Off to see the Wizard

I completed a four page document that became the checklist that I would use to help me with the inspection of the plane. I drove back the the airport to discuss with Robert the document that I had prepared. He looked over the paperwork and added a few addition bullet points to the list. He also reassured me that he would gladly help me if I had any questions while I was up there doing the inspection. I know that Robert is really busy with his operations, and I really appreciate his offer to help. He of course interjected "I look on the bright side on getting all that new business from you!" (said with a big cheesy grin!).

I contacted the seller to determine when a good time to schedule the inspection. My plan was to fly up to Tacoma on a weekend to inspected the plane, then to drive up the following week to pick it up.

I managed to get the approval to take Friday, April 9th off from work to fly up to Tacoma. I booked the flight, a hotel room and car for the weekend, and fly back Sunday.

The seller was anxious to sell the plane and have it out of the hanger before the first of May (to avoid paying for the hanger space another month.) He asked if there was anyway that I could get there sooner, but since the weekend prior to my planned trip was Easter, the airlines blacked out those days. It was April 9th or later.

Friday, April 9th, I was off to Tacoma. My flight arrived at SEATAC at noon, and there was no problem with getting the car or my room. The seller was out all day, so there was no way that we could get together sooner to inspect the plane. Such is life.

Saturday, after having sleepless night just thinking about the inspection, I decided to get an early start driving to Gig Harbor, which was about forty minutes from the hotel. I made good time driving to the airport (without speeding) and arrived early. Since the airport required card access, drove around doing a little sightseeing.

Fifteen minutes later I headed back to the Gig Harbor Airport. The Seller, Charlie Long was waiting at the gate. He escorted me in and we made our introductions. we walked into the hanger where the Glider trailer has been parked for two years. Charlie had made periodic inspections on the plane and trailer, but he and his wife had been spending more time on their boat, that his love of soaring had to take a backseat.

Charlie and I pulled the trailer out and started to unload the glider.

She was dusty and looking like she was needing some loving.

As we pulled the fuselage out and I started noticing that the gelcoat cracking was worse then what the photos showed. Argh! The cracking and blistering was not localized, it was all over the fuselage.

I pulled out my checklist and started documenting the conditions bullet point by bullet point. We assembled the wings and tested the linkage.The wing mounts were worn, but the attachment points were still in very good condition.

 

As we assembled the glider, Charlie instructed me on how the aircraft went together.

Once the glider was assembled I continued the inspection. This was going to be a learning experience.