Just received and read Mike Busch's Manifesto, an short interesting read recapping much of what he's written on-line. I look forward to the follow-on volumes.
And it did make me think about some things, so here go a couple of questions...
IF one were to apply the Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) approach, what sorts of things would one do differently right off the bat? A couple of examples come to mind, tell me if I'm thinking wrongly or missing some key thing to consider:
Fuel injectors. I followed the manufacturer's instructions last year at annual, removed them (kept as sets) soaked in Hoppe's #9, etc., reinstalled/torqued to spec. What did that accomplish? GAMI spreads over the previous year never changed (about 0.1), and haven't changed since. Fuel flows at various power settings have been consistent over the entire time (which would indicate that the remote possibility of all 4 injectors getting plugged a similar amount is probably not happening). Seems to me that this might be one of those things that should *not* be done unless a GAMI sweep shows the spread changing or some other indication crops up. Right? Wrong?
Wheel bearings. I get that you should clean and repack them when changing tires and tubes, but last year when I took them out to "flip" the tires on the rims, they looked as new as the day they came out of the box, the grease was as red as it was new, no galling, etc. If one deferred this maintenance until a) changing tires or b) some indication of a bearing failing (noise, resistance, etc.), what would be incorrect about that? i.e., does cleaning and repacking them every year whether they need it or not fall into the non-RCM thinking, complete with increased failures post-PM? Just thinking out loud...
I'm not advocating one way or the other, just trying to wrap my head around what RCM *might* mean for light aircraft, and which "preventive maintenance" items might be better treated as run-to-failure or on-condition maintenance items.
Ideas welcome!
And it did make me think about some things, so here go a couple of questions...
IF one were to apply the Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) approach, what sorts of things would one do differently right off the bat? A couple of examples come to mind, tell me if I'm thinking wrongly or missing some key thing to consider:
Fuel injectors. I followed the manufacturer's instructions last year at annual, removed them (kept as sets) soaked in Hoppe's #9, etc., reinstalled/torqued to spec. What did that accomplish? GAMI spreads over the previous year never changed (about 0.1), and haven't changed since. Fuel flows at various power settings have been consistent over the entire time (which would indicate that the remote possibility of all 4 injectors getting plugged a similar amount is probably not happening). Seems to me that this might be one of those things that should *not* be done unless a GAMI sweep shows the spread changing or some other indication crops up. Right? Wrong?
Wheel bearings. I get that you should clean and repack them when changing tires and tubes, but last year when I took them out to "flip" the tires on the rims, they looked as new as the day they came out of the box, the grease was as red as it was new, no galling, etc. If one deferred this maintenance until a) changing tires or b) some indication of a bearing failing (noise, resistance, etc.), what would be incorrect about that? i.e., does cleaning and repacking them every year whether they need it or not fall into the non-RCM thinking, complete with increased failures post-PM? Just thinking out loud...
I'm not advocating one way or the other, just trying to wrap my head around what RCM *might* mean for light aircraft, and which "preventive maintenance" items might be better treated as run-to-failure or on-condition maintenance items.
Ideas welcome!