akarmy
08-26-2009, 11:30 AM
Well, I finished up my first annual condition inspection on the new plane. For this first one I decided to enlist the help of Aircore Aviation (http://aircoreav.com/)in Arlington WA. Jim Scott is a friend of mine and knows so much about the Rotax 912 and planes in general that it was great to get his eyes on the details of this plane.
So, what did we find? Just a few things here and there. A broken alternator mount (factory weld didn’t hold) was quickly re-welded to fix it good as new. Found some lead in the plugs & bottom of the oil tank as expected since it’s been eating a steady diet of 100LL. Found some metal shavings on the magnetic drain plug in the engine. Looks as if the plug has never been removed since the engine was new. That’s a watch item to see if it’s clear now at the next oil change. I found the aileron push tube that runs under the seat was installed wrong which caused it to rub on the bottom of the seat pan. This was the source of my stiff aileron problem that I’ve been chasing down for the last few weeks. I suspect it’s been installed that way since new and never was found until now. Found one fabric tape on the bottom of the fuselage that’s lifting up a bit. Needs to be sealed back down.
A longer term project is to rewire the plane to provide more standard routing of wires and chafe protection etc. Also the fuel system needs to be re-plumbed a bit and a new header tank installed to clean up the fittings. I also would like to put some new fuel lines in that I know to be ethanol proof before using much auto gas.
Overall everything looked great. New Oil & filter, New plugs, a Carb balance, little welding & shot of spray lube and it’s good to go!
http://flying.karmy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/IMG_0713.jpg
So, what did we find? Just a few things here and there. A broken alternator mount (factory weld didn’t hold) was quickly re-welded to fix it good as new. Found some lead in the plugs & bottom of the oil tank as expected since it’s been eating a steady diet of 100LL. Found some metal shavings on the magnetic drain plug in the engine. Looks as if the plug has never been removed since the engine was new. That’s a watch item to see if it’s clear now at the next oil change. I found the aileron push tube that runs under the seat was installed wrong which caused it to rub on the bottom of the seat pan. This was the source of my stiff aileron problem that I’ve been chasing down for the last few weeks. I suspect it’s been installed that way since new and never was found until now. Found one fabric tape on the bottom of the fuselage that’s lifting up a bit. Needs to be sealed back down.
A longer term project is to rewire the plane to provide more standard routing of wires and chafe protection etc. Also the fuel system needs to be re-plumbed a bit and a new header tank installed to clean up the fittings. I also would like to put some new fuel lines in that I know to be ethanol proof before using much auto gas.
Overall everything looked great. New Oil & filter, New plugs, a Carb balance, little welding & shot of spray lube and it’s good to go!
http://flying.karmy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/IMG_0713.jpg