INNOVATION THREAD. Got an idea? Post it here.

This one isn't mine, so it's credit goes to Yoda. Raise, extend, coil or whatever method possible to increase the length and height of your crankcase vent tube, to allow the oil to separate from the vapor and return to your crankcase.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0152.jpg
    IMG_0152.jpg
    177.4 KB · Views: 72
arturo1 said:
This is a great idea but would something like this requiere AP/IA sign off as a minor modification to the airplane certificate?Arturo
Click to expand...

Arturo,

Yes, Sir. An A&P sign off is required.

Please document everything. Undocumented maintenance is a violation. Unless you are careful or very savvy modification of the brake system will require brake system bleeding. Or in the case of our aircraft brake system flushing from the bottom up.

I suggest having someone step on the brakes and hold, remove the reservoir and elbow line, cap the firewall fitting, attach the hose to the reservoir, prime the hose and reservoir, remove firewall cap, attach 45 degree fitting to firewall, set reservoir, release brakes, service system and test.
 
trumpet nelson said:
Check air pressure / add air without taking off the hubcap. Costs about $14 and can be added to any hubcap.

Why do our tires need air every 6 months or so ??? Inquiring minds want to know .....

I have complained about this for years. My tires typically need air every 3 months. I have been told a number of times that airplane tires are designed to "weep". You got that right.....to let air out. Last April I put on new tubes and tires on my mains and they are holding better pressure, but still need a little shot of it once in awhile. So if airplane tires are designed to weep air, then why?
Click to expand...
 
niechiro said:
Inquiring minds want to know .....
My tires typically need air every 3 months. So if airplane tires are designed to weep air, then why?
Click to expand...

Nope, your inner tubes need air every few months. The tires just tell the story.
Inner tubes are thin and made of simple rubber. It is flexible, so it is porous. The very small volume of air in an airplane tube means that even a tiny loss will show as a major flat spot.
If we had tubeless tires on one-piece rims, we would see much less variation in pressures.

You can buy a premium "airstop" inner tube, but I don't know if they are any better.
You could "slime" your existing tubes. That stops the leak down, but that would not be kosher.
 
Last edited:
Simple way to keep track of remaining fuel

I don't have any fancy fuel flow gizmos, so I have two $5 digital timers in front of the throttle lever.

After fuelling, use your tank tabs to verify your quantity. Convert that into minutes for each tank. Enter the minutes into each timer.
Select your tank on startup, and start the timer to count down.
When you switch tanks, stop one timer and start the other.

At a glance, you know how much time you have left in the air, which tank is the fullest (for landing) and how much to expect to top-off for each side.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1175.jpg
    IMG_1175.jpg
    208.2 KB · Views: 51
markweiss said:
I don't have any fancy fuel flow gizmos, so I have two $5 digital timers in front of the throttle lever.

After fuelling, use your tank tabs to verify your quantity. Convert that into minutes for each tank. Enter the minutes into each timer.
Select your tank on startup, and start the timer to count down.
When you switch tanks, stop one timer and start the other.

At a glance, you know how much time you have left in the air, which tank is the fullest (for landing) and how much to expect to top-off for each side.
Click to expand...

That's pretty good Mark.

All, keep the ideas coming. We want all ideas and hopefully some new ideas. I like major upgrades such as avionics, or powerplant. My belief is, before we spend good money, we like to read about it first.

Cheers, James
 
Yeah, the idea was to progress certified products, approved modifications, and share good practices/ideas. Simply spur development, innovate. But we need writeups, pictures and numbers.

Keep'm coming,
James
 
Sierra cowl bump

This is what we did to clear the muffler on my plane.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_4495.jpg
    IMG_4495.jpg
    98.6 KB · Views: 69
Last edited by a moderator:
paulwerbin said:
This is what we did to clear the muffler on my plane.
Click to expand...
When I had a similar problem, I wondered what was different.
I checked my thrustline relative to the wing chord, and thought it seemed a little off. I added one penny washer between the lower Lord mounts and the engine (my Lord mounts were new~ish). This altered the thrustline by one degree and 30 minutes. It fixed the clearance issue, got a better seal on my upper baffles, and regained two knots (on a plane that is not quite as fast as it could/should be).

As always, YMMV.
 
Add an exhaust fairing to improve lower cowling vacuum.

The first three pix are mine. The fourth pic is Marty's.

Also please note the tow limit marks on Marty's Sierra nose gear. A little worse for wear in this pic, but super important!!!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0067.JPG
    IMG_0067.JPG
    279.1 KB · Views: 67
  • IMG_0065.JPG
    IMG_0065.JPG
    317 KB · Views: 54
  • IMG_0066.JPG
    IMG_0066.JPG
    323.2 KB · Views: 51
  • IMG_0086.jpg
    IMG_0086.jpg
    84.1 KB · Views: 52
Last edited:
arturo1 said:
This is a great idea but would something like this requiere AP/IA sign off as a minor modification to the airplane certificate?Arturo
Click to expand...

Arturo, that would qualify as a minor alteration. Your A&P can do the mod and sign it off in the logs. Been done tens, if not hundreds of times.
 
niechiro said:
I have complained about this for years. My tires typically need air every 3 months. I have been told a number of times that airplane tires are designed to "weep". You got that right.....to let air out. Last April I put on new tubes and tires on my mains and they are holding better pressure, but still need a little shot of it once in awhile. So if airplane tires are designed to weep air, then why?
Click to expand...

Tire rubber is porous. They leak air. The fix is buytl inner tubes, and they leak a little. I would air A4 Skyhawk tires on the flight deck every day and the next morning they would be 50 lbs low, or lower. It definitely made a difference in tire performance to recover that 50 lbs. I didn't have to change a lot of tires that cruise. Only a couple hundred or so. Try Michelin's Air Stops. Goodyear also makes a butyl inner tube.
 
Congratulations to our own Operations Director- Paul Werbin for winning the Innovation of the Year award as voted on at this year's BACFest New Bedford 2017'. Paul's nomination was a first of its kind, a Type Club, live On-Line FAA Approved Wings Program.

Be looking for a newsletter writeup of the nominations and details of each.

Other nominations were Rap McBurney's two different tools on landing gear biscuit replacement saving considerable time and money.

Congrats to both Paul and Rap.

From your Innovation Committee, James, Marty and Tom.

Cheers, James
NW Dir
 
Thank all of you for this recognition. This project in reality was a group effort that included JP Persinger's efforts to arrange the imeet account and BAC CFIs such as Bob Prange that also led discussions. And of course without group participation none of our efforts would be effective. I really appreciate everyone that took part in our imeet and I hope to see the rest of you soon at another.
 
Congrats Paul, your innovation helps all BACers.

James: Thanks for the recognition.

ps: A biscuit does not have a hole in the center. Donuts do.

Rap
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top