In article , Darrell Clay wrote: review. Obviously, we intend to fly it ourselves before making the final decision. Anyone have any suggestions as to what we should do during the flight? See if you can trim it to fly straight...

My Comanche seems to fly straight, no heavy wing (without fuel imbalance) and make book speeds. With the autopilot on in smooth air, and enough right rudder trim to center the ball, the left flap and aileron line up. The right flap and aileron do not. The flap is about 1/2" lower. The aileron...

I hear that potentiometer-based fuel senders can be revitalized by soaking them in a solvent to remove accumulated gunk. I'm wondering if they can be sprayed in place by running the tank dry and using a tuner cleaner (I think it's mostly dichlorofluoroethane). Will that stuff destroy fuel...

My IO-540 with Hartzell compact 2 blade prop is smoother at 2700 RPM than at cruise (2200-2400 RPM). If I have it dynamically balanced at cruise will it vibrate more at climb power? Does the fact that it's smooth at climb power suggest that the engine/prop combo is okay and there is a problem...

My lower tail nav light doesn't work because the braided metal ground strap that connected the tailcone to the light housing fell off the tail cone side. I can't tell (at least from the outside) how it was originally attached to the aluminum skin. I don't see a rivet -- would it have been...

I got a postcard that says that if my plane is for sale they'll buy it for cash right now!!! Also, if I want to *buy* a plane they are constantly getting new inventory! Yeah, that's just the sort of inventory I'm looking for... Instead of buying a plane indiscriminately for cash *directly* I can...

Someone in another thread mentioned that they carry their airplane keys all the time. I'd like to do that, but my 39 year old airplane has 3 different keys -- one for the baggage door, one for the cabin door and one for the mag switch. Has anyone successfully re-keyed an airplane back to a single...

While in solid IMC last Sunday I reached toward the windscreen to see how warm the defroster was and I got a quick series of static shocks without actually touching anything. Under the same conditions I was still receiving the VORs for the airway I was on and communicating with ATC with no...

I discovered when I bought my plane that pretty much every aircraft tire I had ever seen was underinflated. The manual calls for 42psi in the mains on my plane, and if you can see even the slightest sidewall squishiness they're down in the low 30's and at the end of a month they're down below...

I understand that if I had a CHT, and it had a redline (I don't have one at all, probably because the PA-24 doesn't have cowl flaps) I would need to keep my CHT or get something certified to be a primary CHT. Are there any rules regarding EGT? The one I have is pretty useless. It's an analog...

Great Lakes Aero offers plain replacement Piper door windows as well STCs for their "frameless" vent windows adapted to the door side. The cost is only a few Aviation Monetary Units more to get the vent, plus the additional install cost since you need an IA for the STC where you could just do the...

Can anyone recommend insurance companies or brokers that will work with low time pilots interested in insuring hi-perf/complex airplanes? I've talked to AOPA and Avemco, and coverage is available, so now I'm just comparison shopping. Scary how many aviation insurance brokers turned up by a Google...

I inherited a Scott Executive Mark III portable oxygen system. I can't find anything on the web about this unit. Even Scott's own site ends with the Mk II. The 3 is a boxy unit that straps into the back seat as an armrest. If anyone has a manual for one of these I'd love to get a scan or fax of...

In article , Andrew Gideon wrote: Any suggestions as to where I might buy/order copies would be very much appreciated. esscoaircraft.com usually has that kind of thing. If you're listing all the aircraft in a club/rental fleet, you...

I bought a PA-24-260 with a verrry slow leak from the prop governor. This has taught me some things about oil leaks. 1) Oil does not go in the obvious direction. Even after you take into account the general airflow around the engine compartment and baffling there are local variations that make...

Last Wednesday I found myself unable to push my plane back into the hangar without help. It was wet, limiting my shoe traction, and I had been unable to successfully get back on the concrete pad after cutting the corner through the squishy grass, forcing me to take a more straight-in (and more...

I'd like to get a tank of N2 to keep around to fill my struts. I assume the welding supply place that will sell me the tank can sell me a regulator that will get me into the 300-500psi range (right?). Where can I get the hose with appropriate (schraeder?) valve for the strut end? Am I looking...

Now that I own my own plane I keep thinking I've crawled around it enough to know what's what, but I keep finding new things... The day I got it: Lots of odds and ends in every pocket and cubbyhole. Within a week: Hanging upside down in the front seats I discovered that each seat frame had a...

I've got an IO-540. The oil filler neck is a long tube sticking up out of the top of the case with a dipstick that's 15" or so. The top end of the dipstick never even gets splashed with oil in normal operation. That part of the dipstick is mildly corroded. I'm assuming it sits in a steamy...

I picked up a set of airstop-style tubes in my last AC Spruce order. I was reviewing tire maintenance procedures and saw a recommendation that you not re-use innertubes because they set slightly stretched and there's a risk of pinching or folding them when they are reinstalled. So, considering...