June 14 — On Thursday, June 3, forecasters were calling for good VFR conditions for AOPA's annual Fly-In, which would take place two days later. So it was with great confidence that I took off from the Merritt Island (Florida) Airport — home of Sebastian Communication, avionics installers for the Win-A-Twin. It was a five-hour, non-stop flight back to Frederick, Maryland (AOPA's home base), that Thursday, made vastly more comfortable thanks to the brand-new panel.

I had a Garmin AT CNX 80 to navigate by, GPS roll steering to make all the route's doglegs for me, WSI Inflight datalink weather imagery to help me fly around thunderstorms in South Carolina, and — what's this? Yes, an autopilot! For the first time in the 40-odd hours I'd logged in N204WT, I could fly hands-off, thanks to the new Meggitt/S-TEC System Fifty-Five X two-axis autopilot. All up and down the Piedmont that day, skies were hazy, punctuated here and there by storm cells topping out at 35,000 feet. But for me, it was a nearly carefree flight.

That night I'm at my customary post, propped up in front of the TV, watching The Weather Channel. That's when a perky forecaster laid down the latest: Now, it looked like rain for the Fly-In. And I hated the way the news was broken.

"We're looking at some precipitation for your weekend in the Mid-Atlantic states," the forecaster pronounced. And at the exact same time those words are uttered, this forecast-person leaps in front of the map, blocking the whole East Coast from view. Now I can't see the extent of the predicted rain or the contours showing its prognosticated intensity. A quick online session confirmed the switcheroo. The TAFs were talking about 700- to 1,000-foot ceilings for the morning.

Well, Saturday, June 5, came, AOPA's annual Fly-In was held, and our/your Win-A-Twin Comanche proudly took center stage at the static display area. And boy did it rain. Still, yours truly and a handful of other stalwarts manned our soggy post by the Twin Comanche.

First, rain water squeezed up around the soles of our shoes. By 11 a.m., it was a muddy broth. By 3 p.m. it was plain old mud. It rained so heavily that I decided not to power up the new avionics. I didn't like the idea of a wet extension cord or an open cabin door. Too bad, but the avionics stayed bone-dry.

Still, many visitors braved the weather and visited our pride and joy. Attendance was somewhere north of 3,000 people, so it wasn't that the Fly-In was a wipe-out. On the contrary, AOPA headquarters — as well as the large tent pitched out in our parking lot — was filled with shoppers, gawkers, and seminar attendees.

All I can say is: better luck next time. And "next time" will be EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, from July 27 to August 2. That's when the Win-A-Twin will once again take center stage. This time we'll have the panel all lit up. We hope you'll come by, and we hope we'll all stay dry!

On to Airtex
The panel won't be the only new addition you'll be able to see at the AirVenture. By then the interior is due to be completed.

The interior completion is one of the last steps in the Win-A-Twin's refurbishment, and it began two days after the Fly-In. That's when I flew N204WT to the Trenton-Mercer County Airport — where Airtex Products, Inc. is located.

Over the next three weeks, the airplane will undergo yet another transformation, under the leadership of Airtex's Dodd Stretch, president of the company. It will be out with the old, and in with the new.

And it's about time. I had a chance to study the old interior during several long flights, and it needs help. The carpet has a sort of avocado-brown hue of the kind popular in the 1970s — but now seen only in thrift shops. The headliner sags down in longitudinal pouches. If I were an inch taller, it would touch my head. The glareshield is cracked.

The insulation is another issue. Today's aircraft insulation comes in bags. The Twin Comanche's looks like the insulation in your attic. It's loose and seems to have been simply stuffed in just prior to concealing it with headliner and sidewall panels. When Lakeland Air Service fixed the overhead pitch trim cables, they removed the headliner, and the insulation fell out. Some of it landed on the mechanics' heads. Some was caught by passing breezes and distributed across the hangar floor. What a mess!

The photos posted with this update show the very first stages of the interior rework. The next update will focus on the final touches.

As you can see, all that rotten old insulation has been throroughly ripped out. New, bagged insulation pouches will take their place. Then come the seats with new leather covers and the new wool headliner and leather-and-vinyl sidewall panels. Even the headrests and front seatbacks will be redone — the latter customized to hold the flat-screen displays for the ship's DVD player. And in case anyone is wondering, the answer is "yes," the DVD player works, and we've seen our first movie. It was A Beautiful Mind. The resolution was fantastic. Next up: Top Gun.

What's Next
The interior should be finished by July 1. Shortly thereafter, it will return to Sebastian Communication at the Merritt Island (Florida) Airport for some final touches to the instrument panel. The biggest upgrade here will be the addition of new, backlit subpanels. Seven such subpanels will be installed, all of them containing labels for various switches and controls.

Then the airplane will return to LoPresti Speed Merchants at the Vero Beach (Florida) Airport. A few minor maintenance issues will be addressed — including recalibration of the left engine's J.P. Instruments EDM-760 fuel flow monitors and locating and repairing a minor oil leak from the right engine.

Again, please stay tuned for the next update — same Web site, same URL. — Thomas A. Horne