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#21
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Annual Off to a Good Start
On 3/21/2007 3:55:17 PM, "Jim Burns" wrote:
What's that? Oh it DIDN'T leak! Good for you! You showed those bloody engineers! Ha! Take that! Man, that is painful to read. -- Peter |
#22
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Annual Off to a Good Start
No mention of what make/model, but here's a rant by an A&P about bladders
from the AMT forums... enjoy. Today a coworker and I were discussing feats of engineering that scaled the heights of stupidity. We decided that aircraft engineers must be failed automotive or mechanical engineers finding refuge in the dark, murky hinterland of aviation, where they are free to wreak havoc on hapless AMT's with total impunity and no fear of retribution or retaliation. Some of the beauties they've created: The "Fruit Roll-up Fuel Cell": Roll it up like a sleeping bag and stuff it through a sharp metal-edged hole about half the diameter of said sleeping bag. Now unroll it. Fix it in place with snaps that are located in the right location, only 1/2" off from where you need them to be. Now stuff flexible aluminum mesh screens through hard rubber nipples without bending them. Did that? OK, now put hose clamps on those nipples up inside a 1 inch wing root gap. Don't forget the one on top! Now, stuff the fuel transmitter through a hole much too small (it's OK to bend the float arm, right? Just as long as I bend it back?) Now, line up a gasket sandwich with too-short screws with seals under the heads. Oh, did I mention the gaskets only line up correctly ONE WAY? Sorry. You'll have to remove the transmitter again, rebend the float arm, line everything up in your hand and mark it with a Sharpie. Now Bend the float arm again and reinstall it. Straighten out the float arm. Got it? Whew! Good. Now you get to put all the little floating snap-things in their straps and try to shove them in holes you can't see, can't feel, but just know have to be there. Don't miss any! Can't reach the far corner ones? WHAT!!!? God didn't equip you with four-and-a-half foot arms from birth? Some AMT you are! Use a two-by-four swaddled in duct tape, dummy! What? No leverage? Well, duct-tape it to your arm. Hairy arms are for gorillas anyway. Finally got it? Good! Now hook up the vent line. Never mind the agonizing pain as the metal rends your flesh. I'll let you in on a secret; these engineers measured the forarms of an average man at a certain point, then placed the vent line four inches aft of where your forearm diameter completely fills the inspection hole. Crafty little buggers! Now close up the fuel bay panels. Why do we need #3 Phillips screws, and why are they all rusty and stripped? Oh....because they knew we wouldn't have any in stock. Nevermind! Now (drum roll) Fill 'er up. Does it leak? You poor ba$tard! Now you have to drain it, and you can't put the fuel back in! The FAA would never approve of refueling from a 55 gallon drum. So you get to charge the customer for fourty gallons of fuel he never got. Or, tell the boss that you can't bill him for fourty gallons of fuel he never got because you goofed and it leaks. Lesser of two evils? What's that? Oh it DIDN'T leak! Good for you! You showed those bloody engineers! Ha! Take that! What's that? The book flat-rate for this monkey motion is EIGHT HOURS!!!!!!!!!!????? Jim |
#23
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Annual Off to a Good Start
Before I got my Bonanza, I was looking at Mooney's. The after market
bladder tanks made by O&N are considered an upgrade. My bladders were all replaced about 20 years ago. My first annual with this airplane is in May. Dave M35 Newps wrote: I replaced a bladder a year ago. 42 gallon tank in the left wing. Bo bladders cost the same as Cessna bladders of similar gallons when you buy from the three main aftermarket sources like Eagle or Floats and Fuel Cells. No idea what Beech charges, probably horrendous. But nobody buys a bladder from Beech or Cessna. That would be stupid, they're buying them aftermarket, why pay the up charge? Labor for a Bo is less than on the 182 I had by several hours. First reason is because you are standing on the ground and not always going up and down the ladder. Second is all the snaps are easily reachable. Third all the connections are easily accessible, no dissasembling the headliner to get at the sender, etc. Fourth the tank is easily removable. How do you get a Cherokee tank out? Derivet? Remove a wing? wrote: On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 07:55:33 -0600, Newps wrote: Somebody tell me again why a rubber bladder is a bad deal? At any time you can get leaking rivets and cause yourself some heartache. Didn't you just have some kind of tank repair not too long ago? I put in a new bladder and I don't touch that tank for 30 years. So what is the price of admission to watch you "put in a new bladder"? Next question would be what is the price for a new OEM Bo' bladder? TC |
#24
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Annual Off to a Good Start
Yep... no doubt literally. I just finished helping an A&P install a new set
of seat rails in a C182. My wife said my hands looked liked I'd been petting a porcupine. The edges of the lightening holes are wonderful exfoliating devices, I can't imagine what they can do to you when you're armpit deep into one. Jim "Peter R." wrote in message ... On 3/21/2007 3:55:17 PM, "Jim Burns" wrote: What's that? Oh it DIDN'T leak! Good for you! You showed those bloody engineers! Ha! Take that! Man, that is painful to read. -- Peter |
#25
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Annual Off to a Good Start
On Mar 21, 11:29 am, Newps wrote:
I replaced a bladder a year ago. 42 gallon tank in the left wing. Bo bladders cost the same as Cessna bladders of similar gallons when you buy from the three main aftermarket sources like Eagle or Floats and Fuel Cells. No idea what Beech charges, probably horrendous. But nobody buys a bladder from Beech or Cessna. That would be stupid, they're buying them aftermarket, why pay the up charge? Labor for a Bo is less than on the 182 I had by several hours. First reason is because you are standing on the ground and not always going up and down the ladder. Second is all the snaps are easily reachable. Third all the connections are easily accessible, no dissasembling the headliner to get at the sender, etc. Fourth the tank is easily removable. How do you get a Cherokee tank out? Derivet? Remove a wing? "that would be stupid, why pay the up charge" Well, let's see. Based purely on personal experience, the life of an aftermarket tank is usually about half that of an OEM tank-primarily depends on how good of a job the aftermarket boys did in "engineering" the new tank. The other reason might be that there are aftermarket Bonanza tanks out there that will NOT fit in the applicable make and model of A/C. Really neat thing to find out after you have spent the time (and tied up a hangar bay) to send out a bladder for eval, find out it's junk (big surprise), purchase an aftermarket tank ("why should I pay the extra $$") and find out that either the tank sump drain nipple OR the main fuel feed nipple will line up and poke out through the little hole... A basic older Bo tank is a little easier than a 180-twice, BTW, I've allegedly done both. A King Air is a piece of cake, the size of each fuel bay/bladder is a lot smaller in relation to the size of the access panel. You still have to remove all the old tape and glue residue and re-tape. Aztecs suck rocks. Despite Jay's tale of woe, pulling a Cherokee wing tank is a matter of removing some 10-32 structural machine screws and sliding the whole thing out (in one piece) out of the wing. Repairs are just like any other "wet-wing" structure, but you have the piece of wing laying on the workbench, with ready access to the majority of the rivets. Getting the screws out can be a real bitch, but it doesn't involve any rivets, snaps or duct tape. The composite Cherokee tip tank is another story-I'd rather have a bladder any day of the week. BTW, why did you charge yourself labor for changing out a bladder? TC |
#26
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Annual Off to a Good Start
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com... ... We've fixed some other nagging problems. In the cabin, on the front of the back seat (where the calves of your legs rest) is a control that allows us to "pee" the gas tanks out of the belly drain. This is covered with a cheesy plastic panel, with an even cheesier metal door, retained by an even cheesier spring. This thing is so bad that there is an AD on the door, because EVERYONE catches it with their feet getting in the back seat. (You can't just remove the dumb door, either, since without it you could conceivably have a passenger catch his pants leg on the pee-drain control lever itself, which would cause you to dump all of your fuel overboard in flight...) ... If there was ever an application that screamed "Duct Tape" - this had to be it. -- Geoff The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com remove spaces and make the obvious substitutions to reply by mail When immigration is outlawed, only outlaws will immigrate. |
#27
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Annual Off to a Good Start
If there was ever an application that screamed "Duct Tape" - this had to be
it. Yeah, we've considered that, but we do need to get at that lever regularly. It's fixed now, hopefully "once and for all"... -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#28
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Annual Off to a Good Start
Despite Jay's tale of woe, pulling a Cherokee wing tank is a matter of
removing some 10-32 structural machine screws and sliding the whole thing out (in one piece) out of the wing. Yeah, other than the last screw not catching a nutplate, it's really not bad. (If you like Popeye forearms, this is the job for you!) And it's NOTHING compared to working with a bladder tank, according to my A&P, a man with 40+ years wrenching. The composite Cherokee tip tank is another story-I'd rather have a bladder any day of the week. Thanks goodness I've not had to deal with those, other than cosmetically. I'll bet a leak is a real SOB to fix. -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#29
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Annual Off to a Good Start
My first annual with this airplane is in May.
"Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall fear no evil..." :-) We wrapped ours up today. Buttoned everything back up, and then started on all the stupid little cosmetic things that drive ya nuts over time, but don't usually get addressed. So, I spent a few hours... ....replacing corroded interior screws and washers. ....repainting the flap handle and flap handle housing. ....applying new wing-walk. (Now THERE is a cheap high...) ....fixing the wing root rubber that was gooey from the gas leak ....cleaning exhaust residue off the belly. Signed, sealed (literally!), and delivered for $1038.00. Not bad at all, considering all the extra work my A&P on that fuel leak. Atlas is good for another year -- tomorrow, we go fly! -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
#30
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Annual Off to a Good Start
I know. To make it even worse, the only annuals I had with my citabria
were painless so I may be overdue. I am looking forward to taking care of some small items at the same time. In the mean time, I've got to invest in a rebuilt starter adapter. Dave M35 Jay Honeck wrote: My first annual with this airplane is in May. "Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I shall fear no evil..." :-) We wrapped ours up today. Buttoned everything back up, and then started on all the stupid little cosmetic things that drive ya nuts over time, but don't usually get addressed. So, I spent a few hours... ...replacing corroded interior screws and washers. ...repainting the flap handle and flap handle housing. ...applying new wing-walk. (Now THERE is a cheap high...) ...fixing the wing root rubber that was gooey from the gas leak ...cleaning exhaust residue off the belly. Signed, sealed (literally!), and delivered for $1038.00. Not bad at all, considering all the extra work my A&P on that fuel leak. Atlas is good for another year -- tomorrow, we go fly! -- Jay Honeck Iowa City, IA Pathfinder N56993 www.AlexisParkInn.com "Your Aviation Destination" |
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