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That sure sounds like a misrigged system. No surprise; in almost every airplane I worked on for the first time I found flight and/or engine controls badly out of rig. Seems that mechanics never consult the service manuals. I've had owners ask me what I did to make the airplane fly so nicely now...

Even better: Look in the service manual for the airplane and use the recommended lubricants, in the recommended way. LPS not only goes gummy after a while and no longer lubricates, it also gets sprayed on stuff it needs to avoid. I've had to take electric flap actuators out and spend hours...

That's the forward doorpost you're looking at. It carries the loads from the wing struts. The one in the drawing is the aft doorpost. It joins to the main landing gear box's rear bulkhead.

At locations "A", under those plastic covers, the bulkhead tends to crack. It flexes as the rudder shoves the tail around. The big back window above that place made the fuselage too flexible there. Locations "B" are where that bulkhead cracks at the holes cut for the bag door hinges. Under "C"...

It might be better to do a thorough prebuy inspection, on the scale of what Gary Ward does.

Good man. I bet 90% of light airplanes never get that sort of inspection. Ever. If it's being done by the shop, it can turn into a budget-breaker for the owner, so it never gets done. The guy that buys such an airplane gets the first-annual shockers.

And yet, the TCDS for that engine says "for all operations, 2700 RPM, 150 HP." There is NO mention of any max continuous with that engine as there is with larger engines. Climbing for 20 or 30 minutes at full throttle is not using either 2700 RPM with a fixed-pitch prop, as that RPM is only...

Airframe problems that show up when you start pulling the interior or taking the wings, off, etc., can turn into a game-changer real quick. Corrosion, cracked major components, old damage that wasn't properly repaired can all turn into a financial nightmare. Many critical parts aren't made...

The Piper SB to disable the auto-extend system came about after an accident or two with these airplanes. If the pitot iced up, the pressure in the pitot system would bleed off and the gear would extend, right when you're already accumulating the drag and weight of ice, and the gear's drag pulled...

I haven't seen anything in the FARS that offers guidance. Maybe Bell206 knows where it is. But here in Canada, in the CARs, we have this...

Getting air cooling to keep temperatures down as low as 265°F would take a lot more finning of the heads and cylinders and more airflow. More weight, drag, engine size and everything. The auto engine's liquid-cooling temps are based on the boiling point of the coolant. To keep it from boiling...

That old term "air pocket" is a myth and gives people the impression that there are holes in the atmosphere where there is no air or something. The public is dumb enough already without the media making it dumber. It seems that journalists, who are trained to write a story, don't go after...

PAR 36 is a style, not a part number. 4313 is a part number. There were several automotive PAR 36s part numbers before the old glass sealed-beam headlights were replaced with the plastic stuff and halogen lamps. The aircraft's parts catalog is the place to find the part number. The Bonanza's...

Too little heat, and the engine will not produce rated horsepower, and it will use more fuel. This is why cars have thermostats. Take that thermostat out and it will run a lot cooler, but performance suffers. The fuel does not atomize well in a cold engine, clearances are larger, and carbon...

They have those high RPMs because the propeller is a fussy device. At 700 RPM, idle RPM, it will barely move the airplane. Double that to 1400 and you get a really fast taxi. At 2100 RPM it will go fast but isn't going to take off. Add 700 more RPM, to 2800, and it will not only take off but...

It is. An injector nozzle looks much different, and has a much different operating principle.

That Lycoming O-320 has a max continuous rating of 2700 RPM and 150 HP, straight out of the TCDS. As I posted: And as I said, the propeller is pitched to allow full-throttle operation that gives 2700 RPM and 150 HP at sea level. No maximum continuous ratings are being exceeded. Now, if we...

Remember that the passengers are travelling in a straight line. Their momentum is along that line. If the airplane is suddenly forced down faster than unbuckled passengers and crew can fall, the ceiling comes down on them, and the ceiling is not far overhead, is it? Like ElPaso Pilot says, it...

The airframe manufacturers specify the propeller pitch so that in level flight, near sea level, the engine will reach redline at full throttle. This prevents over-revving, and uses all the available rated HP of the engine. When breaking in new or overhauled engines, Lycoming wants the engine...

Just try borescoping the case on a Lyc to get a look at the cam and lifters. Nope. Cylinder has to come off. There's no access. On some of the 540s, those that have the oil filler up top, there might be a chance through that filler. Never tried it. Even though the bottom of the oil sump you have...