SERVICE BULLETIN 14-08-29

[CharlieWaffles]

Originally Posted by TimO

I believe that: 1) people should prime (NOT liquid plumber, but liquid PRIMER) the inside of that shaft before initial assembly.

UGH - Are you sure?

[Jesse]

Did another SB today. Probably took about 1.5 hours because cowl was already partially off. Very easy project. If anybody wants help, hop over to X35 and we'll help, powder coat and all.

[RV10inOz]

All done and back flying. Picture as promised!


And yes?..the welded edge did get primed and painted after I took that photo. Clearly not easy to get the paint on from the angle we painted at.

All up probably a bit over 30 man hours. And all my EGT/CHT connections are flaky so I have to decowl and squeeze the spade sockets for a tighter fit. But otherwise no leaks and flying/taxiing well.

One thing I noticed with the new rubbers and thicker plate is the nose is higher and tail lower. By a fair amount too!

[RV10inOz]

Originally Posted by TimO

I did my SB work this weekend too. I ended up using a thin layer of RTV but did it over the entire surface, and then jacked the back end up so squeeze everything out that I could. In the end, there is really almost zero gap between the 2 plates, and there shouldn't easily be any moisture that gets in there.

I believe the SB should prevent much worry about that particular part breaking, but I do have one area of concern that will linger.

The shaft that the elastomers ride on, directly contacts the hole in the engine mount. The doubler is slightly larger, so there won't be an issue with that.
But, when you look at the shaft, right at the top of the topmost elastomer, one side of my shaft was chafing on the hole of the engine mount. This led to a slight thinning of the shaft in one area. One other thing I noticed is that the shaft had a bit of rust inside.

I believe that: 1) people should prime (NOT liquid plumber, but liquid PRIMER) the inside of that shaft before initial assembly.

2) That shaft won't last forever. At 1070 hours, it's showing wear. I'm sure it'll go 2000 hours. But, since this thing was designed with no replaceable wear surfaces, it won't last forever. I would love to see a sleeve over that part of the shaft, that can be replaced, but doing so would require that the elastomers were made with a larger hole, and the tophat shaped retainer would have to be wider too. So this isn't likely to be an easy thing to fix. So, I think people are going to have to pull that shaft and inspect it (I'd recommend maybe a 500hour inspection at least) and replace as necessary. On Van's end, I'd hope that they keep a dozen of these in stock, because it's going to be considered a wear part on higher time RV-10's. I don't know what that part costs, but it would be nice if there was some sort of bushing there to protect it...either on the hole side, or the shaft side, that could be replaced.
Tim

Tim, we had wear, and we bought a new shaft. $145 plus the freight (the expensive bit for us).

Vic, did you feel the doubler and the reinforced ring design was going to be better? What did Vans say about that?

[vic syracuse]

Yes, I think the new ring brace will be fine. I had to put the doubler on mine as the hole in the initial plate was too large. The doublers that they are sending out for those who don't have cracks have a larger diameter hole as they don't need to have the close tolerance. Unfortunately, I had already welded it in before it was recognized as the wrong part.

Vic

[dmaib]

Started my nose gear SB last week and could not get the WD-1015 collar assembly off. Tried hard for a couple of days, but it would not budge. Called Jesse Saint over in Dunnellon at X35 and arranged to take the airplane to him this morning. Jesse and his team finally managed to get the collar off. A bit of corrosion on the top of the link assembly was the reason I could not get it off, as we suspected. Anyway, no cracks. The whole job took just a bit over two hours, which included removing and reinstalling the cowling. Jesse and his team at Saint Aviation are excellent and I would recommend them to anyone needing some professional help with RV-10 maintenance.

750 hours in 5 1/2 years
operated on hard surface most of the time. Most of the grass strips I have landed on have been pretty smooth. The only exception to that is some transition training I did for a couple of pilots that requested grass field work. I used Pierson, FL, 2j8, and Bob Lee Strip, 1j6, near Deland, FL and they were both pretty rough. I have not used them again.
I have used the airplane for Transition Training for the past three years, so had some concerns because of the high number of landings. (I have not kept track of the number of landings on the airplane) Happy to report that the nose gear was in great shape.
Jesse and I talked about the use of RTV on the doubler, and he, of course, said it was up to me whether to use it or not. He has used it on the other airplanes he has done. I elected to use it.

If you are in central FL, stop at X35 and visit Jesse. His operation is impressive. Some of the cheapest 100LL in the area, as well.

[Flying again!]

Inspected my -10 last Friday and found no cracks. Got the part frm Vans Tuesday and went to the airport after work on Wed to verify the fit and paint it. Did some minor cleaning up with a dremmel tool and have a good fit.

Installed it after work last night in about an hour including putting the cowl on etc. Needed only one spacer to preload it so the elastomers have not compressed much. Shaft looks good too with no noticable wear.

Total of 500 hours with 99% on paved surfaces. Kit number 40142, built in 2005 (think it was the 13th RV-10 flying). I had replaced the nose gear bushings at around 350 hours but verified they were all ok while I had it apart.

As others have said, easy fairly quick job if you have no cracks. Hardest part was getting the collar off.

TJ

[n981ms]

SB completed. 480 hours based at grass field. No cracks. SB pretty simple if you have no cracks.

[MauleDriver]

Originally Posted by rvbuilder2002

Yes, it will take some effort on owners part to occasionally check for loss of preload in the nose gear elastomers. It has always been a design intent that there not be play in this location. It is in fact possible that some level of play can have contributed to damage in some cases.
N410RV went almost 2000 hrs using the originally installed elastomers, but it did require some periodic adjustment by adding an additional spacer washer.
The need for that periodic check should probably have been better conveyed to those with flying RV-10's. As a result of the continued airworthiness program for the RV-12, I think we are beginning to do a better job with that type of thing.

I have cracks and am currently applying the fix. I'm based on a grass field that is considered a bit rough but Bo's, a Commanche, a Travel Air(sp), and up until recently, a flight school operated off of it without obvious problems. I can count about 175 TO and Landings on my '10 since new.

When I went to inspect my nose gear mount I noted that I did have play in the assembly and that I hadn't checked this in previous condition inspections even though I had removed the wheel each time. I just didn't have it in my checklist.

Yes, I think it's important.

[rsipp]

Serial #65 540 Hours no cracks, less than 5 landings on grass.
No wear on any pivot points.

Installed one pre load spacer at initial assemble and one additional at about 100 hours.

Dick Sipp
RV-4 sold, RV-10, RV-12