No Flight Today....GRRRR....

Well I got myself a new instructor and we were scheduled to fly today. Unfortunately he had to be called away to some other pressing business, but even more unfortunately, I neglected to give him my cell number so I sat around the airport for a bit snapping pics of some pretty airplanes waiting for my lesson to start. No big loss, I found out soon enough and I spent some time looking over UBC and the journey log. In my last entry I listed the parts that went on UBC during the annual and didnt really know what they were. Fortunately in the Journey there is an entry by my mechanic that addresses where the parts went and what they were.

AIRFRAME WORK COMPLETED
-Found main tires to be in bad shape. Installed new main tires and tubes. (Tire 6.00X6X6TT Air Hawk QTY 2, Tube 6.00X6 Tube QTY 2)
-Installed new instrument and vacuum filters. (Instrument RA-D9-18-1 QTY 1, Vacuum RA-B3-5-1 QTY 1)
-Brake linings worn. Installed new linings. (Brake lining RA-66-106 QTY 4, Rivet RA105-00200 QTY 8)
-Nut on nose landing gear in poor shape. Replaced with new. (Nut 404 101 QTY 1)
-Cowl screws all rusted and stripped. Installed new ones. (Screw AN32R10 QTY 45)

ENGINE SPECIFIC WORK COMPLETED
-Engine compression test, hot: #1 70/80, #2 75/80, #3 70/80 #4 72/80.
-Removed Oil Filter and checked for metal contaminates. Non found, installed new filter (Filter CH48103-1 QTY 1)
-Drained engine oil and replentished with 7 U.S. Quarts of Aeroshell W100.
-Altenator belt in bad shape replaced with new. (Belt 37B19774-341 QTY 1)
-Spark plugs in bad shape. Replaced all with new. (Spark Plug REM40E QTY 8)
-Found rocker cover gaskets leaking. Installed all new ones. (Gasket SL75906 QTY 4)
- All Engine hoses checked and are servicable until next inspection.

Every annual (and now every 25hrs) the cylinders get checked for compression. The best I understand (and anyone can correct me on this) is that they fill the cylinders with 80 pounds of air and see how much it will hold within a set amount of time. So from what I understand the #3 cylinder leaked 10pounds of air, but that is still quite good. The reason we need to do a compression test every 25 hours is because the engine is "on condition" this term realistically from a legal standpoint only extends to commercial operation but on a private level just means that the engine should be watched after extra hard. The Lycoming engines go on condition after the TBO (Time before overhaul) in this case 2000 hrs, or 12 years after manufacture. These engines are known to run easily run into the 3000 hrs and are done quite often, but its just Lycomings way of telling you if you dont overhaul the engine they have nothing to do with it if your plane falls out of the sky. Now everyone should baby the engine anyway but when on condition you have to be extra careful. Think of it as your grandma. Your grandma may be one of those extreme fit ladies who are still jogging and going crazy at her old age, but she still better go in for more frequent check ups to make sure that hip isn't gunning to snap on her.

On my annual report it says:

Lycoming O-320-E2A S/N :-15941-27A is going "ON CONDITION" as of this annual. -Compression test needs to be done every 25 hrs. -Run engine to see if it pulls full rpm, every 25 hrs. -Oil and filter needs to be changed every 50 hrs. -Pilots need to notify mechanics on oil consumption.

So you can see that the mechanic is reccomending increased inspections to ensure proper care of the engine and that way if anything starts to go we can catch it before it becomes a catastrophic failure. I allready do regular oil changes every 25 hours, but during that I do not change the filter. The reason being is that it isn't like a regular car filter cartridge. On this particular engine it is a filter screen in the oil sump area. You have to be a licensed mechanic to pull this. So I plan on doing my oil change every 25hrs and every 50hrs have the mechanic pull the screen while I have it drained.

On the annual they also go through Airworthiness Directives (ADs) that get issued by the manufacturer. Basically these are reocurring potential problems that are checked at each Annual (or 100hr) inspection to make sure that it isn't just waiting to fail.

From my inspection report
RECURRING AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVE COMPLIANCE WORK COMPLETED

-AD 69-22-02 Failure of control wheel - C/W using AD. No defects found. Next inspection due April 08 or at 5824.2.
-AD 70-16-05 Cracks in muffler -C/W using AD. No defects found. Next inspection due April 08 or at 5824.2
-AD 95-26-13R1A Oil cooler hose ruptures - C/W using AD. No defects found. Next inspection due April 08 or at 5824.2.
-AD CF90-03R2 Exhaust type cabin heater - C/W using AD. No defects found. Next inspection due April 08 or at 5824.2.

The last one and the second is an important point. Many GA cabin heaters are a heat exchanger shroudes that go around the muffler. When the cabin heat vent is opened, air goes through the heat exchanger shroud heating up the air with the heat from the muffler and going into the cabain. Quite an effective and efficient way of heating the cabin. Unfortunately these systems are known to crack and introduce CO (Carbon Monoxide) into the cockpit. CO being a colourless, odourless, poisonus gas is quite dangerous and is created by incomplete combustion. This gas will cause drowsiness, eratic behaviour, eventually loss of conciousness, and eventually death. Many a pilot has succomed to CO and fallen asleep with the a/c making its way to Terra Firma. This is exactly why we have littl CO detectors in the aircraft. These CO detectors are to be replaced every 18 months, but I think I will do it every annual, just to be sure.

Well that ends this entry. I apologise for the length but I thought if anyone actually cares they might find this interesting.

Untill next time, keep on rocking in the free world.

Niss