AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2021 - 76

AVIONICS AND INSTRUMENTS in N8000 follow a conventional but

strategic plan (right). With the vacuum system removed during
restoration, the Aspen E5 was added as an auxiliary to the existing
electric attitude indicator and HSI. A Trig TT22 transponder
provided ADS-B Out, and, with its small control head, could be
placed at the bottom of the center stack. With the existing satellite
weather receiver, active traffic system, and Stormscope, ADS-B In
seemed unnecessary for the time being.

me to redo one of the stalls, but I had not forgotten how to fly.
Everything came together with a bit of effort. Finally, we came
back to the pattern and did three landings without terrifying either
occupant. Decoded, this means that we landed under control in the
touchdown zone, contacting Mother Earth-if not with a gratifying kiss, then not with a bone-shattering bang either.
In a critical light, however, none of my landing patterns or
approaches in the Cherokee were the same. One pattern was wider
than the other. This descent angle was shallower than the last.
Power had to be added or subtracted in greater amounts than I
would have liked. The ideal approach follows the same pattern
width, same turn to base, same airspeed, same descent angle, and
same flare. Every approach is formed in the longing for an ideal. Of
course, no two approaches are ever really the same, but proficiency
narrows the band of variation, and, in the process, creates an
almost unthinking response to bring things back toward the ideal.
The band was a little wider than I would have wished, but the
sky had reopened for the ongoing challenge of self-improvement.
I enjoyed flying the Cherokee. The experience was fresh and
invigorating. An identity had been reactivated-pilot-one that

76 | AOPA PILOT April 2021

stretches back to a first solo in 1969, a flying career, and a lifetime
of GA travel that rarely saw more than a week between flights.
George and I flew together again a few days later to complete an
instrument proficiency check. My next flight would be the solo
test flight of N8000.
The story of N8000's life in exile, and the turns and twists
in its eventual return, is an odyssey beyond telling in this article. However, understanding why a pilot would take a perfectly
good airplane apart, store it, and put it back together hinges on a
single fact: For 20 years, the twin had served as transport for our
family. It carried us on annual treks to the Bahamas, and to many
other special vacations; took two children back and forth to college; and had been the means to attend graduations, weddings,
births, and much more. In its use, it garnered all the affection that
any aircraft could possibly engender in a pilot. The choice to take
N8000 apart at the end of 2011 was, in this light, a natural response
to circumstances.
The year 2011 had begun with optimism. In February, my wife
and I flew to the West Coast and back. It was a magical trip-our
first coast to coast by light airplane. Arriving in Los Angeles, we

AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2021

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