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Annual Off to a Good Start
I'm ready for a nap after reading that.
Don't ya just hate it when the very last screw "screws" you? BTDT many times. Would have putting Clecos in the tank screw holes helped you line them all up before starting the screws? Jim |
#2
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Annual Off to a Good Start
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com... ... 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...) ... If there was ever an application that screamed "Duct Tape" - this had to be it. -- Geoff The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate. |
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Annual Off to a Good Start
If there was ever an application that screamed "Duct Tape" - this had to be
it. Yeah, we've considered that, but we do need to get at that lever regularly. It's fixed now, hopefully "once and for all"... -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#4
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Annual Off to a Good Start
Jay Honeck wrote:
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. Uh-oh. Before you said you took out 6.3 million screws. There are 3.1 million screws floating around loose somewhere... did you look at your A&P's biplane to see if he "borrowed" some of your screws? If not you might have to re-do your weight and balance. 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. This is why you leave everything really loose - like, each screw only engaged a couple of turns - until you've got all the screws in. You might pick two screws on opposite sides of the thing and run them all the way down just to keep the panel basically in place, but then you've only got two screws to back all the way out if you can't get one started. It may also be helpful to have a tapered drift handy to get things to line up - use steel carefully, or brass, aluminum, plastic, or wood if you're being really careful of the threads. Or, use a little pick or hook to reach up in the hole and poke the nut plate or Tinnerman nut into place. The same thing goes for putting in bolts or putting nuts on studs when there is more than one. Start them all, then tighten each one a little at a time. Sometimes the manufacturer will have a recommended order and torque. If not, doing something like tightening to finger tight or until the nut or bolt head seats, then to maybe two-thirds of the final torque, then to the final torque works well. This kind of thing tends to be associated with "bigger" stuff like engines, so it might not be the kind of thing you get to do on the plane, but it works just as well on your car or around the house. Matt Roberds Disclaimer: This is based on experience with ground vehicles and in fixed installations. I don't have an A&P; I don't even have a TG&Y. Some of this may not be allowable owner maintenance. Your mileage may vary. |
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Annual Off to a Good Start
Uh-oh. Before you said you took out 6.3 million screws. There are 3.1
million screws floating around loose somewhere... did you look at your A&P's biplane to see if he "borrowed" some of your screws? If not you might have to re-do your weight and balance. Dang, you're right! Those were expensive screws, too! ;-) This is why you leave everything really loose - like, each screw only engaged a couple of turns - until you've got all the screws in. That's what REALLY ****ed me off -- I did that! I thought I was so damned smart, just finger-tightening each screw before torquing them all down -- and that last screw STILL kicked my butt. Ah well, it's all done, no screws stripped. Another year of flying ahead! -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#6
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Annual Off to a Good Start
Jay Honeck wrote:
This is why you leave everything really loose - like, each screw only engaged a couple of turns - until you've got all the screws in. That's what REALLY ****ed me off -- I did that! I thought I was so damned smart, just finger-tightening each screw before torquing them all down -- and that last screw STILL kicked my butt. Maybe the screws involved are much shorter than I'm picturing in my head, but it seems like there ought to be lots of turns between "only a couple of threads engaged" and "finger tight". If they're countersink head, finger tight means the countersink on the screw is already touching the countersink on the panel and constraining the movement of the panel somewhat. If the screws are long enough, you should be able to thread them in such that the clearance hole in the panel is still floating around the shank of the screw. I did get a little experience in this direction when I helped R&R a cowl on a 172. The screws on that were countersink head Phillips and about an inch long overall. I don't know if that's how long they were supposed to be, but it was pretty easy to get things lined up when reinstalling. I could engage the screw a couple of turns and go on to the next one, and still have a little "wiggle room" to get things to line up. Once I had all the screws started, the owner put the electric screwdriver on them (carefully) to drive them all the way home. Matt Roberds |
#7
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Annual Off to a Good Start
In article .com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote: Yesterday I found evidence of a larger leak than the ones we had fixed in the main tank, which were obviously just seeps. You didn't pressure test the tank when you had it out? 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. Isn't "fattened and gooey" a symptom of using autofuel? 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. The fitting tightness wasn't checked as part of the inspection process? {Was this one of the items the owner was supposed to check? :-) } |
#8
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Annual Off to a Good Start
"john smith" wrote in message ... You didn't pressure test the tank when you had it out? He never said he had the tank out. Isn't "fattened and gooey" a symptom of using autofuel? No, it is a symptom of exposing a material not intended for use with hydrocarbons to gasoline of any formulation. The fitting tightness wasn't checked as part of the inspection process? {Was this one of the items the owner was supposed to check? :-) } No, nor should it have been. Checking the torque of every fastener and fitting is not part of the inspection process. Jim |
#9
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Annual Off to a Good Start
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. |
#10
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Annual Off to a Good Start
On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 07:55:33 -0600, Newps wrote:
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. So what is the price of admission to watch you "put in a new bladder"? Next question would be what is the price for a new OEM Bo' bladder? TC |
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