A64Pilot

Single stage is easier to repair in my opinion, and longer lasting and more durable, but maybe not as pretty and you can’t have metallic etc paints My swag is that new aircraft are still usually single stage, be interesting to know. We did some custom base coat / clear coat and it looks pretty When I first took over a manufacturing line, we were having all kinds of paint issues on new aircraft, turns out we were using automotive paint, and cheap automotive paint at that. ‘So I started researching aircraft paint, I found out that Air Force one, the Blue Angles and Thunderbirds all used the same brand and type of paint, that was Sherwin Williams Jet-Glo and our paint problems ceased when I switched us to Jet-Glo, and also even though the paint was much more expensive, the re-work went almost to zero so it in fact saved money buying the high dollar paint, Later the new owner switched to PPG to save money and some of our old problems resurfaced. A very high quality paint is easier to apply and doesn’t require as much skill to get a quality job. ‘Now PPG is I’m sure a fine paint but I believe it takes more skill to get good results and we didn’t have the required skill level apparently, because I have seen some gorgeous PPG paint jobs. Maule uses I believe U-Tec automotive single stage paint with the additive for rubber bumpers to make the paint flexible so it doesn’t crack on the fabric parts of the airplane. This is a neighbors RV-8 and it’s automotive paint, I doubt he could do that in aircraft paint. ‘Automotive paint most of it anyway has become extremely conscious of VOC’s and I don’t believe aircraft paint has yet, and losing the VOC’s and keeping the quality is tough.

Often as has been said tapping frees up the brushes in their holders. but it could also be a bad spot on the armature. ‘If you can have it overhauled it’s likely that it will go for several more decades trouble free, but if the brushes are worn eventually that’s going to arc the armature and you may end up buying a new starter. There is nothing wrong with the old starters or generators for that matter, they have been working reliably for thousands of hours and decades to still be going in 2021

First year for Sherwin Willams base coat - clear coat was 2008, took a few years to catch on as us old school guys didn’t trust it, I still don’t So I’d assume someone tried to spray automotive clear coat on old aircraft paint to give it a shine? If so I’m afraid any polishing you do is sort of like the lipstick on a pig thing, meaning it may not be much of an improvement, but why not try.

I’d bet money it doesn’t have a clear coat, clear coat is a recent thing for aircraft and that paint doesn’t look recent. You can tell by taking a rag with a little lacquer thinner on it and rub the paint, if it gets color on the rag, it’s not clear coated. Yes it can be fixed sort of, at least you can restore some of the shine, it will last as long as the wax lasts, if kept hangered quite a while. To buff a airplane I use a Makita buffer, not a random orbit polisher, that will take forever. Don’t use compound unless you know what your doing, use a fine polish, yes it will take longer but your far less likely to cause damage, with compound you can damage paint very quickly. ‘This buffer has a newer model is all, pretty much the same, you can see I bought the machine glaze to polish my Mooney after I bought it Best idea is find an old car even a junkyard car or an old boat to practice on, then do the airplane once your comfortable Get the foam pads too, the wool cuts faster than foam does. After it’s polished I like Collinite fleet wax, it’s old school airplane and boat carnauba wax Oh, beware of miracle paint restorers / rejuvenators, it’s going to take work, but the polishing machine will make it a whole lot easier

Not meant to pick but most aircraft are Semi-Monocoque meaning that there is structure other than the skin, formers, stringers, ribs etc. Monocoque is when there is just the skin. One extreme is a fabric covered airplane where the skin is no structure, and Monocoque is the other extreme where the skin is 100% of the structure. In Monocoque construction a dent can be a serious issue, it can cause the whole thing to fail.

Rechargeable batteries don’t seem to leak, but I think in AA size only NIMH are available, if you can find Li-Po they should outlast Alkaline. ‘One of my head sets uses a 9V, and 9v’s are stupid expensive so I’m using rechargeable li-Po 9V’s that you plug a mini usb into to recharge

No one has run auto fuel have they?

Didn’t we train for partial panel?

The alternator should be locked to the engine, it should not spin freely. ‘I woud start there.

Back years ago in the Army since we reported aircraft readiness by the hour and if you broke it at 9PM but it wasn’t worked on until 8 AM you lost 11 hours on each breakage, so we stared flying very early in the morning and returning after sunrise, that way if it broke the mechanic could immediately start work, readiness rates improved. ‘But we found out the incidence of Inadvertent IMC was much higher, ground fog and apparently low ceilings are more likely around or just before dawn especially in Winter, so while it’s always best to be prepared for IMC if flying at night, it seems more likely in the early morning hours.

If it’s still available you can go to an Airwolf / Pesco wet pump and be done with it. ‘So far as rebuilding them, it’s really doesn’t work well, the vacuum pump body if you look at it, is coated with teflon or some other similar costing, once or if that costing wears off, then the wear on the pump itself is fast. I believe you can usually rebuild them once , but I don’t.

I’m going to look myself, because I’d rather not have any significant current flow through my prop governor, i know it shouldn’t, but I think it could. Too many other good places to ground an engine

A friend in High School had a Deuce Coupe with a Pontiac 389 tri-power in it, Any time you goosed it the vacuum windshield wipers would completely stop. but let off the throttle and they went to light speed

If your paying for all new avionics, get a yaw dampener, and consider a 550 conversion if budget allows

While you may think of a 300+ Mooney as a hot rod, short field it’s not. From a short field perspective my Maule was, AOPA says TO roll of 50’, landing 100’, yet it could be drug in well less than 50 ‘ if it was light, so even the Maule can be taken into places it can’t get out of, especially if there is an obstacle. ‘Just beware of one way box canyons etc, you can land with a head wind, but have to leave with a tailwind, there are a lot of one way strips https://www.aopa.org/go-fly/aircraft-and-ownership/aircraft-fact-sheets/maule-6

Most of transport aircrafts strength is in the floor so that it can handle cargo and people, that floor as well as carrying the weight has to also restrain those people and cargo so it’s pretty tough, the rest of the fuselage’s primary job is be a pressure vessel and aerodynamics, but I imagine an aircraft with overhead baggage compartments has to be a whole lot stronger, case that’s a lot of weight, and the design loads are quite high. I assume the Metro liner has no overhead baggage?

I don’t believe the cost of the inspection varies on engine time, so the insurence company should pay the same for a new engine as for one past TBO. I agree they will total it, it’s just simplier for them that way.

What about the field connections on the back of the Master switch? They are real easy to clean / diagnose, just wiggle the wires when it’s acting up and see if it stops

I guess your saying any kind of type of jet type rating, cause your not getting an F-104 type rating for instance. Exhibition is pretty restrictive, you can’t just go get a hamburger, without notifying the FAA when, where, route etc. if memory serves, so I’m sure they could but I believe that’s the end of the rides. ‘I don’t know how rides are given, no idea really, but I know the FAA is wanting to shut that down too, especially if money changes hands, that puts you into a whole different light, and is why I’m sure they were calling it training. Now that I think about it, I’d bet lunch they were told likely several times to cease “training”

When I raced it was in Clubman with a mostly stock GS500E, and a lawnmower trailer But it was a lot of fun, very competitive and being mostly stock I got a lot of track time where the guys with big bucks were constantly tuning and not on the track

yeah , i’m likely incorrect in saying bluetooth, wifi is probably correct. Yes it somehow determines squawk through power line, I’m thinking it’s just an antenna.’ Did you contact them via email? They were very helpful to me.

You can’t get a type rating for most Military aircraft, unless there is a civilian version, DC-3 and C-47 for example. So for pretty much any fighter or pursuit aircraft I wonder how they do that? ‘I don’t have a type rating for an AH-64 as there is no civilian counterpart, there is no type to get a rating for, even though it’s got a gross weight of 21,000 lbs. The FAA has no say, however in certain circumstances they can, for example say your local Sheriff’s office got an OH-58 from the Army when the Army got rid of them, they can fly it as a public category aircraft with a restricted airworthiness certificate, Then it’s under the FAA’s jurisdiction as it’s no longer a Military aircraft, you can spray crops with one too under a restricted certificate, Crop Dusters are Restricted category. But don’t carry passengers under normal circumstances. ‘Every rule has exceptions, for example only a vanishingly small number of crop dusters have an ELT in the US. I would have expected most Warbirds to fly under an exhibition certificate, but that’s a PIA, I believe you have to report each movement or at least each exhibition destination. ‘I’ve only done that once for Oshkosh

I have tried on two different engines fo get one of those plugs out of the front of the engine and have stopped short when it felt like excessive force woud be required. Is there a trick to it? a Hammer impact or heat or something?

I think you mean type rating, but most Military aircraft you can’t be type rated for, because there is no type Certificate. All I can see you could get from a P-40 is tail wheel sign off and high performance / complex aircraft. See I agree with the FAA here, they Warbirds have pretty much a special Category so they can fly, because they do not meet all kinds of regulations of a normal Category aircraft, so they should not be used in a manner not consistent with their Category. ‘I feel certain that if they were only giving flight instruction to new Warbird owners, or prospective buyers nothing would have been said. ‘Now that I’ve said that, flight instruction and flight instructors have been forever given special considerations in maintenance requirements and Medicals etc. I have no idea why. But 99% of the FAA bosses if you get to know them will admit that in their opinion that they waste too much time policing rich men’s toys where they should be serving the Airlines because that’s serving the public. They also love to talk about the GA aging aircraft “problem” too.

Most normal aircraft can get into a shorter runway than they can leave from if properly flown, so don’t forget you have to get out too. ‘If obstacles aren’t an issue, then dragging it in, behind the power curve will get you in shortest, due to thrust and airflow over the wing an aircraft under power will fly slower than one that’s not, plus under power the elevator is a whole lot more effective due to prop wash. If obstacles are an issue, then learn to be comfortable with a full slip all the way to just short of touchdown, dumping flaps etc works on paper, less so in the aircraft, if you have speed brakes leave them out, probably won’t do much, but why not? Its always a good idea to be short field proficient, you never know when you may need those skills if the engine ever quits.