Pull them cowls!

[MARZ]

I made it to Oshkosh this year, the flight from Houston was great. While there I decided to get a show special on plugs.  I've been meaning to change them out for a while, the champion guys gave me cold hard cash! (well ok only a buck per plug but hey) 

 

I changed out the plugs on field and thought it a good time to look, pull and push things about under the cowling.  Probably would have made the trip home, but I found a section of the oil cooler hose that routes next to the muffler that had a singe on the covering. 

 

My thoughts turned immediately to "breaking the chain" if it did go best case is an off airport - worst case was a oil spray on a hot exhaust and potential fire - so I arranged to have a shop change out the hoses and add fire sleeve.  I checked the removed hose afterwards, in general the hose was ready to be changed even without the singed cover. Glad I did it before an eight hour flight home, and I've added an under cowl poke around at 25 hours to my routine.

 

 

[KSMooniac]

Good idea to check everything when you do an oil change.  Sorry to hear you bought Champions... do a search here and you'll find that their quality has been suspect for quite a few years now.

[MARZ]

Well if nothing else I'll have a pirep to post!  One other thing of note the plug change reduced my Peak EGT across the board by about 90 degrees.  Kinda made me go hmmmm.

[orionflt]

I picked up tempest fine wire plugs while at Osh, $500 for the set of 8 plus they threw in a bottle of anti seize, not sure when I will be getting them installed but I will let you know what kind of difference they make.

[jetdriven]

Sometimes the mixture cable falls off too. I check everything every 25 hours.

[cliffy]

Have been using plain old clean engine oil to lube the spark plug threads for 40+ years. I have found it far better than anything in a can. 

A real old time A&P taught me the trick. Put agood drop on finger and spin the threads with the other hand. Works great. At 100 hrs most are still moist with oil in the threads. They come out easy. 

[Lood]

I have a habit to remove the cowls and poke around before every longish flight, especially flights on which my family joins me. Never found serious, but a broken langind light, but I keep at it.

[tomn]

I spend a lot of time looking under the cowl.  When I had my E, I'd pull the side cheek panels all the time and look up inside with a flashlight to try to find anything that did not look right.  I have found rocker cover bolts loose, starter bolts/starter loose, frayed wires, exhaust gaskets leaking, torn induction boot, etc.....

[ryoder]

Do the stc cowls make it easier to pull them off? It would be nice if there was a cowl that opened up easily like the hood of a car.

[Bob_Belville]

I spend a lot of time looking under the cowl.  When I had my E, I'd pull the side cheek panels all the time and look up inside with a flashlight to try to find anything that did not look right.  I have found rocker cover bolts loose, starter bolts/starter loose, frayed wires, exhaust gaskets leaking, torn induction boot, etc.....

But that old bird was a bucket of bolts!

 

(I probably remove all 3 pieces every other flight. It takes about 5 minutes. Almost always see something to mess with.)

[Mooneymite]

Have been using plain old clean engine oil to lube the spark plug threads for 40+ years. I have found it far better than anything in a can. 

A real old time A&P taught me the trick. Put agood drop on finger and spin the threads with the other hand. Works great. At 100 hrs most are still moist with oil in the threads. They come out easy. 

 

If you've ever had a spark plug seize, it makes you a believer in anti-seize.  It is not a "happy event".  The darn thing would not come loose using every trick known to man.  Happily, the engine this occurred on was headed back to Lycoming on a "factroy reman" deal.  I never got the plug out and I suspect Lycoming just tossed it.

 

Also, I'm not sure of the overall impact, but putting oil on the threads changes the torque value for spark plugs.

 

All of this may well fall under the classification of "angels on the head of a pin".  It's hard to argue with 40+ years of success.  

[orionflt]

Have been using plain old clean engine oil to lube the spark plug threads for 40+ years. I have found it far better than anything in a can. 

A real old time A&P taught me the trick. Put agood drop on finger and spin the threads with the other hand. Works great. At 100 hrs most are still moist with oil in the threads. They come out easy. 

I like the oil idea as a backup but i will stick with anti seize, a bottle lasts a long time and most places will throw in a bottle when you buy a set of plugs if you ask them to.

[Mooneymite]

I like the oil idea as a backup but i will stick with anti seize, a bottle lasts a long time and most places will throw in a bottle when you buy a set of plugs if you ask them to.

 

Anti-seize and oil do different things.  It is interesting that in the automotive world, spark plugs with a special metal sheathing, should NOT be installed with anti-seize.  However,  I think we can rest assured that no such technological innovation has entered the certified aircraft world!

[triple8s]

(quote) "Do the stc cowls make it easier to pull them off? It would be nice if there was a cowl that opened up easily like the hood of a car."

 

That be the "B" brand

[tomn]

But that old bird was a bucket of bolts!

 

(I probably remove all 3 pieces every other flight. It takes about 5 minutes. Almost always see something to mess with.)

Not a bucket of bolts! Just a great bird with a few years under her!

(quote) "Do the stc cowls make it easier to pull them off? It would be nice if there was a cowl that opened up easily like the hood of a car."

 

That be the "B" brand

I must say it sure is nice to pop two levers to open the entire top cowling. I do it before every flight now.

[ryoder]

What does the b brand mean?

[carusoam]

In the never ending debate of us vs. them...

Brand B would be the other guys.

It would be easier to dislike brand B pilots, but some us have become some of them after a while...

And some of them show up over here sometimes...

Best regards,

-a-

[sleepingsquirrel]

I have proof that brand b is no larger than my Mooney M20b. A brand b friend of mine gave me his brand b cover when he moved int a hangar. Fits Mooney just like it fits brand b! 

 How many doors does brand b have? I remember my wife getting into the Mooney and fastening her seat belt. When I finished pre flight and told her I needed to get in she was more than annoyed that the Mooney only had the one door. 

[MB65E]

Beechcraft... More commonly Aka Bonanza!

Although, I sat in an S35 this week and glanced at the baggage area...kinda Long Body like.

My wife has not seen the baggage area yet...

[tomn]

Its interesting having a brand "B" now since previously thinking the only plane I'd ever own would be a Mooney.  They are both great planes and its fun to compare one against the other in a competitive sort of way.  They both have their strong points and drawbacks.  For what its worth, there are quite a number of non-B brand pilots over on Beechtalk - the MS equivalent for that brand.  I'm sure there are more non-Mooney members here than anyone realizes.  That's probably a good thing - best for the overall health of GA.  

 

I still come here often - I want to keep my finger on the pulse and keep up with you guys. I can easily see myself with another Mooney one day...

 

Tom

[Marauder]

Its interesting having a brand "B" now since previously thinking the only plane I'd ever own would be a Mooney. They are both great planes and its fun to compare one against the other in a competitive sort of way. They both have their strong points and drawbacks. For what its worth, there are quite a number of non-B brand pilots over on Beechtalk - the MS equivalent for that brand. I'm sure there are more non-Mooney members here than anyone realizes. That's probably a good thing - best for the overall health of GA.

I still come here often - I want to keep my finger on the pulse and keep up with you guys. I can easily see myself with another Mooney one day...

Tom

Sucking up to us will get you everywhere You'll be back. Just consider it a mid-life plane crisis.

[Bob_Belville]

Sucking up to us will get you everywhere You'll be back. Just consider it a mid-life plane crisis.

Unlike B26 and yours truly, Tom's flying is mostly for business and the tax man subsidizes a piece of the added operating costs. I'm thinking he might be back when he joins AARP.

[tomn]

You guys are fun - I'll still be here!

[chrisk]

I've got a trip planned for labor day, and I had the alternator IRANed last week.  I decided to pull the cowl and was a little disappointed in what I found.  Specifically, I found the "U" shaped exhaust pipe from the vacuum pump sitting on the fire wall shelf. It just caught my eye and didn't look right. It was obviously taken off and set there, where it was forgotten.   The amazing thing is that it was still on the shelf after a few laps around the field to test the alternator.  I'm 99% sure it was't there when I change the oil 2 hours ago, or when the plane came out of annual 50 hours ago.

 

I do kind of wonder if it could have gotten loose and caused a problem....  Something stuck, like the throttle, mixture, etc.   Who knows.

 

So yes, pull those cowls and take a good look around.

 

P.S.  Looking for a good Mooney mechanic in the Austin area.