Ragsf15e

Probably half my screws are up to #6 and many are loose. I’m going to have to start getting creative with tinnermans or find another way. My biggest issue is actually the plastic piece that wraps around the lower console between the pilot/copilot feet. The vent louvers are cracked and the piece itself has been caught / pulled back a few times getting caught on feet worming in/out - abs repair would work on that. The problem is, that piece seems unusually difficult to remove. I tried and gave up once (not to fix it, but I dropped a screw behind it). It’s got the flap and trim indicator and it appears to have screws/bolts that go through into the nose wheel well requiring a partner to get out.

pictures would be awesome! Did you keep the annoying little screws or upgrade to the 3m super velcro solution? Even nutplates for the screws would be an upgrade! My plastic is generally ok, but my screws are all looses and random sizes.

I know/understand you don’t want to take it far, but thoughts on sending some pictures to Wilmar and seeing what they think? 15 years isn’t that long (obviously out of warranty), but they might have some ideas. Additionally, I’d consider a patch or just doing the one wing since the entire thing was done relatively recently. Just thoughts…

And it’s tiny. You will miss it if you don’t look close. The static drain looks exactly the same and is roughly below the static ports in the tail section. Push them, you’ll feel them spring back.

I just read another thread about a rough running SF and it was exactly the same reason. Short springs corroded quickly. A better quality harness fixed it.

Theory is they have additional blowby which shows up as high oil use and warmer oil. My oil temp is fine, usually 185, but I live somewhere cold and north of @M20Docapparently.

Well I definitely got shot at and flew some approaches to mins, but doing them at the same time would’ve been a lot more fun!

How does it look on the gps startup test page?

Sure we’d all like to be able to fly an approach cold / airborne, but it’s a good way to learn how to do that by figuring out exactly how it should look in the airplane and chair flying it before. I doubt experienced airline pilots do it, but USAF students do. It’s a learning step. If you don’t need to do it, don’t. Nothing wrong with that, but for some people it’s a good way to learn.

These kind of threads are the reason I’d say it’s difficult. Additionally, it took me 2 mechanics to get mine bled right after fixing the MC.

You’re probably right, but eventually they connect to the same reservoir, so it might depend on where the bubbles are?

Done right after start and immediately after exiting the runway on landing, you should go a full year without a fouled plug. They’ll be cleaned, gapped, checked at annual. Hopefully it was actually the issue because it’s the easiest to solve.

I think the E/F still had the moveable cowl flaps. My ‘68 F does anyway.

That’s how I ended up with an overhaul instead of a reseal. It was on the airplane for ~14 years and they said they wouldn’t do a reseal on that. (American prop in Redding CA)

Definitely possible it’s been on that long and it probably needs a reseal. That’s what mine started doing. I was getting a fine mist of oil on the windscreen just before I had it overhauled. Reseal would be better. BTW, it’s way past TBO… they have 6 or 7 years as well as the hours. Not that it matters.

Yeah that’s not right. I also have an F and it shouldn’t rub like that. That being said, it’s a PIA to get the hydraulic system properly bled if your mechanic isn’t familiar. You might want to read some previous threads on here about bleeding the system. Some angle on the airplane (nose up) apparently helps too…

My ‘68 had manual gear, hydraulic flaps and the rivets look the same. It got electric gear as a mod after leaving the factory. It doesn’t have the twisted wing though. Could that have been more costly to build?

Possibly your right, and there’s always some room and some need for “flexibility” or adjusting on the fly. However, if I’m flying around in very low weather using nothing but my instruments, I’d rather have over engineered it (ahead of time) than under engineered it. Especially for people with less experience recognizing and adjusting on the fly.

What you’re doing to improve is good. Just be careful with finding an “optimum airspeed, descent rate, flap setting” because the descent rate will change based on the approach design. Usually the biggest difference will be in the portion between the IAF & FAF, but sometimes non precision approaches require healthy descent after the FAF to reach mins in time to make a normal landing. There isn’t always one “optimum” continuous descent for all approaches.

I got a new zeph VR a while back and it didn’t match the existing cannon plug in my ‘68. The existing one was a larger metal cannon plug and the zeph came with a smaller plastic one. There’s only like 3 wires in/out, so it wasn’t hard to rectify, but I think the cannon plugs changed over the years.

Yeah there’s gonna be a lot of techniques for that. Mine comes from my USAF training and my belief that ensuring the gear is down and confirmed should happen before the final descent so that I can solely focus on flying during the last critical stage. You’re correct though that dropping the gear from level flight generally gives close to GS descent. I’m just not a fan.

Had to have special KC-135s too so they could be loaded with the special fuel, but not mix it with their own. KC-135Q/T. Normally KC-135s can use/transfer almost all their fuel interchangeably, but these ones kept two types separate.

You can. Install a Surefly mag. You described the advance mapping almost perfectly. There are some people who aren’t fans, and that’s fine, but it does almost exactly as you describe. It even use MP. It would be nice to have both mags do it though.

There’s gonna be several techniques for that. My personal one is 1nm prior to the FAF. That gives me time to finish the before landing checklist, trim, and be on speed (90kts, t/o flaps for me) before the faf. I also like to come into the FAF level, but there’s a lot of people who will like being on the glide slope into the FAF. If you do that, you’ll need to start slowing earlier because it’s real hard to slow down clean while descending on GS.

Yes, the standard location on the F is in the front left of the lower cowling, right below the #2 cylinder. Some people have an stc relocating it behind #4. I also think the intake and cowling improved airflow significantly between the F/J.