Coupers: I too find some of the "folk cures" for aircraft repairs kinda scary. Also worrysome are repairs done cheaply, rather than correctly. If there are original design parts available from Univair or Skyport, or used ones from another aircraft, they should be used because there was a reason they were designed that way. I don't know about your I/A, but mine won't sign off the plane at annual time if there's a non-airworthy repair. There are all kinds of repairs which you can hide or get signed off by an I/A who just doesn't care, but they can bite you later.
AC 11 and 43 tell how to do repairs and are your guides if you have to
substitute parts. It's really not hard to follow the rules. As an
example
of items which should be done right the first time to save trouble later,
I'll list below the repairs which were required to make my Alon
"airworthy":
(1) Legally getting the bird home.
I purchased a clean looking Alon one and one-half years ago. It had a
newly rebuilt engine. Except for tightening a disconnected carb heat
cable, it was readily approved for a ferry permit (needed because it was
two years since the previous annual).
(2) First annual inspection.
(a) Although the engine rebuild itself was not in doubt, old dried-up
engine mounts, original flexible seals, and hoses more than fifteen years
old had been re-installed on the rebuilt engine. REPLACED THEM
(b) Weight and balance documents did not include an equipment list and the
logs did not list all the installed equipment. Therefore, you couldn't
tell what the plane weighed. WENT ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE LAST VALID
WEIGHT AND BALANCE EIGHTEEEN YEARS PREVIOUS - DELETED AND ADDED ITEMS
FROM
THERE
(c) Wingtip strobes had no STC and were not made for an Alon. Installed
wiring was stretched tight. SPLICED ADDITIONAL WIRE. FAA FIELD
INSPECTION
WAS REQUIRED TO MAKE LEGAL.
(d) Transponder and Altitude Encoder were never "installed." INSPECTION,
TEST, AND LOGBOOK ENTRIES AND 337 TOOK CARE OF THAT. Altimeter had a case
leak so couldn't be IFR certified. REBUILT ALTIMETER.
(e) Canopy had no center stop or "pull-in" wedges. PURCHASED AND
INSTALLED.
(f) Many fasteners had no washers or were incorrect type. INSPECTED AND
INSTALLED CORRECT FASTENERS.
(g) Steering linkage hardware was installed wrong, resulting in binding in
some positions and looseness in others. RE-INSTALLED.
(3) First year.
(a) Ailerons were sloppy and you could "feel" something not quite right.
ONE ROD-END BEARING REPLACED, SHIM ADDED TO BELL CRANK, RE-RIGGED
Ailerons
still not right BUSHINGS WORN OUT IN CONTROL COLUMN - PREVIOUS UNRECORDED
REPAIR HAD USED INCORRECT BUSHINGS OR MIXED SHAFT AND COLUMN FROM TWO
DIFFERENT AIRCRAFT - REPLACED BUSHINGS AND MACHINED TO FIT.
(c) Canopy didn't slide smoothly. PREVIOUS UNRECORDED HOMEGROWN REPAIR
REPLACED SLIDES WITH ROLLERS WHICH WERE POORLY MADE AND WORN OUT. CORRECT
PARTS COULD NO LONGER BE USED DUE TO DRILLING AND FILING. REENGINEERED
AND
REPLACED WITH STRONGER ROLLERS.
(d) Fuel tanks leaked. There was some brown goopy compound in the bottom
of the tanks. The plane had been flown under the mogas STC. FUEL TANKS
WERE REMOVED AND RE-SLOSHED.
(e) Wings looked like they didn't belong to the fuselage. They were
slightly hail-damaged, while the fuselage was OK. No log entries. PHONED
PREVIOUS OWNERS. ONE SAID THAT THREE COUPES HAD BEEN TURNED IN TWO GOOD
ONES. MINE WERE THE SECOND QUALITY WINGS. NO PERSON WOULD ACTUALLY OWN
UP
TO CHANGING THEM, SO NO LOG ENTRY WAS MADE - PROBABLY NO PROBLEM SINCE
THEY
ARE AT LEAST THE CORRECT WINGS AND THEY ARE IN GOOD CONDITION.
(4) Second Annual inspection
(a) Nosestrut leaked when hydraulic fluid was added. DISASSEMBLED.
SOMEONE HAD PREVIOUSLY FILLED STRUT WITH GREASE. PLATING WAS FLAKING OFF
INNER STRUT. RECHROMED AND RE-GROUND.
------
Except for the aileron linkage, none of the repairs made the plane fly any
better and fortunately, the canopy didn't blow off. I've written this
piece partly for those folks who are thinking of buying their first plane
so they can see what they are getting into, partly to vent my frustration
in having a plane on the ground, unairwothy for about five months out the
first year-and-a-half I've owned it, due mostly to incorrect maintenance
in
the past.
So, please don't make parts for the plane when you can purchase the ones
the engineers designed for it - UNLESS YOU REGISTER IT AS EXPERIMENTAL -
THEN PLEASE DON'T FLY OVER MY HOUSE.
All in fun,
David
Alon A-2 s/n A35
N6359V
===========================================================
From: Steve Dold <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Cork floats ("it was that way when I bought it")
>I wouldn't put something on that was obviously non-original
>There are several items on the planes that are never factory-original.
The >window latch, for one
-----------------------------------
Steve Dold ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Say NO to useless over-quoting
-----------------------------------
Bob Urban wrote:
>Is this an STC fix for a certified a/c?
>Other than wondering what\how paint thinner got in gasoline, I wonder
>what the FAA thinks of this float fix....
>Especially if it associated with the cause of a crash.
>Then, I wonder if the insurance company will pay off.
>Some folks don't solder very well or know what kind of solder to use.
>I find this kind of knowledge very scary; maybe reckless?
>
>Wondering out loud,
>Bob Urban
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
>E. T. 'Pete' Petrie wrote:
>>
>> I knew I'd seen it somewhere! A little bit of looking found it!
>>
>> Float Problems?...was a short blurb at the bottom of page 9 in the
January,
>> 1998 Coupe Capers. It reads...
>>
>> "Paint thinner in gasoline dissolved shellac on both cork floats in the
>> nose and left wing tank, making them inoperative - so had to replace
with
>> brass float sold by Stewart-Warner (Auto Part #411290). Does the job
just
>> right. Just solder it to the wire."
>>
>> Pete, N3552H
<<attachment: winmail.dat>>
