January 6, 2018

January 6, 2018 was a bit of a fateful day.

On the Christmas Eve before, flying back from Naples, we’d had to leave the aeroplane in Ohio because the FADEC wasn’t running correctly. Something was not right. We’d almost made it home, actually, as far as Toledo, but we had to turn around because of weather. Then the problem started developing, so I opted to land somewhere near Columbus.

We ended up leaving the aeroplane there for a little while, and eventually I went back to collect it and fly it home from Columbus to Willow Run. Initially it was performing okay, but as time went on it would give a little stutter, and I’d have to throttle back a bit so the engine cleaned up. It would go for a little longer, then give another stutter, so I’d throttle back again, until I was flying really slowly.

So I landed in Toledo and got some fuel, because it seemed to be using a lot and I didn’t really understand why, and let the plane cool off a little. Temperatures were freezing; I was wearing all my snowboarding gear for the flight because it was so cold. Then I set off for Willow Run, and after 15 or 20 minutes the same thing started happening: a little stutter, and throttle back. By the time I was within about two miles of Willow Run, I was flying at 57 knots because I couldn’t maintain full engine power.

But we made it home, and this is the picture I took of the plane on the ground after that horrible trip from Columbus.

Needless to say, it was time to figure out what to do with the FADEC.