narco Mk12D Nav/Com (and its indicator), Collins AMR350 audio panel, Sigtronics intercom, and 121.5 MHz ELT were removed. In their place, we installed a Garmin GTN650 Nav/Com/GPS, Garmin GI-106A indicator, PS Engineering PMA450 audio panel, Garmin GDL88 ADS-b unit, and AmeriKing 406 MHz ELT. After all the upgrades, the panel looked pretty good.

We flew the plane a couple times after the install, and it worked great. The day after Thanksgiving 2015, I flew down to the avionics shop to have the GDL-88’s software updated to the latest release. That part all went well. On the way home, I was a bit rushed due to some time constraints and then got into a busy pattern (no problem) with helicopters in the pattern. There was a coyote on the runway and I had to go around (again, no problem), but got behind a helicopter in the pattern and somehow didn’t get the gear down before landing (big problem!). The result was ugly.

Later investigation during repair would find that the gear alarm had been disabled during the avionics install, so the backup to the human had failed. No excuse, but irritating when I discovered what had happened. I was left with a choice: take the insurance payout and write the plane off or do most of the repair labor myself (overseen by a friendly IA, of course). I went for the repair option, which took all of 2016. The structural damage was actually pretty minimal. The inner two ribs of both flaps needed to be repaired and the trailing edge replaced, then the flaps were recovered. Minor repairs to the right wing’s 2nd rib were required. The strobe mounting bracket on the belly was removed (due to damage) and replaced with a stringer, then the fabric damage repaired. The nose gear had to be disassembled, inspected, repaired, and reinstalled. The engine went to Western Skyways for a major overhaul and is nice and shiny and clean now. The prop governor was overhauled and the prop replaced. The nav lights and belly strobe were replaced with AeroLED nav/strobe kits and the landing/taxi lights replaced with Whelen Parmetheus Plus lights. I replaced all the seat belts and added BAS inertia reel shoulder harnesses for the front seats. And, because I hadn’t changed enough things, pulled the VAL INS-422 Nav radio and King KY-97A Com radio and installed a Garmin SL-30 Nav/Com and another GI-106A indicator. Also removed the clock and installed a Guardian Aero 553 carbon monoxide detector. And, in proof that AmeriKing really was making crap, the almost new ELT didn’t pass inspection, so I pulled it and installed a Artex ELT 1000 unit.

First flight was January 5, 2017 and lasted about 1.25 hours. The airplane performed almost perfectly. The avionics upgrades all worked perfectly, as did the lights, gear, flaps, and such. Despite the flap rebuild and re-rigging both the flaps and ailerons, the airplane flew straight and level. Only two real problems during the flight: the need to turn up the prop governor to get some more RPMs at full power and a flaky left magneto. The mag has been pulled, sent to Western Skyways, repaired, and returned. Now time for propeller adjustments and a spring of hard flying to finish the engine break-in.