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#1
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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" |
#2
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Annual Off to a Good Start
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" |
#3
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Annual Off to a Good Start
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 |
#4
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Annual Off to a Good Start
"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 |
#5
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Annual Off to a Good Start
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. |
#6
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Annual Off to a Good Start
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 |
#7
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Annual Off to a Good Start
"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 |
#8
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Annual Off to a Good Start
Jay, Our Annual is about done.. should be able to pick up the Tug tomorrow..
Monday AM to Fri PM. Biggest hit was $1AMU, for the right side parking brake valve. The 1x1x2inch box had a crack in the fitting and was seeping fluid at the rate of requiring a brake top off every 3 months. We were clean on the Superior AD20070419, and clean on the lift strut AD99-04-16. I knew we would miss the Superior AD, it is for cylinders manufactured in 2005. Although we overhauled the O-540 in 2005, we kept our 1999 cylinders. Just a lot of nit noid clean up work on the fuselage and fabric. I get to ferry it back home tomorrow evening.. sure is nice to have DST a few weeks early. No night flying in that beast. About 30 miles direct, but about 45 miles as I need to fly to get around the Class B. BT "BT" wrote in message ... 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" |
#9
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Annual Off to a Good Start
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 |
#10
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Annual Off to a Good Start
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? Nope, we have once again dodged the latest of the dreaded engine ADs. With our O-540 I have felt like the guy who has been told to "Dance!" by the bad guy in the black cowboy hat, every time I get one of those official-looking letters. So far, they haven't hit me! :-) Our leak saga continues. I had purposefully let the bottoms of the wings get dirty for the last several months, so that we would be able to easily track any fuel leaks/seeps back to their source. Yesterday I found evidence of a larger leak than the ones we had fixed in the main tank, which were obviously just seeps. As you may recall, the first evidence of our leak (other than a faint odor in the cabin when you first opened the door) was when Mary spotted the rubber wing-root seal hanging down, fattened and gooey from gas exposure. My wrench and I have puzzled over this, since the leaks we had found (and fixed) seemed to be too small to cause this type of damage. So, while I was under the plane cleaning out the central drain filter (the 235 has a central "pee-drain" in the belly, like the Cherokee 6), I carefully tracked down every stain. With the wing-root inspection fairings removed, and a mirror, I was able to spot a tip-tank hose fitting that showed evidence of leakage. My A&P proceeded to dislocate both his wrists getting a couple of wrenches on that fitting, and was rewarded with an easy 1/3 turn to make it tight. He is of the opinion that this was our main culprit, and that by tightening that fitting we have resolved the last of the fuel issues. I sure hope so. We've fixed some other nagging problems. In the cabin, on the front of the back seat (where the calves of your legs rest) is a control that allows us to "pee" the gas tanks out of the belly drain. This is covered with a cheesy plastic panel, with an even cheesier metal door, retained by an even cheesier spring. This thing is so bad that there is an AD on the door, because EVERYONE catches it with their feet getting in the back seat. (You can't just remove the dumb door, either, since without it you could conceivably have a passenger catch his pants leg on the pee-drain control lever itself, which would cause you to dump all of your fuel overboard in flight...) On each flight I tell my kids "Be careful of the fuel door" -- but it still gets broken. We have repaired the damned thing (with JB Weld) at every annual since we bought Atlas, but it's such a cheap design that this year I asked my mechanic -- a champion homebuilder -- to invent a better mousetrap. So, he looked at it for about 30 seconds, went over to his metal press, and started cutting aluminum. 20 minutes later, I had a legal, metal-reinforced plate holding on a MUCH stronger metal door. We then spray painted it to match the interior, and voila! Hopefully, I won't be screwing around with that little bugger again. (Doug Vetter, if you're reading this, IMHO this is an example of the type of repair your A&P could have done with your battery box, and saved you $700.) My A&P also reinforced the tail-cone screw attachment points by putting in a "ring" of aluminum down the line of screw backing plates. No more metal backing plates screwed into brittle plastic! Here's a true but all-to-common sad tale of my owner-assisted annuals: As I was reinstalling the gas tank (by finger screwing in the 3.2 million stainless steel screws that hold it in the wing) all was going well -- until the VERY LAST SCREW. That one just fell in the hole, and would NOT tighten. This couldn't possibly ever happen on the FIRST screw, or even the 20th screw -- it HAS to be the last one. So, I had to take them all out, jostle the tank a bit, and start over. Story of my life... ;-) (I'm just glad I had only finger-tightened them. If I had driven them all home, I'd have committed hari-kari on the spot...) Today I'll put the interior back in (all was well there, just needed some cleaning/lubing of the control pulleys, as always), and button Atlas up. Other than the fuel leak, this has been a really easy annual. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
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