GeeBee

Gear Relay. Sorry, I should have made that clear. Previously in the logbook it had a similar problem and it was the override switch shorting. Going to swing the gear tomorrow to see what we can see.

I don't think it is a killer. Just adjust the price. If the airframe is what he wants and he can hang a new engine on it within the budget, that is a great deal. He will have the airplane he wants with a NEW engine. Better than buying a mid time "unknown" because you can't see inside. The advice here is correct. The airplane is not going to fall out of the sky. I flew a PA-18 from SEA to ATL with a corroded cam. Eventually it will start wearing enough the engine will make noticeable metal and maybe become a little anemic. In my case it generated about a teaspoon of metal. At that point I pulled it off and overhauled it.

Trust me from experience, it will start making metal pronto. I got a Lycoming cam out on my workbench in the basement to remind me.....with a red tag on it.

First, second and third picture. Lobe on the right.

Corrosion at the top of the lobe. Stick a fork in it.

If you do the West marine option, I suggest putting some thin cork in the bottom of the tray, prevents condensation of cool drinks pooling.

Not often you have this kind video. This happened two days ago. The video will send chills down your spine. PA31T enroute, in flames, then you hear a loud pop and it goes down in flames. There are two different videos. Unusual for a PT6A powered plane to be this involved in this kind of flame. https://www.fox5atlanta.com/news/pilot-florida-family-of-4-headed-to-funeral-in-indiana-die-in-georgia-plane-crash

Gauge hysteresis has been around as long as there have been electrons and will continue. I remember we got fancy new electronic capacitance gauges on the 727 and while they were better, they still had some hysteresis. I always calibrate the hysteresis in the gauges and verify the K factor on the flow. Here is an example. I keep this spread sheet in my airplane. Note the flow method is spot on the money.

The best advice in the whole thread!

We will know in a week how this spreads, because there are thousands of people in the streets of MSP, ORD, NYC, ATL etc not social distancing. In fact it appears a little up close and personal. The epidemiology and counter measures should become very apparent, very quickly. Either it explodes, or it does not and that will tell us a lot.

I had some in a PA18. They are really great but if they are cold they are like a brick. Once you get them warmed up, there is nothing better. In a cross country airplane, top notch stuff.

The problem with synthetics is the polymer chains are "too slippery" to retain lead induced contaminants so it is perfectly logical not to use them with leaded fuel. I am sure when we switch over to unleaded aviation fuel it will be recommended to run a 100 hours or so on regular dino oil until the engine clears out of lead induced contaminants before going to synthetic oil.

Ask me about my student who drank a Big Gulp while flying his long cross country. It had to go somewhere post ingestion so it went back in the cup, then he decided to throw the contents out the window of a C-150. You know the rest.

Take a look at marine stores like West Marine. The cup holders on the Ovation are sold regularly there https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-marine--folding-cup-holders--P015_454_003_502?recordNum=14 If you want the stainless version https://www.westmarine.com/buy/boatmates--folding-cup-holder--7698731?recordNum=8 Or maybe a gimbal mounted one if you like 60 degree banks https://www.westmarine.com/buy/boatmates--gimbal-cup-holders--P013046537?recordNum=31

Thanks for the clarification.

That says to me they really miss the revenue and want to find a way to be back in the business economically. Data driven underwriting has really expanded the life insurance business.

We had a presentation at our local EAA meeting in December by Concorde batteries as they are manufactured nearby. They brought with them cross sections and samples of material used in their batteries as well as competitors. There is no comparison in quality of materials and manufacture. Best of all....AGM That all said I also want to say that AGM batteries as a technology. Nothing else compares. I first discovered them in one of the SEAL "go fast" boats in San Diego in 1999. They told me it could take a 30 caliber bullet through and through and keep working. About a year later I saw at a boat show someone drill a 1/2 inch hole through and AGM. No leak, battery was slightly weakened in capacity but kept on working. I put in three into my boat. My granddaughter some years later was playing at the helm, which I removed her from, but failed to notice she left on a bilge pump which overwhelmed the charger and depleted the AGM. The charger kept pumping in juice and the case on the AGM blew...very softly. No leaks, no electrolyte, no cleanup. Just pulled it out and replaced it. Later when I bought my PA-18 it had a very small yet powerful AGM. Maintenance people accidentally left on the master. It was well run down but I charged it and it recovered just fine. I have two personal watercraft that sit out on the dock all winter, albeit on chargers but I usually get 3 to 4 years out of those tiny AGMs. A wet battery lucky if I get 2 years. Finally there is this. The Concorde AGM costs more upfront, but it is able to provide so many more start cycles it is the cheapest/cycle of any battery out there. When you couple that with the imperceptible issue of venting and corrosion and there is no other choice IMHO.

A little help please. M20R Ovation 2 GX.I have an annoying problem with the Landing Gear C/B. popping every once in a great while. It has happened two times in the past 100 hours. I put her on jacks, cycled the gear 10 times, nothing unusual. Has any body experienced this problem and what was your fix? I am leaning towards chattering relays or intermittent up and down switches. I really don't want to shotgun this with replacing relays and switches if there is a definitive path to isolate the problem.

A second AHRS LRU would be nice, but I would imagine it would drive up costs beyond what people were willing to go. However, if I had a G1000 with the GFC-700 autopilot, it would be what I want. With the rate based S-55X I feel pretty good with a single AHRS LRU.

No doubt about that. Most GA mfrs place a 33% reserve for product liability costs.

http://eaaforums.org/showthread.php?2514-Mike-Busch-Maintenance-Forums/page3

All Lycomings have a weak cam. Ask any overhaul shop. Roller lifters reduce the abuse, but the cam is still weak and easily succumbs to the slightest corrosion.

You and I are on the same wave length my friend.

Here is my view of it. If I have a G1000 failure AHRS failure because I have an S-Tec A/P I can still keep the shiny side up and track a course selected. The compass card won't be correct but the needle can be centered. The reality however is with 2.5 hours and maybe more of standby time, I'm going to. a place where I can get a surveillance approach to let down on. As for flying "across the cockpit" I used to be an instrument instructor. Not that hard. The hardest thing is flying an ILS, raw data with the needles superimposed over the standby instrument, I've done that on Airbus and Boeing and that is why, I'm going for a surveillance approach or vector to the MVA and take a contact or visual approach. In the range of things, not everything is 200 and 1/2 and the need for an ILS. If your destination is that, your alternate is required and on most alternate minimums you can get down without the need for an ILS.

The "lack of use" is a red herring. Not saying it does not exist but it is the manufacturer saying, "We can't build an engine on how it is normally used." Not long ago Mercury Marine did the same thing. After a rash of problems with corrosion on their outdrives they said, "Our outdrives are not meant to be used continuously in water". Huh? Lycoming and Continental both know that the vast majority of their engines are not flown. daily, sometimes not weekly. It would stand to reason someone would say, "Let's design to that requirement". As tmo points out, Rotax apparently knows how. Rotax will eventually start into the 150-200 hp market. When that happens, look out. Second, I don't think most here understand the value of synthetic lubrication. With it, and unleaded fuel, large parts of ignition problems go away because plugs don't foul. That is why automobiles go 100K for spark plugs.Turbos last forever. I have two turbo Diesel engines running synthetic oil, I don't even idle them down and both turbos have over 150K on them.I have another gasser with twin turbos. The turbos are warrantees 100K as long as I use Mobil 1. Some trucking company running synthetic oil only add additive packages, no oil change to synthetic oil. If you were to add "coil on plug" electronic ignition you could throw away pressurized mags and all the arcing and wear of distributors and high tension leads. All these things could be done with existing engines and the entire world of reciprocating engines would change overnight. Certification? If Lycoming and Continental were to develop STCs for electronic ignition would that not be a new profit center? They have the engineering capability and the certification people to shepherd it through, why not create some business in an other wise moribund industry? Why are they letting others build and develop?