Airplane Owner Maintenance - By Dean Showalter

NOTICE: UNTIL THE END OF MAY 2020, USE CODE “CANARD” FOR A 20% DISCOUNT ON MY VIDEO COURSE “SAFETY WIRE LIKE A PRO!” (Listen to the podcast to hear the story behind the word “canard” and why I chose that for the code.)

Click the following link to learn about the course:

https://airplane-owner-maintenance.teachable.com/p/safetywiring

I received an email recently asking a question about an alternator that came apart due to a failed bearing... listen to today’s podcast episode for some thoughts on that.

Also, many older airplanes don’t have a digital voltage indicator on the instrument panel, so here’s a fantastic solution for plugging in to the cigarette lighter: (and the great thing is, it’s under $20!)

https://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/flight-gear-dual-usb-charger.html

Here are some other items of interest from this past week: (All of these situations are described in today’s episode.)

STRANGE VACUUM GAUGE INDICATIONS IN A MOONEY – CHECK OUT THE DETERIORATED HOSE THAT MAY HAVE BEEN CAUSING THIS:

EXHAUST SYSTEM PRESSURE TESTING ON AN AEROSTAR:

A SLICK MAGNETO THAT MADE IT TO ABOUT 1700 HOURS! (This one has gone to Kevin Herrington at Aircraft Ignition Services, LLC for repair.)

A LOOSE BOLT IN A TURBOCHARGER SUPPORT BRACE: (NOTICE THE RUSTY COLOR IN THE SEAM, WHICH INDICATES CHAFING. ALSO NOTICE THE WEAR MARK UNDER THE WASHER.)

For more information about noticing colors on an engine, check out podcast episode 036 – Tell-Tale Colors in an airplane’s engine compartment.

A FUEL QUANTITY COMPUTER IN AN AEROSTAR:

(We sent this component to Tech-Aire in Wichita, KS because the right fuel gauge was not indicating properly, and “Bill” advised the problem is usually in this box... so I’m hopeful this will fix it.)

PLEASE SEND ME A VOICE MESSAGE OR AN EMAIL:

Which one of these video training courses would you be most eager to learn from:

1. Servicing landing gear shock struts.
2. Basic electrical system operation and troubleshooting.
3. Exhaust valve borescoping and interpretation.
4. Another idea you have! (Let me know.)

I’d love to hear your thoughts, so click that tab over on the right side of the page and record a voice message, or, send me an email: [email protected]

Don’t forget, you can get my safety wiring video tutorial course for 20% off through the end of May 2020... click this link for more info:

https://airplane-owner-maintenance.teachable.com/p/safetywiring

Mike Garcia has become a good friend over the past year or so.

Recently we completed his annual inspection together, and he really enjoyed working on his airplane while learning more about what’s under the surface!

Mike was my guest on the podcast this week, so be sure to listen to the audio for that conversation.

Mike’s wife is also learning to fly, and one of their favorite ways to use the airplane is flying from Virginia to New Mexico to see family!

And of course they take their favorite companion, Rama along on these trips as well!

Now for all you maintenance geeks out there, you might like a couple photos I took from the old parts we removed from Mike’s Bonanza.

First, the crankshaft seal that came out in pieces, along with the lock nuts we replaced when we reinstalled the prop:

And here’s the pile of rusty hardware we replaced when we installed the new tail pipes:

(I sometimes hang on to old airplane parts and pieces, to the point of driving my wife crazy... but if I can do something useful with them like including photos for a podcast episode, I feel better about throwing them in the trash!

Links mentioned in this episode:

Flight-Insight.com (This is the resource Mike Garcia mentioned that he found helpful.)

MauiPineappleStore.com (You can help these people recuperate from the terrible fire that destroyed their store in Lahaina, by buying pineapples... I ordered a case of them, and they are the best tasting pineapples ever!) My grandson helped me open the box when they arrived!

Have a great weekend!

The post “233 – Mike’s Owner Assisted Annual on His F33A Bonanza” appeared first at AirplaneOwnerMaintenance.com

This Bonanza had a problem in the landing light wiring circuit. All kinds of weird things were happening when the light was turned on in flight. You can listen to the podcast audio for more details on this squawk.

I removed the induction filter cover and the landing light assembly and inspected the wiring.

It turned out the landing light power and ground wires were chafing against each other... probably over a very long period of time. Take a look at the area of concern in the red circle on the following photo:

At first glance, it wasn’t visually obvious there was a problem.

But after separating the power and ground wires, it became very clear what was happening. As the internal strands of the power and ground wires began to just barely make contact with each other, the short-to-ground situation started wreaking havoc in the electrical system. The following photo shows the areas where the insulation was worn all the way through to the internal wire:

Sometimes there was static over the comm radio, sometimes the TCAS and intercom would cycle power off and back on, and sometimes the landing light circuit breaker switch would flip off.

I repaired the wiring and secured it really well with ty-wraps and silicone to prevent further chafing. Now Brad will be able to use his landing light any time he wants and be confident it will perform normally.

Vibration from piston engines can create some bad situations! It’s always a good idea to take an extra minute or two to look around the engine compartment whenever you’re in there, like at the oil change, or some other maintenance event, like cleaning spark plugs.

Another interesting squawk on this same Bonanza was a burning exhaust valve and corresponding low compression. The borescope revealed the classic appearance when the valve is not sealing well against the valve seat. Take a look:

I had lapped this valve at the last annual inspection and installed a new rotocoil to help ensure it would rotate properly, so when it still showed an appearance of a burning valve a year later, I figured we would likely need to remove the cylinder and send it for repair.

However, the Bonanza owner uses Savvy Aviation to manage his maintenance on the airplane, and the borescoping experts at Savvy thought it would be worth lapping the valve again to see if it could be saved.

I was happy to give it a second try. I lapped the valve heavily this time and finally, I was satisfied. I installed a new rotocoil again, and after running the engine, I rechecked the compression, and was super happy to see that it was 74/80!

I feel 90% confident that when the next annual inspection rolls around, this valve will have returned to a normal appearance. I’ll be curious to see how it turns out.

All in all, it was a good annual inspection, and Brad should be good to go for another year of flying!

The post “227 – Electrical Chaos When the Landing Light was Turned On” appeared first at AirplaneOwnerMaintenance.com

Joe Godfrey is an expert when it comes to analyzing engine data from aircraft engine monitoring systems.

Joe is the Director of Operations at SavvyAnalysis, as well as a Columnist and Editor for SavvyAviation News.

Not only does Joe analyze airplane engine data, but he also owns and flies his own airplane, a Bellanca Viking.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the “Puzzler” in the Savvy Aviation Newsletter, where some real-world airplane engine data is discussed in a way to help us understand how to “read” the data. These puzzlers are from actual problems encountered in real airplanes.

Listen to today’s episode to hear Joe’s thoughts on the value of engine monitors in airplanes, and how to interpret the data that’s collected.

Savvy Analysis is by far the BEST platform I’ve ever seen for analyzing engine data. You can open an account for free, and upload your data, and look at all the graphs and features for free. If you need help interpreting what you see, you can pay a small fee to have Joe and the other experts at Savvy analyze your data for you and help you understand what it means.

Click here to learn more about SavvyAnalysis.com

While you’re there, be sure to check out the new technology being launched by Savvy to help detect failing exhaust valves before they become an in-flight issue. It’s called FEVA, which stands for Failing Exhaust Valve Analytics.

Joe Godfrey is also a very interesting guy outside of aviation... he plays multiple types of guitars, and he’s had some pretty cool experiences in the music industry. Check it out at his personal website: JoeGodfrey.com

Finally, listen to today’s episode to find out why I’m now kicking myself for not collecting the engine data out of an airplane that had the engine come apart recently. Thankfully, the pilot was flying alone and landed safely. It would have been a great learning opportunity if I could have seen the data on a computer screen after the #2 connecting rod punched a hole through the crankcase and broke the left magneto right off the engine!

Next time I’ll be more proactive to collect the data... it would have been so easy.

The instructions for doing this, and so much more, are at SavvyAnalysis.com

One last fun thing: I also discovered Joe knows a lot about jingles and ring tones... I mentioned to him that I’d been wanting to have a ring tone set up on my iPhone so that “Brown Eyed Girl” would play when my wife Maria calls me (she actually is my brown eyed girl!). The very next day, he sent me a custom ringtone... thanks Joe!

You can contact Joe through Savvy Aviation or through his website JoeGodfrey.com

The post “144 – Joe Godfrey, Engine Data, and Savvy Analysis” first appeared on AirplaneOwnerMaintenance.com

Dan and Jeanne are some of the nicest people you will ever meet, so it’s always a privilege to work on their airplane.

It was annual inspection time, and the compression test on cylinder #1 was 25/80. The borescope showed a corresponding reason for the low compression... the exhaust valve had an uneven appearance, indicating it was not sealing well against the valve seat, and there was air leakage around the edge, causing that edge to get extra hot and burn... this is the reason for the uneven color pattern at 10 to 11 o’clock in the photo:

I discussed the situation with Dan, and we decided it was worth a try to lap the valve in place without removing the cylinder, in hopes we could save the cylinder from premature removal.

I lapped the valve and installed a new rotocoil to help ensure the valve was rotating properly during operation.

After reassembling everything and running the engine, we got a fantastic result... the compression was now 75/80!

When the annual inspection was completed, I sent the airplane out the door with great confidence the engine would perform well... and it did.

Not long after that, Dan and Jeanne flew the Bonanza to Montana to visit family and then later made the journey back home.

At the time of the annul inspection, Dan had agreed it would be a good idea to inspect the #1 exhaust valve at the next oil change to make sure all was well.

After having flown about 37 hours since the annual and since lapping the #1 exhaust valve, Dan returned to have things checked out.

The oil and filter change were completely normal; the compression in cylinder #1 was 77/80; and the borescope revealed the #1 exhaust valve had returned to normal!

Check it out: the circular patterns on the valve are now nice and concentric.

I’m hopeful Dan will get many more hours of reliable service out of this cylinder since we stopped the harmful trajectory of a burning exhaust valve.

On another note, I discussed a couple things in this episode that I noticed this past week while flying.

• One was related to NOTAMs and the importance of being aware of them (along with something I discovered about NOTAMS, approach plates, and ForeFlight.)
• The other one was a tip about starting PT-6 engines when they are still hot after a quick stop to drop off passengers and refuel.

In my research, I discovered an online course about NOTAMs, and I wanted to pass this link along for anyone who might be interested:

notamsmadeeasy.com

This is a course by Sarah Fritts. I do not know Sarah, and I do not receive any compensation from this course, but it seems like a good training resource, and I like to help promote those when I see them.

You can also learn more about Sarah over at her website:

ThinkAviation.net

The post “228 – Saving a Cylinder on Dan & Jeanne’s Bonanza” appeared first at AirplaneOwnerMaintenance.com