Piper Aztec E normally aspirated

[anofly]

Anyone got an electronic POH for an E model Aztec? around 1974 ish model. but any E manual appreciated...

[Scudrunner]

Found a PDF copy of one for you.

Piper - PA23-250AztecE_FULL.pdf

And an F one

Piper-Aztec-POH.pdf

Can't verify any of the contents but hope they can help out!

[Colonel]

The Piper Aztec is kind of the girl next door. Not glamorous like a Beech Baron
and a lot slower. I liked them, though - with that fat (slow) Cub wing, they were
very easy and forgiving to fly, and carried a very good load. Lots of power with
the six cylinder engines.

Things I didn't like about the Aztec:

1) fuel injected Lycomings are fun to hot start. Welcome to my life.

2) gear was hydraulic. A nightmare. IIRC it had only a pump on one
engine, and if it failed, you had to fly single engine and get your head
down and pump this stupid handle that you pulled out, 100 times or
something. I have no idea how they got something that crazy, certified.

3) steel tube frame corrosion. Mooney, Apache, etc.

They're all so old, these days. In addition to the above, add wiring
and connectors, which are going to cause you trouble on all old
aircraft.

They're sort of certified for known icing, if you don't look too closely
at the paperwork.

[anofly]

rumoured to be 50 pumps for gear down, but if you are doing that single engine, on a non precision approach, at night, in IMC , good on you, You might consider landing straight in, single engine without the gear, better than losing control fighting with the gear... you can get the flaps down with a few less pumps.
like everything aviation someone came up with a dual pump mod and put a hydraulic pump on the other motor with an STC.
as a bye the way....
I was taking some switches and breakers out of a spare airframe I have the other day. a 1957 pa 24.
Many of the ring terminals had screws that could only be described as barely tight ... took almost no effort at all , and some you could have unscrewed the little screw with your fingers... these clearly loosen up with time, heat cycles, electrical cycles or whatever...the plane is more than 60 yrs old....

[anofly]

Thanks for the POH!! great!
the word on the street is that Aztecs rarely do what the book says.... wrt speed...

[Colonel]

One weird thing I found, with old circuit breakers, is that they would start
to pop after 20-30 years, at less than the rated current. It's considered
poor form to hold the landing light breaker in during a night landing, for
some odd reason.

What happens is that the spring inside it ages, and loses it's K-factor.

Whenever you are working on an old vehicle, change all the rubber (seals,
gaskets, o-rings, belts, hoses) and springs, even if it's not giving you trouble
at the moment, because it soon will.

I have a friend with a 911 Turbo that's over 20 years old. I told him to buy
a spool of tubing for his vacuum hoses, and to replace every one. One at
a time.

[anofly]

or you could always buy new LED landing lights that only take a few amps...LOL
one could spend a rainy day or two swapping out circuit breakers and checking torque on screw terminals!!
beats tv.... and you can do it alone...

[Liquid_Charlie]

LED landing lights, low power and very bright but also low heat so in icing and wing mount they just give you mood lighting

[Scudrunner]

One for sale on the COPA Plane Trade.

https://canadianplanetrade.ca/en/2021/0 ... pa-23-250/

[Colonel]

He wants USD ... does that mean he delivers with N-registration?