Flooded Hangars at T65 (Weslaco, TX)

[RLCarter]

For the past few days there has been a slow moving disturbance generating tropical rain fall here in S.Texas. Last night was the worst so far with an unofficial total of 9" in Weslaco, TX. I have 2 planes based in Weslaco (T65) so after hearing of the flooding over night I started making and receiving phone calls to see how hard the airport was hit. The 25 mile trip over there would be easy via the expressway but one there I knew I would run into road closures, after lunch I made the trek to see how far I could get, once there the south entrance was deeper than I wanted to try in my F-150 so I made my way to the other side just to find much deeper water. While parked with a few other motorist a fellow pilot came up in his 4X4 so I hoped in and went back over to the south gate, the first row of hangars showed signs of high water but it had receded, once on my row I could tell there was still 4~5 inches inside so we went to check his hangar. Once at his hangar the water level had only gotten up maybe an inch, thing were wet but even his tail wheel was above the water level. The water level was going down fairly quick so I had him drop me off back at my truck, with in an hour the water had gone down enough to get to my hangar and what a mess there was when I got the door open, everything that was on the floor had floated around including trash cans, shop vacs, buckets and even a 5ft shelf that had fallen over. There was debris everywhere, the water level had gotten over 11" inside meaning both the Mooney and the Cessna get the wheels pulled off starting in the morning, not exactly the way I wanted to spend Thursday but oh well what can you do.

[DonMuncy]

Looks like you are in for bearing repacking. Not fun, but it could have been a lot worse.

[RLCarter]

12 minutes ago, DonMuncy said:

Looks like you are in for bearing repacking. Not fun, but it could have been a lot worse.

Yep,  going to start in the morning (unless it floods again) and I'll actually split the wheels so it will be a long day(+)

[RLCarter]

Well the Mooney is on the jacks and the wheels are removed, the Cessna is sitting on blocks with no wheels as well. All six wheels were split to remove any water trapped in the tire, all of them had moisture on the tube & tire. Lucky in a way both planes had the bearings repacked the oldest being less than 3 months ago, after cleaning and inspecting I have 2 outer races with water marks and 1 bearing that will get replaced, not too bad considering. My hangar neighbor came by Thursday to see what got damaged in his hangar, same thing, if it floated it wasn’t were you had left it, his plane was across the field high and dry at the AI’s hangar (turbo R&R) so he offered his hangar for as long as needed so the Cessna is over there now (much more room to work). After spending close to 20 hrs getting to this point I have decided to paint all 6 wheels (might as well have something good come from this). Piloto will be so proud, WD-40 was sprayed everywhere to displace any moisture in/on the axles and all the hardware for the brakes and wheels, I buy it by the gallon and use it when machining aluminum so it was on hand. The real bitch was the temperature and humidity today, both big shop fan motors got flooded as well so Saturday between primer and paint drying the fans will get taken apart, cleaned and lubed and my box fan from the garage is already in the truck. What amazes me is I have seen 9 aircraft (there is more) including my 2 that had water past the wheel bearings and the owners don’t seem to be worried about it, 2 of the guys flew theirs today and didn’t even bother to wipe or wash them off.

[Igor_U]

You did good, I don't think I would do any different. Good call on painting the wheels while you're working on all this. I'm somewhat surprised some owners would just go flying. I'm sure it will bite them in a future with corrosion and worn wheel bearings.

Not sure about terrain in your area but was there any higher ground to park planes?

I remember this photo below. It's Chehalis, WA some 10 years ago. I see a Mooney or two so it might be someone on the list.

 

 

[RLCarter]

6 minutes ago, Igor_U said:

You did good, I don't think I would do any different. Good call on painting the wheels while you're working on all this. I'm somewhat surprised some owners would just go flying. I'm sure it will bite them in a future with corrosion and worn wheel bearings.

Not sure about terrain in your area but was there any higher ground to park planes?

It's pretty flat down here but the there were places on the airport that didn't flood. I saw that it was like 11" of rain in 7 hours but it had been raining off and on for 2 weeks so the ground was already soaked. I was in an IA's hangar 2days before and there was 3 six cylinder Conti's torn down with all the new cylinders, crankshafts and various other new parts all in boxes sitting on the floor, not sure but I'm pretty sure he doesn't have any insurance. I could file a claim on mine but it really isn't worth it to me

[bonal]

2 hours ago, Igor_U said:

You did good, I don't think I would do any different. Good call on painting the wheels while you're working on all this. I'm somewhat surprised some owners would just go flying. I'm sure it will bite them in a future with corrosion and worn wheel bearings.

Not sure about terrain in your area but was there any higher ground to park planes?

I remember this photo below. It's Chehalis, WA some 10 years ago. I see a Mooney or two so it might be someone on the list.

 

 

Looking at that photo reminds me how we always think of our Mooneys as easy to spot by the obvious proper tail but also they have a very distinct plan form as well. And in my opinion also a very attractive shape. They look fast even when viewed from overhead.

Edited June 23, 2018 by bonal

[RLCarter]

Slight change on "bad list", after a much closer inspection in good light this morning I have decided to just replace all bearings and races on both planes along with all the felts and new rubber on the nose of the Cessna. Wasn't really planning on spending this much time, but I'm here now so might as well do it all and not worry about it for a while

[thinwing]

On 6/22/2018 at 9:13 PM, RLCarter said:

Well the Mooney is on the jacks and the wheels are removed, the Cessna is sitting on blocks with no wheels as well. All six wheels were split to remove any water trapped in the tire, all of them had moisture on the tube & tire. Lucky in a way both planes had the bearings repacked the oldest being less than 3 months ago, after cleaning and inspecting I have 2 outer races with water marks and 1 bearing that will get replaced, not too bad considering. My hangar neighbor came by Thursday to see what got damaged in his hangar, same thing, if it floated it wasn’t were you had left it, his plane was across the field high and dry at the AI’s hangar (turbo R&R) so he offered his hangar for as long as needed so the Cessna is over there now (much more room to work). After spending close to 20 hrs getting to this point I have decided to paint all 6 wheels (might as well have something good come from this). Piloto will be so proud, WD-40 was sprayed everywhere to displace any moisture in/on the axles and all the hardware for the brakes and wheels, I buy it by the gallon and use it when machining aluminum so it was on hand. The real bitch was the temperature and humidity today, both big shop fan motors got flooded as well so Saturday between primer and paint drying the fans will get taken apart, cleaned and lubed and my box fan from the garage is already in the truck. What amazes me is I have seen 9 aircraft (there is more) including my 2 that had water past the wheel bearings and the owners don’t seem to be worried about it, 2 of the guys flew theirs today and didn’t even bother to wipe or wash them off.

When I had the Husky on Amphibs ,the wheels and bearing were constantly being submerged...we packed bearings using Boat trailer Marine grease...didn't really have to repack bearings more than once a year ,but they generally began to show water damage after 3 or 4 years and were replaced

[RLCarter]

2 hours ago, thinwing said:

When I had the Husky on Amphibs ,the wheels and bearing were constantly being submerged...we packed bearings using Boat trailer Marine grease...didn't really have to repack bearings more than once a year ,but they generally began to show water damage after 3 or 4 years and were replaced

To bad these were never meant to be near water let alone submerged, not one bearing or outer race really survived be under water for less than 12 hrs

[thinwing]

The bearings on the Cleveland wheels ( installed on Wipline Amphibious floats)were standard p/no and not of any special design.Typically we would extend the gear while approaching a beach  we weren't familiar with to protect the float bottoms from hidden stumps.We operated a lot off of muddy rivers but never salt.We were surprised how much water intrusion they tolerated with the right grease.

[RLCarter]

26 minutes ago, thinwing said:

The bearings on the Cleveland wheels ( installed on Wipline Amphibious floats)were standard p/no and not of any special design.Typically we would extend the gear while approaching a beach  we weren't familiar with to protect the float bottoms from hidden stumps.We operated a lot off of muddy rivers but never salt.We were surprised how much water intrusion they tolerated with the right grease.

Did they have seals or just the standard felt?

Edited June 25, 2018 by RLCarter

[thinwing]

No seals at all in ft two ,rears had seals that leaked badly

[RLCarter]

Amazing, there were water marks on all the bearings & races, both planes just came out of annual and the bearings all looked good then

[Mark89114]

How bad are water marks on bearings?  I am asking from a practicality point of view as i have "had to" replace plenty of them on my cessna over the years, hangared outside.  I get the hardening is probably gone, but these bearings really arent used much.  Low speed for probably 90% of time, and relatively low RPM on landing for maybe 20 seconds?  I would get it if these bearings were used in power transmission for thousands of hours at a time in high heat/load situation.  I even think deakin said wheel bearings are probably the most over serviced items on our airplanes.  Does anybody know of any failures of races?  Obviously tjis case is different due to water immersion.  Inquiring only.

[Hank]

3 hours ago, Mark89114 said:

How bad are water marks on bearings?  I am asking from a practicality point of view as i have "had to" replace plenty of them on my cessna over the years, hangared outside.  I get the hardening is probably gone, but these bearings really arent used much.  Low speed for probably 90% of time, and relatively low RPM on landing for maybe 20 seconds?  I would get it if these bearings were used in power transmission for thousands of hours at a time in high heat/load situation.  I even think deakin said wheel bearings are probably the most over serviced items on our airplanes.  Does anybody know of any failures of races?  Obviously tjis case is different due to water immersion.  Inquiring only.

I won't say my races were bad, but I put in new bearings at annual in January, there was significant wear on the ball bearings themselves. They looked bad, they made noise pushing the plane in & out of the hangar, and when removed, they spun badly in my hand. Yes, she lives in a hangar all the time, except when traveling overnight.

[RLCarter]

8 hours ago, Mark89114 said:

How bad are water marks on bearings? 

I'm headed out to the hangar in a few, will try and get a few shots of the best and worst ones. 

[RLCarter]

@Mark89114 here are the bearings

All bearings & races

Nose wheel bearing (best & worst)

 

main wheel (best & worst)

[RLCarter]

And yes that is a crankshaft in the background, Lycoming 0-235 the cases were split, everything cleaned flushed and re-pickled. Not mine was being stored for a buddy

[Mark89114]

Ok, those look bad.  I have had mechanics tell me I need to replace them when one race has a pencil sized mark on it.

 

[RLCarter]

6 minutes ago, Mark89114 said:

Ok, those look bad.  I have had mechanics tell me I need to replace them when one race has a pencil sized mark on it.

A thin line might be overkill, between both planes there were a few I would have used but seeing how the majority were bad it just made since to replace them all

[Guest]

2 hours ago, RLCarter said:

A thin line might be overkill, between both planes there were a few I would have used but seeing how the majority were bad it just made since to replace them all

When you look at the pricing of these bearings you might reconsider.  One cup and cone either 13889/13836 or 08125/08231 is more than $100 CDN.  If you replace them I wouldn’t use Aerospace grease.  Something sticky from Quaker State or Valvoline works way better.

Clarence

[RLCarter]

2 hours ago, M20Doc said:

When you look at the pricing of these bearings you might reconsider.  One cup and cone either 13889/13836 or 08125/08231 is more than $100 CDN.  If you replace them I wouldn’t use Aerospace grease.  Something sticky from Quaker State or Valvoline works way better.

Clarence

Some good lube would have been nice for the purchase as well, (8) Mains and (4) Nose Cups & Cones was just north of a grand. I was real tempted to go Timken Automotive at about half that but went FAA/PMA, I've been using Valvoline Synthetic for years, its worked really well until we had that Biblical rain last week

[RLCarter]

Both the Mooney and Cessna parts catalog list the cups & cones with out the "-20629"...so did Mooney and Cessna use just a standard bearing & race back then? 

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, RLCarter said:

Both the Mooney and Cessna parts catalog list the cups & cones with out the "-20629"...so did Mooney and Cessna use just a standard bearing & race back then? 

As far as I know the original bearings were only 5 digits long.  I think you’d be fine with just those part numbers as shown in the current manual.

Clarence