Ironflight

Ironflight

VAF Moderator / Line Boy
Mentor
The last few years that I owned my old Grumman Yankee were part of what convinced me to build the RV-8 - it had reached the point that wear from vibration and abrasion was son going to destroy several components that were going to be just too costly (or impossible) to replace. Cowl flanges, wheel pant brackets, aileron torque tubes - these components were scarce if they could be found at all! getting out and letting someone who wanted to do a complete restoration was my answer there.

When i started flying the RV, I was absolutely astounded at the many hundreds of problem-free hours I experienced, and still am as I come razor-close to the first thousand hours on the clock. But wear is not avoidable - there are a few places that you just have to keep an eye on, and replace as necessary. I thought it might be an interesting discussion to see if there are points common within the RV fleet. The wear points I have to watch:

1) tail wheel knuckle to spring bolts (2 of them) - have had to replace them on both the -8 and the -6 after about 800 hours or so.
2) Carb Heat Lever to Cable "bug nut" - wore right through the lever arm!
3) Tail wheel Control arm - the "U"-shape for the spring pin gets wider.

Paul
 
Paul,

Your comments about the tail wheel control arm is why I used eyebolts in both the rudder horn and on the tailwheel stearing horn.



I figured it was much easier to replace some hardware than parts of the plane.
 
You can buy bronze bushings...

...to press into the arm, like my Air Tractor has. When they wear, it's a quickfix to press the old one out while at the same time the new one goes in.

Regards,
 
After racking up well over 2000hrs on my RV6 before I sold it I was pleasantly surprised how well these birds hold up with proper maintenance.

The vertical bushing in my tail wheel housing eventually had to be replaced because it would no longer hold grease due to excessive wear in the front on top and in the back on the bottom. At about 1500 hrs I replaced the out board aileron bearings due to wear. The throttle cable got stiff at about the same time too. I had to replace the hinge on the carb heat door twice but other than that there were none of the cracks and slopped out parts you usually find on a spam can. I did always keep the engine/prop dynamically balanced to minimize vibratory stress on air frame parts.

Martin Sutter
building and flying RV's since 1988
EAA tech counselor
 
4) Carb air box top mounting plate cracks.

5) Bottom cowling attach hinges, multiple broken eyelets; replaced with screws/nutplates.

6) Throttle/prop cables shot at 550 hrs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.