I hate it when things break on the airplanes, but we all REALLY hate it when things break on a trip! Today was a good reminder that if you are planning on your big annual trek to Oshkosh, it might be a good idea to do a little local flying and some systems and airplane checks to make sure everything is ready to go.
I am headed out on a flying trip tomorrow to visit some companies and fly some airplanes ? the trip will end up with Airventure so I?ll be on the road for two weeks. The Valkyrie is the plane of choice for this trip for a number of reasons, and since I had a bunch of things to get done today to get ready to be gone, Louise volunteered to run it over to Carson City to fill it up with fuel so I can leave for points east before sunrise tomorrow. When the phone rang about twenty minutes after she left, I figured we had trouble.
?The starter is just whirring?? she said over the phone, having filled up and hit the starter to head home. Now about two months ago, I had the same thing happen, removed the cowl, and gave the solenoid a tap with a hammer. All was well after that, and I simply forgot to put this on my maintenance list. Since it is only a fifteen minute drive over to Carson, I grabbed a couple of tools, took the almost-new starter off the RV-6 (which has the cowl off for a baffle upgrade), and headed her way ? she was going to uncowl and give the hammer tap a try.
Ian Murdock and his ?Mighty Hammer? (You call that Mighty?!) to the Rescue!
Sure enough, by the time I got there, she had rounded up Ian Murdock (Dayton Murdock?s son), gotten the cowl off, and done the magic tap ? and the engine turned over great. But, since the cowl was off, and the starter has 1800 hours and nine year on it?.and I am headed out on a long trip and had the spare along, we figured ? why not change it? We taxied over to Dayton?s hangar to find some shade, and of course, we had to remove the alternator to get to one of the bolts. No matter ? good company and an extra hour?s work, and the airplane is ready to travel.
The moral? You can fix just about anything on the road, but it is SO much easier to do it at home, so if you are headed on the long trip to Aviation?s Mecca, and you have a nagging maintenance issue, you?ve got a little less than a week to get after it. Some failures can be fortuitous!
(We?re going to replace the 1800 hour SkyTec LS that came on the engine with a Sky Tec NL ? that?s? what is on the other two airplanes, and fleet commonality is always nice. I?ve had great luck with the LS?s, but like the shear pin on the NL.)
Paul
I am headed out on a flying trip tomorrow to visit some companies and fly some airplanes ? the trip will end up with Airventure so I?ll be on the road for two weeks. The Valkyrie is the plane of choice for this trip for a number of reasons, and since I had a bunch of things to get done today to get ready to be gone, Louise volunteered to run it over to Carson City to fill it up with fuel so I can leave for points east before sunrise tomorrow. When the phone rang about twenty minutes after she left, I figured we had trouble.
?The starter is just whirring?? she said over the phone, having filled up and hit the starter to head home. Now about two months ago, I had the same thing happen, removed the cowl, and gave the solenoid a tap with a hammer. All was well after that, and I simply forgot to put this on my maintenance list. Since it is only a fifteen minute drive over to Carson, I grabbed a couple of tools, took the almost-new starter off the RV-6 (which has the cowl off for a baffle upgrade), and headed her way ? she was going to uncowl and give the hammer tap a try.
Ian Murdock and his ?Mighty Hammer? (You call that Mighty?!) to the Rescue!
Sure enough, by the time I got there, she had rounded up Ian Murdock (Dayton Murdock?s son), gotten the cowl off, and done the magic tap ? and the engine turned over great. But, since the cowl was off, and the starter has 1800 hours and nine year on it?.and I am headed out on a long trip and had the spare along, we figured ? why not change it? We taxied over to Dayton?s hangar to find some shade, and of course, we had to remove the alternator to get to one of the bolts. No matter ? good company and an extra hour?s work, and the airplane is ready to travel.
The moral? You can fix just about anything on the road, but it is SO much easier to do it at home, so if you are headed on the long trip to Aviation?s Mecca, and you have a nagging maintenance issue, you?ve got a little less than a week to get after it. Some failures can be fortuitous!
(We?re going to replace the 1800 hour SkyTec LS that came on the engine with a Sky Tec NL ? that?s? what is on the other two airplanes, and fleet commonality is always nice. I?ve had great luck with the LS?s, but like the shear pin on the NL.)
Paul