johnson bar handle came loose

[rbridges]

it's not the latch, but the actual chrome handle.  I came in for a landing last weekend, and when I disengaged it from the floor, the chrome handle portion lifted up and wanted to pop off the bar.  Kinda freaked me to say the least.  I was able to put it back on the bar, and it secured nice into the block.  Nothing unusual with the landing besides my heart rate increasing momentarily.

I had to put the plane up and leave fairly quick, so I haven't had a chance to look at it.  Is there a bolt or something that secures the chrome handle to the bar itself?  I'm flying to Cole Aviation first weekend in March, so he can look at it if necessary.

[RLCarter]

There is a spring under the chrome handle and a nut holds it to the bar, the hole in the bar is the access. Up on the jacks it will make sence

[Bob_Belville]

11 minutes ago, RLCarter said:

There is a spring under the chrome handle and a nut holds it to the bar, the hole in the bar is the access. Up on the jacks it will make sence

I took mine apart at annual. Maybe the first time in 50 years. Not very complicated but you'll need to put the plane up on jacks.

Knowing how it is designed I guess I could make a flight to Cole place but I'm not recommending that if you have access to jacks. Once the handle is captured in the down lock block the spring is not necessary.

[sleepingsquirrel]

You should see a hole in the Johnson bar with the gear down . Through this hole you should see threaded rod with a nut on it. The nut probably came off and fell down in the Johnson bar . You could probably replace the nut through this hole.

This pdf has the best diagram I've seen of the handel.   20-88B.pdf

 

M20-88B.pdf

Edited February 12, 2017 by sleepingsquirrel

[rbridges]

looks like the nut is missing.  I see why you have to put it on jacks.  ugh.

[DXB]

Naturally Sleepingsquirrel would be the one to know when there's a nut missing 

[carusoam]

So that's what that hole is for!

MS is still teaching me things about a plane I thought I knew pretty well... 

Who's thumb is doing the thumbnail test?

Best regards,

-a-

[RLCarter]

Once you get it back together, lock the lever in the gear down block and place a mark on the J-bar at the bottom of the chrome handle. Release the bar and adjust the nut so the handle goes up an additional 1/16~3/16" from the mark

[sleepingsquirrel]

On 2/12/2017 at 5:59 PM, carusoam said:

So that's what that hole is for!

MS is still teaching me things about a plane I thought I knew pretty well... 

Who's thumb is doing the thumbnail test?

Best regards,

-a-

I purloined the picture from the Don Maxwell tutorial on operating the Johnson bar gear.

[sleepingsquirrel]

On 2/12/2017 at 4:18 PM, rbridges said:

looks like the nut is missing.  I see why you have to put it on jacks.  ugh.

You are probably going to have to grind a wrench to hold the nut while you spin the handle. I suggest that an open end with the shoulders ground to slide into the hole. I would  bend up a piece of flat shim stock , epoxy the nut to it and reach it in and into place under the threaded rod if possible. Once it is started on the threads by turning the handle break the epoxy bond and put the wrench in place, turn the handle. I don't think the plane has to be on jacks to do this,but it is worth a try. the Johnson bar will only hold a finite number of dropped nuts so you will know when to try something different. 

[sleepingsquirrel]

On 2/12/2017 at 5:33 PM, DXB said:

Naturally Sleepingsquirrel would be the one to know when there's a nut missing 

I also know why Squirrels swim on their backs!

[rbridges]

Thanks for the help. Since I'm headed up to Cole aviation for another issue, I bought a rechromed handle from LASAR and having Joey take care of it at the same time.