A Maintenance Oriented Podcast For Airplane Owners, Pilots, and Mechanics

Tag: stuckmicavcast

135 – Carl Valeri: Airline Pilot, Piper Pilot, and Aviation Careers Coach

After a successful career in computers early in life, Carl Valeri decided years ago it was time to pursue his passion for aviation. Since that time, he’s been an airline pilot, flight instructor, aviation careers coach, mentor, Piper Cherokee pilot, and many other things.

Carl is well known as the host of two podcasts, the Aviation Careers Podcast, and the Stuck Mic AvCast. You can find him in both of those places:

AviationCareersPodcast.com

StuckMicAvCast.com

Be sure to check out the Scholarships Guide that Carl produces… there are more than $50 MILLION dollars worth of scholarships represented in the guide. Click here to check out the Aerospace Scholarships Guide.

Also, check out Carl’s training courses: Click here to see the options.

And for Instagram, just look for “carlvaleri”


In today’s episode, we talked about all kinds of fascinating things, including:

  • Carl’s background and how he got into aviation.
  • How he was hired years ago as an airline pilot, and furlowed the same year, in 2011.
  • How his struggle served to prepare him for what has become one of his greatest passions… “Helping people move forward with their aviation career.”
  • What the acronym “CAMEL” means to an airline pilot… I had never heard this before, and I thought it was really cool.
  • Carl’s current opportunity to lease and fly a Piper Cherokee… the 12th Cherokee to come off the line years ago.
  • The maintenance issues he’s encountered recently with the Cherokee.

And since this is the Airplane Owner Maintenance podcast, it’s only appropriate that we document this part with some pictures.

ISSUE #1: Smoke in the cockpit! Apparently somebody forgot to tighten an oil line!

The oil made a mess on the cowling. And upon closer examination, the source was identified – the rocker oil return line B-nut had come loose. When the oil dripped down on the hot exhaust, it produced smoke that made its way into the cockpit.

Solution and reminder: Always double check engine fluid lines and hoses, and apply torque putty to the B-nuts.

ISSUE #2: Fuel leak. Carl told us about a leak that showed up under the airplane on the left side. Listen to the episode to hear his advice about how to communicate with your A&P about issues like this.

It turned out the leak was from his “gascolator” or fuel strainer. Here are the parts from this ancient piece of technology… just like you might have seen on your grandpa’s tractor!

In this situation, Carl made the wise decision to upgrade to a “Steve’s Aircraft” gascolator, a much better design with increased reliability and ease of maintenance. Take a look:

ISSUE #3: Exhaust leak. Carl noticed some abnormal discoloration at the cowling seam.

It turned out there was a significant leak at one of the exhaust sleeve transitions in the engine compartment.

This situation is a little different than many Cherokees, since this particular engine was installed with an STC.

ISSUE #4: Electrical problem. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, Carl was able to recognize how the airplane had been showing some warning signs of this issue… be sure to listen to the audio to get the details.

What seemed like a complex problem in the beginning, turned out to be a blown fuse.

Sometimes the little things can make a big difference!

In spite of the maintenance challenges, Carl still loves to fly the Cherokee. I think one reason why is because he shares his love for aviation with others:

In telling about his aviation adventures in life, Carl is quick to acknowledge that, “I could never have done any of that without the help of others.” Now, he’s “paying it forward” in so many ways to help those who are coming behind him.


And finally, to finish up with a little humor: “Even an airline pilot who flies jets, recognizes there’s something missing in the following picture!

Carl, thank you very much for pushing all of us to keep moving forward and appropriately pursue our aviation dreams! We appreciate you, and I sure am glad flying still puts a smile on your face!

132 – Real Inflight Magneto Failures & Troubleshooting

Note: scroll to the bottom of this post for a special announcement.

Have you ever experienced an inflight magneto failure? If not, you might some day… but if you take action on the recommendation in today’s episode, you can dramatically reduce the likelihood of that happening.

The left mag on this Cessna 172RG failed in flight, and after opening the mag, it became obvious what happened.

The finger electrode that is part of the distributor gear inside the magneto, had gotten loose from its mounting position, and was able to rotate freely 180 degrees, while still occasionally resting in its proper position, which made it somewhat intermittent. Take a look:

The finger electrode should stay firmly in it’s mounting point as in the following picture:


The LAA, or Light Aircraft Association, put out an excellent, one page Airworthiness Alert February 21, 2019, about this very issue. Here’s a link for that document:

http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk/engineering/Slick%20Magneto.pdf

That document also has a link to the Slick SB1-15A that also addresses the issue. Here’s that link:

http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk/engineering/SLICK.pdf

The bulletin recommends changing the copper electrode in certain Slick magnetos to a monel electrode, which is much stronger. This is definitely a worthwhile service bulletin to comply with for the affected Slick mags.

Now back to the Cessna 172RG… it also needed a new ignition switch kit. The Gerdes ignition switch is subject to AD 93-05-06 which requires inspection and lubrication each 2000 hours, although I sometimes wonder if this interval is frequent enough. Take a look at the carbon tracking and wear inside the ignition switch:

This condition can cause the switch to malfunction… it’s easily remedied by installing an A-3650-2 Ignition Switch Kit, which includes replacement of this contact plate, as well as the 3 contact cups in the switch housing. Notice the difference between the old cups and the new cups… any contacts that have the silver plating worn off, must be replaced… most of the switches I’ve inspected, have needed a new kit.

Replacing the switch plate is fairly simple, but slightly tedious, by transferring one wire at a time, from the old switch plate, to the new one:

The second story we talked about in today’s episode is about an inflight magneto failure in an Aerostar. The pilot did some excellent inflight troubleshooting, and landed safely after determining the right engine left mag had failed, and was able to fly to a safe destination with the right engine selected on right mag only.

So after today’s episode, I have several tips about magneto troubleshooting:

  • When you select one mag, if the engine immediately runs rough, it’s most likely a spark plug issue.
  • When you select one mag, if it’s a more smooth, but large RPM drop, it may be a magneto problem.
  • When you select one mag, if the engine dies immediately, it might be a mag, or a shorted P-lead, or the ignition switch, (the switch being the most unlikely, in my opinion.)
  • Causes of ignition system troubles, in the order of likelihood:
    • Spark plug issues.
    • Magneto issues.
    • P-lead wiring.
    • Ignition lead, or corrosion in magneto attachment.
    • Ignition switch.

In fact, I seriously wonder if both issues talked about in today’s episode could have been avoided. I don’t have information on the 172RG’s magneto, but the Aerostar’s failed magneto had about 1000 hours since overhaul.

Find a reputable magneto shop, and keep your mags in tip-top condition.

My favorite magneto shop to recommend is Aircraft Ignition Services LLC, operated by Kevin and Leah Herrington in Honey Grove, Texas. They’ve been doing excellent work for us at Classic Aviation LLC. Check out their website:

http://aircraftignitionservices.com/

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Announcement: Carl Valeri is the host of the Aviation Careers Podcast and the Stuck Mic AvCast. He recently interviewed me for an episode of each of these shows (ACP255 and SMAC229), and it was so inspiring to talk with him. You can find these here:

http://www.aviationcareerspodcast.com/

http://stuckmicavcast.com/

I highly recommend the podcasts, career coaching, scholarships guide, and other resources Carl provides. Thanks Carl!