It was important to NOT get paint on anything other than the prop blades…
Finally, after finishing the black and gray paint, it was time to paint the white stripes (my favorite part and the part that makes the whole blade pop!)
I was very happy with the end result:
Always consult your maintenance manual before painting prop blades. It’s also a good idea to check in with your favorite prop shop for tips and advice as well.
Other items discussed in this podcast episode:
The bad audio in episode 234 and how it’s been fixed.
Finishing the Aerostar annual and the two surprises at the end.
King Air fuel quantity issue, and replacing a fuel probe.
King Air battery capacity test and reconditioning charge.
How long should the battery last in a small, piston-powered airplane?
That’s a great question, and we are talking about it in this week’s podcast episode.
Tune in to hear the story behind this 24 volt battery in the photo, as well as the story of another battery, a 12 volt one in a Citabria owned by our good friends, Leon and Wynne Johenning. (Find out what prompted him to replace the battery.)
Jessica is our special guest on the podcast today. She and her husband Mark, along with their 5 kids, are serving with a mission organization in Cameroon, Africa. Mark flies helicopters, and Jessica works in the maintenance shop, with plans to get her A&P certificate. I think you’ll enjoy her story!
Instagram: Spanglers_in_Cameroon
Check out the crew Mark and Jessica work with in Cameroon:
Be sure to listen for Jessica’s story in today’s podcast, about the time this wrench accidentally shorted across the battery terminals of a helicopter… in fact, it was this story that prompted the interview with Jessica!
Listen in today’s episode, for another good reason to buy a copy of the new book about airplane engines… there are a couple pages that compare 3 different manufacturers of induction filters and things to be aware of.
One more thing about PilotWorkshops.com: One of their most popular free resources is the “Pilot’s Tip of the Week.”
Another highlight this past week was the day Kurt and Karen visited our airport at KSHD, and Classic Aviation LLC. They both work in aviation, and they wanted to get a sightseeing tour. Cindy, one of the local flight instructors, was happy to provide the flight… The weather was perfect, and the experience was fantastic!
Kurt and Karen topped the day off by taking Maria and me to lunch at our local Valley Pike Farm Market… and it turns out it was their wedding anniversary… congratulations Kurt and Karen, and thank you for lunch!
As we approach Thanksgiving season, here are a couple things you can be looking for on the podcast:
On Thanksgiving Day, I’m planning to release a special episode. A very good friend of mine has agreed to let me interview him, and I’m super-excited to introduce Jonathan Brush to you. Without him, the Airplane Owner Maintenance podcast might not exist. I can’t wait for this episode!
I’m also planning to offer a Thanksgiving discount for the “Safety Wire Like A Pro!” video training course… I’ll provide information for that in the Thanksgiving Day episode.
The post “160 – Jessica Spangler Becoming an A&P in Cameroon” appeared first on AirplaneOwnerMaintenance.com
My friend Matt and I had a plan, and it was going to be an awesome adventure. The crisp, clear morning was as nice as we could hope for on a November day in Virginia. The half hour drive from my house to the small town New Market Airport was absolutely refreshing… exhilarating even.
As I pulled onto the airport drive, I didn’t go far before I was compelled to back up and take a picture of the signs that arrested my attention. “DEAD END STREET” AND “LEARN TO FLY HERE” just did not seem to fit together in my mind. As I think about it, I wish I could replace that top sign with “PATHWAY TO POSSIBILITIES!”
For me, and for my friend Matt, we had far more in mind that day than any dead end street. If our planned adventure came together, we would be flying a little Cessna 150 to Tangier Island (KTGI) and maybe having a crab cake sandwich for lunch. But first, we had to solve a problem… a report of “No oil pressure.”
We struggled to get the “barn doors” open in the old rustic hangar, and the site looked so familiar for these old airports, complete with gravel floor, a motorcycle off to the side, as well as a Cessna 120 and another Cessna 150. I was actually pleasantly surprised when I saw the good condition of the airplane we’d be working on.
We decided to go ahead and start the engine and see if we got any oil pressure within 30 seconds. The engine started nicely and within seconds, we saw the oil pressure needle creeping up… good news indeed. However, after some warm-up time, we noticed the oil pressure needle went back down, and was approaching the red line at the bottom of the gauge. (It had never made it up to the green arc.)
So we shut down, and decided to see if the oil pressure line had any air in it. Thankfully, the gauge was very accessible at the bottom of the pilot instrument panel. After loosening the nut for the oil pressure line behind the gauge, there was not even a drop of oil there. So we attempted to motor the engine with the starter to get the air out of the line.
Now we had another problem… low battery power! The engine wouldn’t even turn over more than a turn or so. Back to troubleshooting, except now in the electrical system.
Matt suspected the alternator was not working, and this proved to be true when we discovered no voltage at the field terminal on the back of the alternator when we turned the master switch on.
Then something jumped out at me… I was standing over on the left side of the engine, and I noticed the whole wiring harness plug was disconnected from the voltage regulator at the firewall. Take a look.
Amazing how well things work when all the wiring is connected properly!
So after charging the battery, we tried again to purge the air out of the oil pressure line. Matt motored the engine with the starter for maybe 30 seconds, and just as he let off the starter, I saw oil seeping out at the gauge connection… success, finally!
This time, after starting, the oil pressure climbed up in the green arc, and stayed there during the runup.
Now, how about Tangier Island? Could we still go?
Nope… I noticed the maintenance records were in the back of the airplane, and the airplane was still in annual… sort of. The main thing is there was some lacking documentation that made it unwise to fly the airplane until it was resolved. Mechanically, I totally would have been confident to go flying in that airplane with Matt. But paperwork-wise, the issue needed to be resolved.
That’s ok… instead of lunch at Tangier Island, Matt and I had breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. And… we’re not giving up on the Tangier Island idea. In fact, after thinking about the whole thing, I did some research, and discovered a young man named Swayne Martin, who gave me even more motivation to visit Tangier Island. He and his brother flew their mom there in a Cessna 172 several years ago as a mother’s day gift! If you’re interested, his post is very interesting.
You may recognize Swayne from his involvement with the Boldmethod online flight training resources. He also has an excellent YouTube channel. I also found out he has gone on to become a first officer with one of the regional airlines. Well done Swayne!
Now back to Tangier Island… Matt and I are not giving up, and I’m confident we’ll still get there one of these days… very possibly in that very Cessna 150 we worked on. And when we do, you’ll hear about it, because it will no-doubt be an excellent adventure for another podcast episode!
It really was a great day, and the sunset view of my neighbor’s field from my back yard, was just as fantastic as the sunrise view on the way to the New Market Airport.
Days like this make me say, “Thank you Lord, it’s good to be alive!”
Here are some recent happenings, straight from the shop at Classic Aviation, LLC:
Birds in the cowling!
It’s bird nest season, and they are driving airplane owners crazy by building nests on top of engines.
Listen to today’s episode to hear about a Bonanza owner with 2 nests on his engine after a short stay at Shenandoah valley.
And here’s a Cessna 182 that came into the shop for some maintenance. When it’s nesting season, the birds don’t waste any time making a safe place for their eggs.
Corrosion on the battery terminals!
Here’s what the battery terminals looked like on a Cessna 182 that stopped at KSHD due to an intermittent electrical charging system:
The negative terminal was severely corroded.The positive terminal had some minor corrosion as well.
Reminder: As an airplane owner, you can help ensure reliable electrical system operation by keeping your battery terminals free of corrosion.
It’s a good idea to check these terminals at least once in between your annual inspection, and apply some anti-corrosion spray.
Rough engine: Is it spark plugs, or a magneto?
Here’s a spark plug from a Piper Apache that had a rough mag check.
I received an email from the flight instructor and he was suspecting a magneto problem.
However, after some troubleshooting by running the engine, watching the JPI engine monitor, and removing the specific, affected spark plugs, it turned out there were actually 3 fouled spark plugs!
One way to avoid fouled spark plugs, is to aggresively lean the mixture while taxiing around on the ground at low RPM’s.
It’s amazing how much you can lean the mixture on the ground at 1000 RPM and still have the engines run smoothly during taxi operations.
AND, with the mixtures this lean, there is little chance of forgetting to enrich them for takeoff, since the engines will likely not run well if advanced to takeoff power.
For this reason, during taxi operations, it’s good to lean until the engine almost quits, and then enrichen enough to run smoothly.
If you only lean slightly for taxi operations, you risk forgetting to set the mixtures for takeoff.
Here is how I was able to set the mixture controls in that Piper Apache on the ground at 1000 RPM’s, for smooth ground operations.
So, that’s all for this week.
Remember:
Keep the birds out of your cowling if your airplane is parked on the ramp.
Keep your battery connections free of corrosion for reliable electrical system operation.
And consider how you can lean your idle mixture for cleaner spark plugs during taxi operations.
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