A64Pilot

Alternators can provide way more power, for way less weight, but they produce AC current, not DC. The AC current they produce is rectified to pulsating DC, so I believe they are “noisier” They also require DC power to work as they have electromagnets, where a Generator has permeant magnets. ‘A whole lot of money can be spent on upgrades with not much advantage being gained, if you don’t need the extra current that an alternator can provide, then why replace it? 1940’s and newer aircraft had tube radios and 250W landing lights, and worked just fine with generators. However alternators are supposedly more reliable than generators because of the difference in the rings that the brushes ride on, generator brushes wear faster, but I’d say that if brushes are inspected every xxx hours and a replacement interval determined a generator can last a very, very long time. (I’d do it at 100 hours myself) ‘For whatever it’s worth the majority of at least smaller turbines have generators that also function as starters, and it’s normal to inspect the brushes and determine a replacement interval for them. It’s easily done. ‘I’ve replaced a VW’s brushes at night on the side of the road, generators are simple and therefore easy to maintain.

That is the only point I have been trying to make, of course it means either an IA or a Repair Station does the inspection.

I’m not so sure.

That would be standard practice, if it were in fact specially made and not machined from a standard bolt it’s likely it would be stupid expensive. ‘However if it were machined, then standard practice is also to send it off to be re-cad plated again, that only makes sense for batches of bolts, isn’t all that expensive, but adds time, shipping both ways etc. So $70 a bolt really isn’t price gouging, I’ve seen and paid over a couple of hundred a bolt for larger NAS bolts, that were not special. ‘When I overhaul an engine, I send every piece of common hardware off of it, nuts, bolts etc to Aerospace defense coatings in Macon Ga and have it cad plated in gold cad plate, it’s actually very reasonable. I’d bet though if you bought AN or NAS whichever is correct and had them machined and then cad plated as an owner produced part, I’d bet it would cost a least what Lazar charges, maybe more?

When I bought my Mooney it’s cowl flaps when closed were open about an inch, when flown at normal power settings and ROP, which is how it had been operated, the Cyl head temps were fine, just over 50% of the green band, But when flown at altitude and lower power and LOP, cyl head temp was lower than I liked to see. ‘I guess I should have stated that the baffling is in perfect shape with new well sealing silicone seals, 200 hour Gann “performance” engine. Anyway so I looked up in the MM and it states that they should be adjusted so that they are fully closed but your allowed up to 1/4 inch open in hot wx when fully closed. I adjusted them for fully closed So today I headed out to Breakfast and was at 2,000 ft, 22 squared and 8GPH, pretty close to peak I think and Cyl head temp was in the green, but higher than I like, so I pulled them to where the over center mechanism was just unlocked which opens them I’d guess a 1/2 inch and temps dropped to the middle of the green. Is this average for a J model? I don’t as of yet have an analyzer, will have to wait awhile until funds allow it so I’m basing temps off old stock instrumentation. In the descent on the way back with power back to about 12” with the flaps closed it maintained middle of the green, so I think I’ll keep them where they are, just wondered if anyone else cracks them open for cruise, when in Fl weather down low, OAT was 28C Descent from 3500 ‘I used to in the 210 as well. we would open them slightly to what we called trailing meaning if you unlocked them, the position they took themselves, it took pressure to open or close them, I think it was about an inch open.

Maule has a vernier throttle, the one with a button. I came to love it, if you need throttle all of the sudden simply push with the heel of your hand and that pushes the button in and the throttle advances, butI used my thumb. I really liked the vernier function for fine adjustability and especially because it stays where you left it without having to crank in friction. ‘Why do you think they are on the prop and mixture? Ever flown an aircraft with a mixture without a vernier cable? I have and it’s annoying, tough to make fine adjustments I found it nice when I was flying down low and didn’t need or want full throttle, I’m not always up at altitude flying long distances, sometimes like this morning it’s a 20 min trip to eat breakfast and then I’m down low and running 22 squared and 7 GPH, no need for fangs out, hair on fire. They are also nice when letting down, I try to reduce throttle 1 inch a minute in the descent, and the vernier makes that easy, you learn how much turning is 1 inch and don’t even have to look, with a normal throttle your often over adjusting, then adding back. ‘It’s really just a matter of what you get used to, when I first got the Maule, I had planned on getting rid of that silly vernier throttle, but quickly came to like it.

I knew anything can be found, I’ve lived long enough to know that. ‘It’s sort of like locks and alarms, they both are pretty easily defeated, but I lock things in the hope that the Boogey man is lazy and will just move onto an unlocked car or whatever, I don’t for a second believe the lock is impregnable. I’ve seen a dinghy in the islands go to an extreme to lock the outboard, the thief just took a sawsall and cut the transom off and took the expensive locking device too. Anyone I would try to “hide” from wouldn’t do the work to find me that was done here. I removed my post, but it was quoted, and I have “reported” that and hope whoever moderates will remove the quote for me. ‘If nothing else it was an education to me, that as was said we are our own worst enemy. ‘I didn’t think that the Montana LLC could so easily be penetrated, been better I guess if it had been a Lawyer that represented the LLC, that’s what folks with money do. Yes I had heard that Georgia was beginning to chase down Motorhomes and expensive cars wanting tax, Funny when the yard at Thunderbolt in Savannah has Billions in foreign flagged Yachts sitting in it.

Understood, but are you saying that someone who pays for a through pre purchase isn’t best served by turning it into an Annual? Assuming of course the Annual wasn’t done the month prior to purchase, mine was, so I didn’t bother.

Not on a Lycoming that hasn’t flown much it’s not, and that’s lot of aircraft up for sale. Two houses down a Lady sold a twin Comanche that had sat for a few years after the husband had passed, the buyers came down and pulled a couple of cylinders off both engines, according to them the left engine had rusted cylinders but the cam was fine. ‘I think they are rolling the dice, maybe they will get lucky, I’d suspect not, not with rusted cylinders, depends on what they paid for the airplane. ‘But anyway pulling a couple of cylinders is no big deal, but it’s something you have to have agreed on before the inspection. Pulling a cylinder on a Bonanza is apparently a real PIA but it doesn’t look like it should be on a Mooney.

I believe the R-1340 basically predated 87 octane fuel. I don’t know when it became available for civilian use. ‘But my C-85 came into existence much later, 1944 I think and it was Certified for a min of 73 Octane fuel, making me think that 73 Octane was available as late as 1944. ‘But as a kid in mid to late 60’s I guess, I remember getting 80 Octane fuel with my Father in his C-182, and I think 100 in the C-210 in probably 69, it was green and the 87 red like most car gas.

I’m sure he has,and he made my point if you will read what he said. ‘What I go out of his post is that your almost there Annual wise if it was a good pre-buy. Is that not what he said?

No, that is not at all what I am saying, I’m not sure how you got there. ‘What I am saying is of course have the aircraft inspected, but if your going to pay for a comprehensive inspection, which you should do, why not have it count as an Annual? Unless of course you want to do it all over again and pay again in a few months. You actually have it backwards or you guys should find better IA’s. The Annual inspection is the once a year when you clean everything up real good and disassemble the aircraft and throughly inspect it, and determine the condition of everything, with particular interest in things that are beginning to wear so you’ll know what to expect next year etc. like motor mounts etc. ‘If your not doing that, then in a few years all you’ll have is a junk airplane. Any Good IA will give you three lists. They may not actually be three lists, but he or she will tell you what must fixed to be airworthy, What needs to be fixed, with special attention to what will cost x today, but xxx if we defer it, and what should be fixed, boots on flight control rods etc. If your not getting that then you need to go else where. ‘Before I would ever do an Annual inspection on an aircraft, I have an understanding that it will be maintained to my standards. there will be no pissing contests about what your not going to pay for because in your expert opinion it’s airworthy, I don’t need the work. Those I let pass, I only ever perform an Annual as a favor, and with the owner doing a lot of the work, I have no interest with Mr. Business suit dropping off his aircraft, others can cater to them, and should as I am not in the Business, and I don’t want to take money away from them. I’m not beneath doing an Annual for a case of beer, not if it’s a kid trying to build time in his little 150 or whatever so he can get a job, but he’s doing all the grunt work etc.

Nope those in the know seem to think that instead of spending a couple hundred more to complete an Annual, that it’s better to come back in an average of 6 months and spend ten times as much for another inspection, this one counting for an Annual. ‘Can any of you actually explain how completing an annual could possibly reduce the scope of your pre-buy? It may help to hear from those that have actually performed an Annual inspection and actually understand what one is, it seems there is confusion. ‘How could these supposedly Criminal IA’s affect your inspection? ‘Who does your pre-buys if not an IA?

Anyone who signs off an Annual for a case of beer will have no hesitation in doing so for a pre-buy.

Has anyone priced building materials lately? ‘Unless I’m being told untruths there is a huge increase in plywood and other materials. Several here have bought lots and construction costs have gone crazy, and it’s months before they can start as demand is so high, the construction guys are hopefully making a killing, I say hopefully because the money is going somewhere, I hope they get a cut. ‘I’ve been told i’d you want a pool, maybe next year the back log is so bad.

What you are calling brake fluid is not brake fluid, it’s hydraulic oil, and is correct for jacks. ‘If what your calling jack oil is automotive jack oil like for a floor jack as a example, well that’s Automatic transmission fluid, which is also hydraulic oil, just not aircraft hydraulic oil, power steering oil is the same thing with a different label, Now is automotive jack oil, Ford or GM transmission oil, I have idea but suspect a jack doesn’t care. Automotove brake fluid is different and is not comparable with the seals and O-rings used on other hydraulic systems even though of course it’s a hydraulic fluid itself. I’m glad you got them working, but they had the correct fluid in them.

I’m an IA or have been for the last 15 years or so, but got caught out overseas and couldn’t renew, so I’ll retest this year. ‘But anyway any IA that does as you suggest is committing a felony, and is subject to federal imprisonment to say nothing about losing their livelihood as in revocation of privileges. I hope that they are few and far in between. ‘All I’m saying is if your paying for a very comprehensive inspection, one that you think is more through than an Annual, why wouldn't you you have the Annual block checked? If the answer is, well we didn’t do everything an annual requires, well then it wasn’t as comprehensive as an annual was it? IF these pre-buys are so good and comprehensive, how come I hear about all these really expensive first annuals? I’d submit that if the Annual finds anything that you didn’t break, then the pre-buy must have missed it, and wasn’t as through an inspection as the Annual. If your an A&P then you know that problems are found at least as often doing servicing than in a formal inspection, bad wheel bearings and broken strands on control cables as a for instance, so there is an inspection part to servicing. What’s the logic of an Annual should be paid by the seller? I’d bet it comes from the thought that an annual is overdue. ‘Why even look at an airplane thats past Annual? Being out of Annual isn’t an indicator of a well maintained airplane, but things happen I guess, either way if it’s out of Annual, it’s going to get one, one way or another, so why not during the initial inspection, assuming it passes the sniff test, any Good IA will have a impression in the first hour or so, they will know if you have a Gem or a Pig. I’m trying to think of exactly how the expression goes, but my German neighbor when I lived there told me that “professionals” are like a Lady of the evening, whoever is paying gets what they want. So no, of course don’t go for an Annual paid for by the seller, but negotiate a purchase price based on an Annual needing to be paid for, and pay for it yourself. You were going to do that anyway for a PPI as it’s apparently called, except you don’t get to deduct that from the purchase price. Bottom line is price wise who pays and when is so much noise, in truth you the buyer are paying for everything because your buying the airplane, the bottom line is what is the price? Any purchase agreement I have ever seen, and I have not seen many, I’m not the type that flips airplanes, but anyway they have all said that if the buyer backs out he is responsible for returning the aircraft to the condition it was prior to the inspection, whether a PPI or an Annual is irrelevant, if you don’t want it, you have to pay the mechanic to put it back together. ‘I was initially looking to buy a Meyers 200D, Actually an Aero Commander. After agreeing on a price which was lower than I expected things got flaky when I insisted on an Annual at my expense, conducted by a local IA of my choosing, told me that something was wrong, I strongly suspected hidden damage, or an extensive illegal modification. ‘Either way, I think I’m better off with my Mooney, just the Meyers had a emotional attachment, but the Mooney is more practical.

I woudnt use a phone app for anything except curiosity, I wouldn’t adjust aircraft instrumentation to a phone. ‘There are two types of optical tachometers passive and active, active is like the prop balancer in that it transmits a light and reads the reflection. Passive just works off of reflected light of course, passive tachs are relatively inexpensive. Funny thing is any passive tachometer I’ve ever seen can be validated by pointing it at a fluorescent light, it will indicate 3600 RPM as it sees 60 flashes per second. It won’t work on an incandescent bulb though. If you feel the need validate the Hz rate with your multimeter, places with 50 Hz rate electricity will show 3000 RPM of course. ‘This is my tachometer, Circa mid 1960’s from North American Rockwell, last calibrated in 1996. ‘It’s surprising how accurate it is, even though it’s an analog device of course. Pretty much all old aircraft instrumentation should be treated as suspect, best use is for trend monitoring, meaning it is indicating the same as always or has it changed? If it’s different I need to verify it’s correct before anything else. But please don’t do things like adjust your engines oil pressure so your 40 year old never been calibrated instrument indicates what you want to see.

No update that I’m aware of, I wasn’t aware that you can’t use anonymous mode if you had a VFR flight plan, but honestly I don’t file VFR. Anonymous mode blocks your tail number, but does it your ICAO code? They are tied together are they not?

I’ve not read the whole thread, but was shocked at how many of you think a pre-buy is more through than an annual inspection. If I had a shop ,I’d love to do pre-buys, then an annual soon after, charge you twice. ‘Anyone can do a pre-buy, guy who cuts grass, your neighbor etc. The reason is there is no such thing as a pre-buy, it’s not legally defined, the FAA could care less, there are no performance standards. ‘However an Annual is legally defined, only an IA or above can preform one, and it’s legally defined, which means if as an IA I miss something, then the owner of the aircraft can come after me legally, and the FAA can also. There are well defined min performance standards for an annual. what are they for pre-buy? Miss a horribly unsafe grounding airplane killing problem on a pre-buy? Well life is tough isn’t it. Better luck next time. I would whole heartedly recommend if you can work it that way to get an annual, combine it with this mythical pre-buy if you want to, but get credit and hold the inspector responsible for an annual. ‘First day of an annual you know almost certainly if you want the airplane or not, and you can walk anytime you want. I can almost always tell you in an hour or less if an airplane has been professionally maintained, or if the “hanger elves” have been at work. ‘If there is any IA out there that looks harder and inspects more in a pre-buy than an Annual, well don’t ever let them work on your airplane

This is a ground water temp map of the US. I’ve been told but can’t verify that the ground water temp is the average air temp year round. https://assets.supply.com/ul_pdfs/284997_groundwatertemperaturemap.pdf Ground source heat pumps https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_heat_pump

Well Jax approach when asked responded that they can only see the letters VFR, maybe there is a way that approach doesn’t have? I’m pretty sure they also get position, track, altitude and speed, but no tail number

As breaking down fuel hoses clogged the fuel divider, you may want to consider replacing them. I’m going out on a limb here, and state that I believe that PTFE (Teflon) hoses last a very long time, much longer than rubber hoses. If that’s a incorrect statement, I expect it will be corrected

I’ve heard of geotagging, it’s a real issue with the Military, more than one base has been mortared based on photos GI’s took and posted. How do you see the location data on a photo that was posted?

That helped, but not much. For some reason aircraft fuel history doesn’t seem to be well documented, prior to Jet that is. ‘I’ve read for instance that the Wright Bros fuel’s octane was in the 30’s and it’s believed that the engine began detonating on take off, and of course continued to do so. But then just because someone published it on the internet doesn’t make it true of course. But I’ve also read that straight gasoline with no additives is the 73 number, but that is even in doubt because it seems some was less than that. Maybe it’s because what gasoline is, isn’t very defined, or wasn’t anyway. ‘I know that is THE problem with Certifying Bio-Diesel, because Bio-Diesel isn’t defined, has no standards you can certify to, it can actually be several different fuels, grouped under the name “Bio” I know because I went or was actually drug down that route, and we wasted a lot of money too.