Ragsf15e

There are also up/down limit switches in there that control power to the motor (along with the switch itself), however I would think that they are available from the electronic warehouses. At least the flap limit switches were when I needed one last summer.

Hello, My new plane has a built in system, so I'm selling my Aerox D Bottle and 2 person regulator. This works with the oxymizer cannulas and masks and lasts a long time on a fill. The hydro test date is March 2024, so it won't need retested until March 2029. I had been getting fills a local welding supply shop that did "Aviation Oxygen" for $30. Shipping could be an issue, but I'll try to work it out with UPS (it's considered hazmat). Or pickup in Eastern Washington. $225 plus shipping. Here's a link to the system on MyPilotStore - https://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/sep/7792

As a group we’ll eventually need to find a solution for this. It looks like the J and K cowl flap motors are the same (or very close). They don’t fail often, but they also aren’t available if they do fail. It would be great if we had an FAA approved shop that would fix motors like this - there use to be a guy in Sacramento. I think the more likely scenario is to find a local shop that would be willing to fix it and an A&P willing to “supervise” the repair. If tge gearing is broken, then we would also need a machine shop capable of replacing gears. While it’s not simple to find the correct people to do this stuff, it’s not impossible, and the part isn’t so critical that people are going to be really worried (like maybe a gear motor). However, it would be great if Lasar or a Mooney group could purchase say 5-10 new motors through Allied Motors (who bought globe) and keep them in stock. Although I think the purchase price and long return timeline would be problematic.

As Eric said, all the smaller oil "seeps" from the engine work their way down to the wheel well. You should get comfortable removing the "cheek" cowlings and top cowling and looking all around your engine compartment roughly between oil changes (or anytime you see increased oil leakage) to assess where it's coming from. There are return lines from the rocker boxes that are "sealed" with hose clamps and notoriously leak. These engines tend to seep some oil from the inside to the outside. It's definitely not like a car. Generally it isn't a symptom of something bad, but it should be looked into, especially if a new one develops. Just be advised, a couple small drips of hot oil can spread over a very large area and look much worse than it might be. Welcome to ownership! Getting comfortable removing/replacing the side and top cowlings and identifying all the bits in your engine compartment will be well worth your time. Ask away if you need help. Drew

I’ve got a brand new Maggie Harness (left side only) that I had intended to install on my F before I sold it. It’s for a Surefly (slick mag cap) so if you think you want a surefly, this might be for you. It’s brand new in the box, never been used and still has the free hat! We would need to make sure that your mag is routed to the same spark plugs as mine was because there are two different ways to route them. New from Maggie is $355, asking $250 plus shipping. Drew

Yes. There’s a tube coming out below the engine, left side, the bigger diameter one, called the breather. It lets the engine equalize internal pressure, but it also lets out oil filled air which goes all along the bottom of the airplane. If you fill to 8 qts, roughly the first 2 will quickly be on the belly belched out that tube. Mine liked 6. My new airplane likes 5.5 but it’s a continental. First thing you should probably learn is each tube sticking out the bottom of the cowling. Then you can help identify issues if you see fuel or oil drips, or you’ll know what’s normal (like some oil out the breather, or a couple drops of fuel out the sniffle after shutting down).

At this point, it’s Byron, salvage yards or find a helpful small motor shop.

As mentioned above, most people will use less than 8 quarts in the sump as the engine will blow out anything above 6ish anyway. You kind of have to know what your engine likes, but oil use will appear much higher with 8 quarts in and suddenly be great if you just keep it around 6. The belly of the airplane will look a lot different too.

Well, how many died trying that?

You need a little quality time with the electrical schematics to see exactly what might be happening. The gear switch, limit switches and the solenoids all play a part. It seems like you should start at the gear motor and check the voltage going up vs going down and see if they are different. In my limited electrical experience, you need to do it with everything still connected (even the motor) as you need the amp draw to reduce the voltage at the point where the problem exists. If you were to try testing without the motor connected, it might look fine because you have no amp draw. V=i R and all.

By strict monopoly pricing theory for a profit maximizing business, they should be priced pretty high. Much higher than what it actually costs them to provide the service. Now technically they’re a duopoly since they “compete” with Gogo which provides internet for the corporate and commercial jets. But still, duopoly pricing should be higher than cost and Gogo is actually much higher (and maybe not even competing). If you want a reasonable solution provided by a profit maximizing business, you need true competition. Maybe you get that when Leo comes on line? Or you need government regulation (nobody likes that) like with utilities that have a monopoly to provide you water, electricity, etc but are regulated enough to prevent charging their profit maximizing monopoly prices.

So savvy said it’s most likely a fuel related issue (water drop, vapor, or debris blocking an injector), however they don’t really get to figure these things out until they happen more often. One thing I learned is that there aren’t any fuel filters, just 3 screens - gascolator, electric pump, and spider/distributor. The gascolator is the only “easy” one to check.

Ive had pretty good luck with concordes in a cold climate. I have had mine on a minder most of the time and I generally see 5 years or so before it fails the cap check. The (bigger 24v) one on the turboprop i fly doesn’t have a minder on it and lasts a similar amount of time. You can tell the difference between a cold start and one when the battery is warm, but it passes the cap check fine.

Too bad Globe is out of business. I think allied motors bought them, but I think it’ll be tough to get these things fixed or oh in the future. Or probably even to get spare parts.

So looking at the raw excel data, the EGT drops from 1190 to 1100 and then comes back to 1190 within 7 seconds. There is a small but perceptible drop in rpm and fuel flow at the same time. RPM drops by about 30 and then pops right back up. It was stable before. FF drops from 26.5 to 25.8 and then goes back to the mid 26s. It is a little bumpy, but that's the only time it hit 25 in the climb. Drew

Interesting. You're probably better at troubleshooting this then I am, but I'm curious, wouldn't an ignition issue cause a rise in EGT? We'll obviously be cleaning and checking the plugs during the upcoming annual, so we'll see if they look ok. Not that there's much data, but i'll let you guys know what Savvy thinks when they get back to me. Drew

Yeah, I tried to look at it that way too and also came up with some kind of quick fuel disruption. I would think that a burp in the fuel pump would affect all the cylinders, but anything is possible I guess. It's also possible that more of the cylinders were affected, but it happened so quick that the data didn't capture them. Luckily, it goes in for annual next week, so we'll be tearing into it anyhow. I plan to look at the fuel filter(s) to see if there's any "gunk" in there. I had a tank patched last spring (maybe 85 hours ago), but I don't see any particulate matter come out of my sump drains. The reason I don't think it has to do with "spark" is that a failure of one plug, mag, or harness wire still leaves the other plug in the cylinder firing. Firing on one cylinder would make the EGT rise (as it does in a mag check), not fall. So that's why I didn't think it was ignition related. Thanks for the thoughts. I agree it's probably fuel related, so we'll at least start there next week in the annual. Drew

I’m with you. I keep picturing teenagers driving (or walking) down the road with their phone in front of their face.

Water or vapor lock went through my mind too, but I doubt it. First, plane hasn’t been in the rain for months and it wasn’t yesterday (although I did refuel). I had flown for an hour the day prior with no issues. As far as vapor lock, I was passing 10,000 on a cool day, although the fuel pump was off. Doesn’t seem like a recipe for vapor. Also, it was only 1 cylinder? I would have thought either of those issues would affect more cylinders?

So yesterday I had a pretty good engine stumble. It was during climb through about 10,000'. All knobs were full forward and everything was looking good, then there was a sudden shake, loss of power, and then boom it was all running normal again. I wasn't sure if it would show up on engine data, but it looks like #4 EGT suddenly dropped and then quickly came back up. Nothing else I can see (although the G3X has way more data in it). If a single EGT drops completely off and comes back, that has to be a blocked injector that clears, right? I mean a plug or mag or harness wouldn't drop off completely? Anyway, I continued and it was fine for the next hour and a half and then I flew it home today another hour an a half all perfect. Any thoughts? Here's a screenshot and a link to the Savvy flight. The purple (EGT 4) has that drop right where the engine stumbled. https://apps.savvyaviation.com/flights/shared/flight/10483998/ff3a4466-5d69-47fa-85f7-b34d03d6348c

This is a good option too if you just want one person. I used it with two people and it wasn’t great above about 14k. You do need to figure out the power issue though because the battery it comes with is ~2 hours and it is like 10amps on 14v cigar lighter which blew my cb.

I also have an Aerox D size (I think) bottle that I am willing to sell with the regulator and cannula setup. My new plane has built in so no longer needed. The o2d2 system is really nice (I have that on my new airplane). You could likely upgrade this bottle with the o2d2, but i used it with oxymizer cannulas and it worked well. I found a local welding gas shop that filled bottles for CAP and would do mine for $30. You’ll likely find your sweet spot is in the mid teens, so cannulas will be good.

So here’s another thought… you’re asking about vfr flying, not ifr. You simply need to maintain vfr minimums (agl, cloud clearance, vis, etc) to be “legal” regardless of whether there’s a forecast or airmet or whatever. Now that you’re clear of clouds, icing isn’t a concern as it won’t form without “visible moisture” (aka a cloud or very low vis). So if you look at the local tafs, metars, and out the window and it looks fine to remain vfr, go for it. Especially local flying. I might take a more careful look at flying across the entire airmet vfr on a long xc.

I checked mine today. It was bumpy. It took 1:30 to open 1/4 tgen pretty much stops. Here’s a picture of the indication where it stopped. Disregard the red dots. Previous owner put those there.

I live in a medium cost area and that price is likely reasonable here, but it all depends on the lease. A beautiful hanger (mine) with 3 years left is worth much less than a semi-rickety hanger with 10. If it makes you feel better, get a construction contractor to look at the door and quote upgrades/repairs so you can budget. If you’re planning to fly for the next 10 years, Id definitely buy a hanger and not look back.