flyingchump

Try lowering the rpm's? Lots of internal friction creating heat.

$501 Bob.

Other than the over lapping doors being newer and sexier. What's the benefit with the overlapping doors competed to the old style? 10 knots faster? reduce fuel burn by half? gain 2 inches?.. (manifold pressure you pervs)

That was my plan exactly.

Well you guys were spot on again! I looked around my intake tubes multiple times and didn't see anything wrong but then a small shadow caught my eye... One of the intake orings was out of its seat and causing an intake leak. My guess is that the intake tube was pushed too far into the casting and part of the oring got snagged on a sharp spot starting a tear. After I removed the intake tube the oring was completely torn through. If I continued to fly like this I think my problem would have gotten progressively worse as the oring would have split in place. I replaced the oring and the engine runs much better now. After a ground run and test flight, the oring is where its supposed to be and the idle is back to normal.

Gents. I've been chasing down a slight vibration and my attention is currently on the nose gear doors. I'm installing new heim joints for the retract links but the length of the doors caught my eye. The aft portion of both doors extend over the belly 2-3 inches but the front of the gear doors don's sit on anything... Their just in the wheel well hanging from the retract links. Shouldn't the front of the doors overlap on the lower cowl? And yes, I know my one door is bent and not aligned properly. These photos were in the middle of the repairs. I also know that these doors are getting to the end of life... I'm hoping to squeeze a few more years out of them.

I want to install a copilot PTT switch as my bird currently does not have one. I have spa-400 and the manual for it. I traced the wires to this connector. See photos. I could cut this connector off and install a new one but I'd like to keep this connector if I can identify it and find its mate. Anyone know what this connector is called?

Reporting back. Since I could find no record of the last time someone actually took the whole exhaust off the plane. I did. Here is what I found: -All 4 of the flanges that bolt to the head were a smidge off from being flat. They were filed mostly flat before installation. The rest of the exhaust was inspected and found in good condition. -While the exhausted was off, I took the opportunity to change out the orange intake orings on the intake tubes. They cant be removed with the exhaust on. 2 of them looked great (but not round anymore) and the other 2 had some small cuts and scars. Nothing major and I don't think they were leaking much, if any, but still... -The paper intake gaskets were gooped up with Permatex (for the first time ever) and installed. One intake tube was not quite flush with the head so that was corrected. Now I'm confident that I do not have any more induction leaks! -Again while the exhaust was off, the sniffle valve was removed, cleaned, and reinstalled. -Exhaust was reinstalled with new gaskets and c5-a on the 2 slip joints for the lower riser on #4. -Assemble cowls, what for the next day so the Permatex cures, and test run. Upon starting the next day, the idle was roughly 200-250 RPM higher. Previously the plane idled at 650-700 depending on a few things. But now it idled at 900-1000. Nothing pertaining to the throttle or mixture were changed. I most note that there was considerably less vibration while on the ground. I think cylinder #2 was the biggest intake leak and causing the engine to run rough on the ground at least. Could sealing up all the intake tubes and exhaust flanges change my idle? Should I adjust the idle screw on the servo now that the intake and exhaust are solid, or might there be something else going on?

There are tons of them out there. Many are poor quality and some are not. Even if you consider these disposable, $15 is a pretty cheap cost for diagnosing our engines. I don't know the brand but the one I have has lasted me 20+ years so far.

The screwdriver trick works but this is better. I bought one years ago and have use it for all sorts of problem solving. Airplane, cars, motorcycles, even plumbing. https://www.amazon.com/Lisle-52500-Mechanics-Stethoscope/dp/B0002SQYSM

I took a look at mine. It's outboard on the pilots wing. It's connected via a push pull tube, not cables.

There is a bit of slop in the alierons on the ground. Once in the air there is no slop at all.

Any instructions on how to "exercise" the servo?

So recently my auto pilot started oscillating back and forth. The plane stays on it's heading but it feels like the autopilot bouncing back and forth from where center should be. See video attached. Any ideas on what causes this? PXL_20210528_142035180.mp4

Any chance this is the door seal for an E model? I didn't see one on the Geebee website.

Because its been working for 50 years! A little TLC after 50 years is fair. I might get another 50 years (out of the starter, not me).

Manicures are the cheapest aviation expense I've had!

Yea, I do have a slip joint. I was surprised when I referenced the parts manual and no slip-fit was identified. At some point in this planes history, someone must have made a change to the existing exhaust or replaced the exhaust with one from a later model. I'll have to check the log books when I have some time.

The photo is a bit close up but mine looks pretty close to that. Both my clamps are straight tho. I had a reputable shop install a new pcu5000 a few months back so I and some confidence they did it right....

So I have a very slight CO concern I want to solve. While in cruze my new sensorcon CO detector reads about 2-3 ppm. During take off it's a bit higher. -doesn't change when the heater is on or off. -doesn't change with the vents on or off. -i recently resealed the door -i recently sealed some old unused holes in the firewall... My most educated guess is that the exhaust slip joint is leaking gasses. There are some deposits on the pipe. I recently purchased new nuts to replace the old ones in the photo and I tightened as mush as I felt comfortable but I was getting nervous about stripping the nut. It looks like it's still leaking to me. It there some tribal knowledge to seal this thing?

So I figured it out! I removed the starter and brought it to a local "old timer" known for this type of stuff. The brushes and commutator were dirty due to an old oil leak that was repaired last year but the real problem was the solder joint between the terminal and the field winding had broken. The "old-timer" soldered it back together, cleaned the brushes and brush holder, and refinished the commutator. No new parts needed aside from a bit of solder. Brushes are in good shape with plenty of meat left. Reinstalled the starter with my lovely assistant (wife) this morning and it worked! She (the plane) cranked right up. Photo is of my wife's hands so people would actually believe her when she says "I helped fix the plane"

I'm not complaining about it. I agree with figuring it out yourself. Plus, I framed my paper chart with all my training flights on it. Its a pretty cool conversation starter.

I got my ppl in 2018. They made me use paper charts...

I agree with these old starters lasting forever with a little maintenance. I'm going to try to repair/overhaul this old starter. A few bucks for hopefully another 20 years of service sounds like a good deal. I haven't had an trouble with hot starts yet and the old starters seem to be more durable/serviceable than the new lightweight starters.

So take a trip out to AZ, from NJ, to pick a fight with a bunch of black widows for a 50+ year old starter?.. Sounds like a good deal! I'll leave in the morning.