Setup CHOW HOUND at KBFI heavy stand for a dawn flight , engs 234 started , eng 1 failed to start , shut everything down looked in the hangar , plugs problem on eng 1 , topped up fuel , and managed to get all engines started , weather was great on t/o from runway 13R , headed straight out towards mountains climbed at 500fpm , then after a while i turned north , as i entered the restricted military zone just past ks10 , i turned east , came out of the mountains area near to KPAE , started a slow decent , as i headed down the river channel towards the sea , once below 9000ft i turned 180 deg heading back towards KPAE , still decending towards my goal of 2000/3000ft , in readyness for my landing back at KBFI , what i did not expect , was a sudden cloud that blocked my view , so was flying blind till i got below it , only for another cloud to block my view , i was now at 1500ft , lower than intended , i then found myself in heavy rain , shortly after that it turned to heavy snow , vis was not good , and i was trying to find my turn point , to head for KBFI , once i found that turn point and headed towards KBFI the weather seemed to start getting better , this proved to be correct , landing was good , just as well , as RH gear is worn , so i have to be careful .
afterflight checks shows engines still ok surprisingly , RH gear worn , otherwise aircraft is serviceable.
video of flight :- https://www.twitch.tv/cxa651/v/108279911
Airframe now has 161.9hrs
engines
1 55.0 hrs
2 56.3 hrs
3 59.1 hrs
4 57.7 hrs
regards alan.
