Maintenance

Buyinga first airplane is every bit as much of a thrill for most people as buying a first car.Unfortunately, most first-time airplane buyers approach their purchase very much the sameway as they do when shopping for an automobile. Typically, they first decide how much theycan afford to spend on an airplane – it might be […]

When an assembly is engineered, loads to be encountered by thebolted joint are calculated and a safety factor is applied toallow for unexpected loads. The engineer then sizes a fastenerto maintain the proper pre-load which will withstand the tensile,bending and shear loads imposed upon the assembly. Developing Pre-Loads When a fastener (bolt) is tightened, both […]

Notlong ago, a writer for a major aviation publication called to askmy opinion(s) on the subject of shock cooling. It turns out thecaller had already written his article, but he wanted to run someideas by me to make sure he wasn’t missing something. Since I geta lot of calls on this subject, I had some […]

TBO: One of the reasons I wanted to talk to you today is to get you to reveal more tips, more advice on how to stay out of trouble when shopping for a plane. What do you think is the biggest mistake buyers make? McGuire: New buyers? Or buyers in general? New buyers are probably […]

In the glory days of general aviation, Piper, Beech and Cessnatook the advice of the guy in The Graduate who whispered one wordof advice — “plastics” — into Dustin Hoffman’s ear. The OEMs became big consumers of polyester resins. Sometimes itwent by the trade name Royalite, sometimes ABS, but it was allmade up of pellets […]

The 0-470 is a rugged engine that’s capable of producing solidand dependable power. It distinguishes itself from other six-cylindercarbureted engines by its characteristic lope at idle and throatyexhaust stack burp. When balanced, an O-470 will run at cruisepower without the least bit of burble or vibration. There are 15 models of the O-470 engine flying […]

When I learned to fly on the East Coast thirty-something yearsago, turbocharging was a dirty word. Everybody said turbos wereexpensive, inefficient, maintenance-intensive, problem-prone,shortens TBO drastically, and makes sense only for folks basedin the Colorado Rockies. As a young, impressionable airman, Ibought it…lock, stock and intercooler. I bought my first airplane in 1968, a nice conservative […]

With a new, remanufactured, major overhauled or top overhauledengine utilizing proper break-in procedures is critical to avoidinghigh oil consumption and its related problems. The main purposeof break-in is to seat the compression rings to the cylinder walls.Let me explain what ring seating is all about. While a new steel cylinder may look like a smooth […]

Some overhaul shops claim beneficial cooling effects of blackpaint on their engine. The theory is that black is a betteremitter of infrared (heat) energy. A hot engine in a cold surrounding,radiates energy from the hot object to the cold. The amount ofradiant cooling (thermal emissions) is generally dependent uponthe temperature of the emitter (engine) and […]

Preflight: Start: Idle: Takeoff: Cruise: Shutdown: