Annual Off to a Good Start

Although I am starting to resent the whole annual inspection process.
More on that in a minute.

All compressions on our O-540 are 78 or better out of 80, so that's
always a relief. The oil filter was clean (as always), and the exhaust
system is sound. Those are three big-ticket items off the list --
always a relief.

As always, however, the inspection process itself has created some
problems. The stupid tail cone must be removed to inspect the
stabilator hinges and trim jack screw, which means torquing on
nutplates attached to plastic. (Whoever approved THAT **** on a
certified plane?)

Of course at least one of the nutplates has to twist off the old,
brittle plastic, resulting in a repair bill where none was necessary.
Same goes for removing the umpteen screws on the access panels. Does
a 4" by 6" inspection panel REALLY need 9 easily strippable screws to
hold it on? Wouldn't TWO (or 3?) done the job? Stupid.

My A&P could only smile and commiserate with me. He says that there
is a move afoot to make the "annual" inspection an every-other-year
affair, which makes good sense to me. It therefore has no hope of
approval.

More good news: I unscrewed the 6.3 million stainless steel structural
screws to remove the starboard main fuel tank, to search for our fuel
leak. (Classified as a "stain" -- not a "seep" -- by my A&P) My
forearms are still burning, because I didn't want to risk stripping
any of my expensive stainless screws, so I did 'em all by hand.

We found a problem right away -- a seeping rivet -- and were able to
fix it without resorting to sending the tank out for a complete
teardown and overhaul.

He used his rivet gun (while I bucked the rivets) to tighten down the
whole row of rivets around the offending rivet, and then applied fuel
tank sealant to the INSIDE of the tank on that rivet row. In an
amazing stroke of luck, that leaking rivet was accessible by reaching
through the fuel tank filler -- a one in a hundred chance.

Then we found another seeping rivet from under the sealant around the
fuel gauge sending unit. That simply required another dab of fuel
tank sealant, and (hopefully!) my leaky tank is now history.

Tomorrow we start on the interior, which means removing all the seats,
and the floor under the back seats. My A&P is eager to get back to
working on his P6 Hawk biplane, which is almost ready for its first
flight -- so we should be done with my annual in record time!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Good reports Jay.. our Pawnee with the O540 just started the annual today
also.. as it was just rebuilt two years ago, with the 250HP STC up from
235HP and fixed pitch prop... all is well so far.. just researching
AD20070419 to document that it does not apply (Superior Aircraft Cylinders)
ours are from 1999.

BT

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
Although I am starting to resent the whole annual inspection process.
More on that in a minute.

All compressions on our O-540 are 78 or better out of 80, so that's
always a relief. The oil filter was clean (as always), and the exhaust
system is sound. Those are three big-ticket items off the list --
always a relief.

As always, however, the inspection process itself has created some
problems. The stupid tail cone must be removed to inspect the
stabilator hinges and trim jack screw, which means torquing on
nutplates attached to plastic. (Whoever approved THAT **** on a
certified plane?)

Of course at least one of the nutplates has to twist off the old,
brittle plastic, resulting in a repair bill where none was necessary.
Same goes for removing the umpteen screws on the access panels. Does
a 4" by 6" inspection panel REALLY need 9 easily strippable screws to
hold it on? Wouldn't TWO (or 3?) done the job? Stupid.

My A&P could only smile and commiserate with me. He says that there
is a move afoot to make the "annual" inspection an every-other-year
affair, which makes good sense to me. It therefore has no hope of
approval.

More good news: I unscrewed the 6.3 million stainless steel structural
screws to remove the starboard main fuel tank, to search for our fuel
leak. (Classified as a "stain" -- not a "seep" -- by my A&P) My
forearms are still burning, because I didn't want to risk stripping
any of my expensive stainless screws, so I did 'em all by hand.

We found a problem right away -- a seeping rivet -- and were able to
fix it without resorting to sending the tank out for a complete
teardown and overhaul.

He used his rivet gun (while I bucked the rivets) to tighten down the
whole row of rivets around the offending rivet, and then applied fuel
tank sealant to the INSIDE of the tank on that rivet row. In an
amazing stroke of luck, that leaking rivet was accessible by reaching
through the fuel tank filler -- a one in a hundred chance.

Then we found another seeping rivet from under the sealant around the
fuel gauge sending unit. That simply required another dab of fuel
tank sealant, and (hopefully!) my leaky tank is now history.

Tomorrow we start on the interior, which means removing all the seats,
and the floor under the back seats. My A&P is eager to get back to
working on his P6 Hawk biplane, which is almost ready for its first
flight -- so we should be done with my annual in record time!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On 3/20/2007 12:27:21 AM, "BT" wrote:

our Pawnee with the O540 just started the annual today
also..

Must be that time of year. My Bonanza is also in for its annual this week.
One day in to it and a cracked spinner starts off the "unexpected big ticket
item" list.

--
Peter

Sounds like everything is going well! Glad the engine is tight and the fuel
tank problem was easily repaired. Did you get hit by the Superior cylinder
AD as mentioned below?
Jim

Jay Honeck wrote:

More good news: I unscrewed the 6.3 million stainless steel structural
screws to remove the starboard main fuel tank, to search for our fuel
leak. (Classified as a "stain" -- not a "seep" -- by my A&P) My
forearms are still burning, because I didn't want to risk stripping
any of my expensive stainless screws, so I did 'em all by hand.

We found a problem right away -- a seeping rivet -- and were able to
fix it without resorting to sending the tank out for a complete
teardown and overhaul.


Somebody tell me again why a rubber bladder is a bad deal? At any time
you can get leaking rivets and cause yourself some heartache. Didn't
you just have some kind of tank repair not too long ago? I put in a new
bladder and I don't touch that tank for 30 years.

Jay - Put a drop of antisieze on the threads (and maybe under the head
too) of each screw that has to go back into a threaded insert. Don't
let ANY antisieze get near the Philips driver or the screwheads or
driver will cam out on reassembly.

Antisieze seals the thread from further corrosion and does wonders for
the next time they have to be removed. Stainless screws especially
need this treatment, as they too will corrode in the presence of
aluminum.

"Peter R."
Must be that time of year. My Bonanza is also in for its annual this week.
One day in to it and a cracked spinner starts off the "unexpected big
ticket
item" list.

Mine's going in the third week of April. As a datapoint, my insurance
company agreed to pay for my cracked spinner last year. Despite its
appearance coinciding with a trip where an FBO handled the plane, they
concluded it was probably normal wear and tear (so YMMV).

Good luck to you and Jay.

Marco

It normally takes many many loading cycles or even hi-cycle vibration
to create a crack. A single overload (from bad ground handling)
simply creates a dent - which can eventually turn into a crack of
course, but the dent evidence should still be there.

On 3/20/2007 1:30:25 PM, "Marco Leon" wrote:

Mine's going in the third week of April. As a datapoint, my insurance
company agreed to pay for my cracked spinner last year. Despite its
appearance coinciding with a trip where an FBO handled the plane, they
concluded it was probably normal wear and tear (so YMMV).

You certainly had me excited there for a moment.

Me: "Hello, insurance company? My, uh, mechanic told me that he heard that a
cracked spinner might be covered under my insurance policy. Is that true?"

Them: "Ummm... No. That is considered normal wear and tear and therefore
*not* covered. But you have a great day, OK?"


--
Peter

"Peter R." wrote in message
...

You certainly had me excited there for a moment.

Me: "Hello, insurance company? My, uh, mechanic told me that he heard that
a
cracked spinner might be covered under my insurance policy. Is that
true?"

Them: "Ummm... No. That is considered normal wear and tear and therefore
*not* covered. But you have a great day, OK?"

I think I'm pretty thorough when I preflight and the crack was not there
from one flight to the next. It appeared on both sides of the spinner
simultaneously. I will also add that my original spinner was not fiberglass
as I understand that fiberglass ones are much more durable. I honestly
thought it was done by a lineperson so I was not trying to pull one over
their heads.

Call them. The worst they'll say is "no" and you won't see them shaking
their head as they hang up the phone anyway

Marco