Wash N Wax

Today was the club's Wash N Wax day to clean the planes.

With a good member turnout the work went quickly.

I got to taxi the Archer to the wash stand and we then soaped it down and power washed it clean.

 Then I taxi'd it back to the hangar and we dried the plane off, applied wax and buffed it to a shine (Mr. B., the wax you suggested is now on order so we'll have better stuff soon).

We then did the same with the Dakota once it returned form the Wash Stand.

With everyone working it only took and hour to get it all done.

Then we got to checkout this nice 1967 Chevelle SS that a nearby hangar owner drove up in.  He checked out our nice and shiny planes, and we got to checkout his very nice car.

All original except for some hoses and the white paint on top which had been redone.   Per the owner, the original A/C has a leak and is inop, especially with the cost of freon these days,  Other than that, she's not just working and all-original but an absolute beaut of a car. 

It was a beautiful morning and a good time with some good people, cleaning planes, talking aviation, and admiring a classic car.

Cleaning Around The House Under Pressure

So This Weekend we did some exterior clean-up, weeding and replanting.

I had purchased a pressure washer at Aldi, a Ferrex Compact electrically powered pressure washer.  For $100 it was practically a no-brainer purchase.

Assembly was pretty easy, I got it plugged in, added the water hose, and got pressure spraying.

Much fun was had, and that thing seriously blasted off dirt and grime with ease.

I cleaned off the outdoor patio set and it gleams like new.  The washer blasted off the caked-on dirt and green algae that was on the chairs and table and they now look almost like new.

I was pretty impressed with how well it cleaned them.

The pressure washed the deck and the only problem was that along with the green algae it would tend to pull off the paint but I figured out some adjustments and it all looks much more presentable now.  (yes we need to repaint the deck at some point and needed to even before I started pressure washing. For whatever reason, paint doesn't last very long on the deck).

Do need to buy some pressure washer soap and really go to town on the windows etc, without soap the washer blasted off all the Piper dirt, but I expect with some soap/window cleaner it will work a lot better.

Got a lot done and the outside of the house most especially the front porch looks a heckuva lot better.  Still more to do but it was a good start.

Turknelli Trials And Tribulations

Took the Turknelli to the range and had some issues.

Basically, it would not eject, or would eject but not  chamber the next round. In short, it had become a lever operated shotgun.

Stripped it for cleaning and it was rather apparent why.

Turns out the gas pistons were frozen solid, completely locked up with massive carbon deposits.

As in really locked up:

 

 

 

That's solid carbon poking out of the piston tube under the barrel after hammering the piston downward to try and get it to move.   The pistons had to be removed by tapping on them with a hammer, a lot and rather hard.

 

Both O rings were found to be broken on the piston covers (that's the remains of one below between the piston covers and the pistons, so I ordered some new ones. I wonder if they broke during the first shooting session and that's why the other rounds wouldn't feed properly.

 

 

Look at all that carbon on those pistons, the one on the left with what looks like a black cap should look like the one on the right with the carbon removed. This stuff was packed on, solid 

Now the pistons move freely again, and I expect the Turknelli will work properly now.  They were rather impressively filthy and absolutely coated in chunks of carbon, as were the insides of the tubes they sit in.

Got everything back together and per the internet, it apparently will work even without the o rings in place but I expect the replacements will come in soon anyways so I'll pop them on before taking it to the range for its next trip.

Overall, the fit and finish of the Turknelli could be a touch better.  It takes a fair amount of effort to get the barrel lined up and inserted, and it seems to be a fair bit more effort than on Benelli M4s as seen by others showing disassembly/assembly on Youtube which is a bit of an annoyance. 

Then again, this is a budget version of the Benelli so if this now works, I won't complain all that much. Be interesting to see if this carbon build up  is due to some particularly dirty ammo or if it is some break in issue.

Cleaning Day

Had both an enjoyable and a not-so-enjoyable cleaning experience today.

The enjoyable cleaning experience was my Flying Club's Wash n' Wax where we cleaned both planes and made them shine, not to mention vacuumed the interiors.  We then held a meeting of members and discussed the state of the club and some future plans.  The club is in good financial shape with reserves for the engines and the engines on both planes are running strong, even as the Archer is getting close to its TBO time.  So far oil analysis and compressions are excellent but we've got enough to cover a full factory overhaul just in case.

Some members want to overhaul the Dakota's interior, so we will see what the cost of that may be.

I was asked to run for a Board of Directors slot, so I am doing so and we'll see what happens.  

Lots of fun and good to be around airplanes and a good bunch of people.

Then the not-so-enjoyable experience:  

Piper went to the vet yesterday and got checked out.  Turns out she's growing properly but running a tad thin so we're upping her food amount, but she was otherwise great.  She also then got the appropriate shot for her age.

It turns out dogs can have reactions to vaccines. Did not know that. Piper certainly did.

The reaction in this case is explosive projectile poop-age.

9 times overnight and this morning, 5 of which were examples of biological warfare indoors.

How something so small can have that much poop inside is a mystery.

Cleaning that up was no fun. 

So, she went back to the vet today and got some medication to help with that reaction and she's fine and it seems to be settling down but still not back to normal yet.  Keeping her off the carpet anyways for now until she's back to normal.

It's always got to be something.

The Biannual Wash N' Wax - Aviation Has Risks

Today was a good day to get out and clean the aircraft. It's also mandatory to attend as part of the flying club, and itg's a nice time to meet up and chat with your fellow members.

Pretty much all the club members showed up and that made cleaning and waxing the planes a much faster job.  The weather being nice didn't hurt either.

What did hurt was when a fellow member decided to turn with his long-handled cleaning bush and didn't check his six or do a clearing turn before doing so.

Ow. 

 At least it missed the eye itself, but I sure as heck saw stars.  Aviation after all has inherent risks, even on the ground.

No major harm done, but I had quite a headache from it and I'm gonna have quite the shiner.

Well, the planes were taken form their hangars and first de-greased and their bellies soaped down by hand.  Then we did a taxi to the wash stand and soaped them down completely and washed them with a pressure washer. Then, we taxied them back to the hangars and toweled them dry and then sprayed Brillianize wax on them and toweled that to a shine.

 

They looked darn nice when we were done with them, and it took less than two hours to detail both aircraft.

One of our former long-standing members showed up to the wash n wax.  He recently left the club because he had decided to buy his own airplane, and after we were done cleaning and putting the planes away we went to admire it.

It' a 1978 Bonanza A36, and it's a beast.

6 seats, 160 knot cruising speed, complex, and all tricked out with some awesome avionics.   He also wisely got 35 hours of instruction in the Bonanza to learn its idiosyncrasies and how to keep ahead of it.  It's a very, very nice plane.

Not a bad way to spend a few hours.

Do Your Rifles Suffer From Dryness?

I haven't been getting out to the range much lately as I've been busy rebuilding my office and such.

I opened my lesser-used collectible rifle locker and saw most of the rifles in it looked like this:

They had a strange white powdery like substance stuck to them. It wiped off with a dry  cloth easily enough but it was quite strange that it had suddenly shown up. Perhaps it's a weird mold of some kind, or something leaching out of the stocks?

Thanks to Murphy's Law's recommendation, I got some Rig Universal Grease and a cotton cloth and then commenced to wiping down the metal and wood with a light film of RIG.

Now the rifles look like this and no longer suffer from dryness, just lack of use, which certainly needs to be remedied. They now look much better, have a gleaming appearance, and should be much better protected now.

So far only that one gun safe had the problem, but I'm going to go through and carefully clean and grease every firearm in the collection as a preventative measure.

A big thumbs up for Rig Universal Grease, it's absolutely excellent stuff for preserving your firearms.

Mother's Day Part 2 - Garage Spring Cleaning

A Mother's Day request Natasha had for today was that I and the kids clean the garage, since she has allergies to dust she really doesn't like doing it.

Since it's Mother's Day, how could we say no?

So Abby, Leah and I've just finished a few hours of sweeping, cleaning, and throwing accumulated junk out. They're getting to an age where they can actually assist and do useful cleaning actions.

I also inflated the tires on all the bicycles, and they certainly needed it, after this winter they were all just about as flat as flat tires could be.

You wouldn't believe how much debris, dried leaves, dirt and dust came off that garage floor. Now its so clean you could practically sit on it (I would never advise eating off a garage floor, ok?).

Now I'm grilling some chicken drumsticks for a Mother's Day dinner, and all is right with the world.

Have a great Mother's Day!

Zen And The Art Of Carry Gun Maintenance

Last night I decided it was time to do some preventative maintenance on my Kahr PM9.

Even though I haven't shot it in a few months, I felt it was time to give it some TLC, considering it is a continual choice as a carry piece.

So I disassembled it and gave it a cleaning. Even having cleaned it well after its last range outing, some fouling still emerged from the barrel after a brush was run through it.

The real fun part was the magazines, or more particularly the 7 round magazine that I would carry as the spare mag in my pocket while the 6 rounder was in the pistol.

The 6 round mag was very clean. The 7 rounder, not so much.

In taking it apart, it was apparent that every bit of lint in a one mile area had decided to occupy my magazine.

The lint was actually below the top round , on the lower rounds in the magazine and lots had worked its way under the magazine follower and well within the mag body.

Cleaning with a dry Soft Tip Brush got rid of the lint and each round was wiped down with a dry cloth. I really recommend using this kind of brush for cleaning small magazines. The brushes easily fit and do a great job getting all the lint and gunk out of the magazine body.

Magazine reassembled, it was then reloaded and no gritty sounds occurred during the loading process. I lubed the frame rails and barrel hood and reassembled the Kahr and then wiped down the outside of the firearm with some CLP to help protect the metal.

Even if you don't shoot your carry gun on every outing, its a good idea to do some maintenance and ensure it is still clean and lubricated.

Don't forget that pocket carry spare magazine - it will most likely be even dirtier than the gun!

The Ruger Pokey

My Ruger Mark II had not been torn down for a detail clean in quite sometime due to the rather arcane requirements to have it reassembled and function after stripping. It was starting to have some extraction problems so I figured it was well and truly due for a quality cleaning.

As anyone who owns a Mark II or its related variant knows, a complete tear down is generally a source of trepidation due to the hassle of reassembly.

I removed the bolt, took the receiver off of the grip and trigger housing, removed the grips and gave it a serious scrubbing.

The amount of crud that had built up over the long period of firing it was impressive. It is now cleaner than it has been in quite some time after being cleaned in every crevice and on every surface. There was even crud awaiting on the metal frame under the grip panels. The trigger is noticeably better now that all the grit that built up on it has been removed and the bolt and chamber are now remarkably clean.

Then it was time for reassembly:

Reassembling the Mark 2 generally requires facing Southport, Connecticut, then sacrificing a chicken and promising to quit being pissed, at least for a little while, at Bill Ruger for his support of the assault weapons and magazine ban.

But that is not enough.

After placing the barrel and receiver back on the trigger frame you have to do what I call the Ruger Pokey dance:

The Ruger Pokey

You point the gun up and pull the trigger back,
You slide the bolt in and give it a smack,
Then you need to place the hammer forward so you pull the trigger down,
But you're still not done, Hey!

You put the mainspring in, you point the barrel up,
Don't exceed 60 degrees or you will be upsut,
Make sure the strut rests on the main spring depression,
But you're still not done, Hey!

Now you latch the mainspring housing and hope you did it right,
If you did the Ruger Pokey, the bolt will move and not be stuck tight,
If not then you will start all over your fight,
That's what its all about, Hey!

After performing the Ruger Pokey, I, mirabile dictu, actually got the Mark II reasembled perfectly on the first try this time.

Now I'll have to take it to the range and get it all dirty again...

Winter Cleaning - Refrigerator Coil Dust from hell

What else to do on a freezing cold, mid-winter Sunday but a manly clean up?

The wife had an urge to clean the heck outta the place and the safest thing to do in such situations is say "OK" and get cleaning.

This led me to decide on some properly manly cleaning and maintenance tasks - cleaning the basement work area, checking on the furnace and humidifier - easy basic surface cleaning and filter changes and working on the downstairs refrigerator.

The downstairs refrigerator cleaning came from watching Alton Brown's Good Eats - a manly cooking show if there ever was one. Where else is there a camera at the back of an oven and Alton explains how and why the food actually cooks on an atomic, chemical and biological level, complete with humorous depictions. And he cooks meat. Which is manly in and of itself.

Back to the refrigerator - on one show he mentioned that the refrigerator coils should be cleaned to ensure best possible functioning and efficiency. Indeed, the coils should be cleaned every 6-12 months. Doing so makes the fridges work more efficiently, prevent overheating the motor, etcetera, etcetera. Just a good maintenance chore to do every 6-12 months.

The fridge downstairs has not been cleaned the 5 years we've lived here, and after opening the kick plate it looks like it probably was not cleaned before then either.

Some fridges have dust bunnies, this fridge had an entire dust warren of bunnies in residence. The coils were barely visible under massive layers of dust that surrounded them and filled the spaces between them.

So cleaning I went. Mind you the website says turn the fridge off first - ha, real men leave the power on in times such as this.

Of course the hand vac we had was under powered and almost useless, indeed the dust laughed and began sucking dirt out of the vacuum, just to show it could. Dust Devil hand vac, my foot, it was more of a Dust pansy.

So I did it the hard way - damp paper towel and careful maneuvering by hand, then with a compressed air can that blew more dust out than the vac, in thick clouds that settled thickly enough to be seen and wiped up, and finally with a baby bottle brush that we don't use for bottles. The coils are now visible and much cleaner than before, even though some dust remains.

So task completed I went on and cleaned other stuff.

The upstairs fridge is a project for next week, and I'm not sure how many new cultures I'm going to meet when I open that kickplate.

Refrigerator coil cleaning - not for the faint of heart, but necessary and a properly manly cleaning task involving power tools, compressed air and danger of electric shock.