Canuck
David Megginson
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2016
- Messages
- 7,085
- Reaction score
- 3,903
After you've owned the same plane for 15 years, you tend to get a bit
um, fussy
about small details. Here's my squawk listall minor (praise be to deity of choice)for this year's annual, starting on Monday:
- Investigate slight nose wheel shimmy (only at high speeds, e.g. during the landing rollout).
- Check for friction or dirty electrical connections the right fuel gauge, which currently reads consistently high by a few gallons.
- (** Piper Forum readers: see note below) Check for hints of wear in vacuum pump and recommend whether to replace (last replaced 2003--09-04 @ 4,626.5 hours, so it's at around 775 hours now)
- Check the wiring for the wingtip and tail strobes, and wire to separate switches if possible (currently both run off the "FIN" side of the split switch, while the "WNG" side of the switch does nothing).
- Remove the custom power cable installed under the pilot side yoke, and replace with a USB port (which I will supply).
- Check strut inflation, and stickiness in the nose strut.
- Slight grinding noise when moving stabilator standing outside the planeplease investigate if cables/pulleys worn.
Even though I've changed airports and shops over the year, mechanics around Ottawa tend to do the same, so I'm lucky to have two guys in my current shop who've worked on the plane on and off since I bought it in 2002, and know it as well pulled apart as I know it flying in the air.
(** As for "check for signs of wear", the shop suggested looking for traces of graphite in the filter as a possible sign of early vacuum pump deterioration, but I wasn't sure of the total hours then. I've since verified that it's closing on 800 hours, so I probably will replace it proactively.)
- Investigate slight nose wheel shimmy (only at high speeds, e.g. during the landing rollout).
- Check for friction or dirty electrical connections the right fuel gauge, which currently reads consistently high by a few gallons.
- (** Piper Forum readers: see note below) Check for hints of wear in vacuum pump and recommend whether to replace (last replaced 2003--09-04 @ 4,626.5 hours, so it's at around 775 hours now)
- Check the wiring for the wingtip and tail strobes, and wire to separate switches if possible (currently both run off the "FIN" side of the split switch, while the "WNG" side of the switch does nothing).
- Remove the custom power cable installed under the pilot side yoke, and replace with a USB port (which I will supply).
- Check strut inflation, and stickiness in the nose strut.
- Slight grinding noise when moving stabilator standing outside the planeplease investigate if cables/pulleys worn.
Even though I've changed airports and shops over the year, mechanics around Ottawa tend to do the same, so I'm lucky to have two guys in my current shop who've worked on the plane on and off since I bought it in 2002, and know it as well pulled apart as I know it flying in the air.
(** As for "check for signs of wear", the shop suggested looking for traces of graphite in the filter as a possible sign of early vacuum pump deterioration, but I wasn't sure of the total hours then. I've since verified that it's closing on 800 hours, so I probably will replace it proactively.)
