"Peter Duniho" wrote in message ...
"Bill Denton" wrote in message
...
Thanks to all who've posted so far. Unfortunately it appears I might not
have been very clear in what I was looking for. Please allow me to
clarify...

Thank you. It's very hard to answer very vague questions.

I noticed that engines were about the only things mentioned. We al so want
to consider all of the airplane, including tires, landing gear, lights,
instruments, avionics, and whatever else.

So let's look at it this way: how long could the airplane sit without
incurring extremely excessive wear or situations that would make the
airplane even slightly unsafe to fly?

What CJ said. Most of the airplane is relatively immune to long-term
corrosion; aluminum winds up with a thin layer of oxidation that prevents
any further corrosion, and that's what most of the airplane is made of. In
a humid, salty environment (coastal) you may still get more significant
corrosion, but even so you can go months and months without anything serious
happening to most of the airplane.

The reason everyone's talking about the engine is that the engine is what's
most susceptible to sitting there. As far as the rest of the airplane goes,
the main things that will be affected are the battery and the tires. The
battery will gradually lose its charge, and discharging a lead acid battery
will shorten the battery's life. The tires will gradually lose pressure,
and even after relatively short periods of time (weeks) will develop a flat
spot (even if the pressure hasn't noticeably been lost during that time)
that you'll notice taxiing around and during takeoff; it will probably
return to its round shape by the time you land.

You can minimize the problem with the battery by charging it periodically
when the airplane's not going to fly. If the airplane's hangared, I
wouldn't sweat the tires too much, other than maybe checking the pressure
occasionally and adding air if necessary (at the extreme, if they get
completely deflated the weight of the airplane will be resting on the
rubber, squeezing it between the ground and the wheel hub, which isn't all
that good for the tire...but if it doesn't take an extraordinarily long time
for the tire to lose all its pressure, there's something wrong with it, like
a leaky valve stem, a puncture, or something).

The trace of ozone in the air will attack the rubber and make
it brittle, and it cracks and the moisture can get into the cords and
weaken them. Covering the tires helps, and keeping them out of the sun
also reduces the reaction.

Other stuff you mentioned, like landing gear, lights, instruments, and
avionics are all going to be basically unaffected, especially in a hangared
airplane (outside, in hot sun, some things like avionics and o-rings in
gas/oleo landing gear struts can bake and deteriorate).

The bearing in the tach tends to dry out and seize up over time,
breaking the cable. Cockpit heat really kills the radios, and also
cooks the upholstery. Both take considerable time, but it's a shame to
see a 500-hour airplane in need of a complete refurbishing.


One of your biggest concerns is probably the local wildlife finding the
airplane to be a desirable home. This is mostly a problem if the airplane
is kept outside, but even in a hangar, sometimes birds can find their way
in.

Amen to that. Mice love our hangars here, as they afford protection
from the
cold winds in winter, and there is almost no way of keeping them out
except to use mothballs or something really objectionable like that.


Dan