Maintenance close call

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Mtns2Skies

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Mtns2Skies
Well my avionics upgrade just paid for itself in whole. The avionics techs found my pilot side left rudder cable so badly frayed only 3 wires were left holding onto the pedal. In my big taildragger, Cessna 180, if that cable let go, I most likely would have ground looped the plane potentially totaling it. I've put almost 150 hours on the plane since the last annual, when I purchased the plane 8 months ago, and it may be time for another inspection pre-annual. It's safe to say I'm quite alarmed that this got so bad.

Any of you have close maintenance calls?
 
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6PC was telling me a couple years ago his Line Crew at Denton forgot to put down a bottle of water at the edge of the red carpet..... He grounded the plane for a week till they figured it out. While waiting, he ate most of their Otis Spunkmeyer cookies and really needed that water.
 
When having some elevator AD taken care of, the mechanic found a rudder cable 1/2 frayed about 3 feet from the back up into the fuselage. Makes me look at the whole cable length every month. The internal fuselage is open, so easy to do.
 
During my first annual, my mechanic found my fuel lines so rigid that a slight twist or bend broke them. I'd been flying it for six months like that even down to Port Aransas Texas and back to Tucson.
 
Not sure if this qualifies but I was helping a friend button up the inspection panels under the right wing after annual. I noticed some dimpling from the inside out on the skin which got me curious. When I reached up in there I found a large pair of dikes:dikes.jpg
 
Timbeck2 said:
During my first annual, my mechanic found my fuel lines so rigid that a slight twist or bend broke them. I'd been flying it for six months like that even down to Port Aransas Texas and back to Tucson.
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That would be the hoses, right? Not the aluminum tubing? I've seen that too often. A check of hose flexibility should be part of every annual, and the manufacturers often call for new hoses in the engine compartment every five years. Fuel and oil on the inside, and heat and weather on the outside, take their toll.

A check of control systems is part of an annual, too. How does a mechanic check control systems without actually taking the time to open inspection panels and remove whatever interior is necessary to see cables and pulleys? He can't, and I've found way too many worn cables and seized pulleys to not know that a lot of guys are taking shortcuts and pencil-whipping the inspections. It takes a long time for a cable to wear to fray as badly as the OP's. That's what one gets for insisting on "economical" inspections. And for hardened hoses in the engine compartment? No excuse at all for that. Sounds like a walkaround inspection.

The OP should also get the elevator cables checked. The bottom one especially, since it runs across a rub strip on a bulkhead, and I've found them badly worn there. The aileron cables wear at the idler pulleys inboard of the bellcranks. Those pulleys seize up. ANd in the center of the ceiling the aileron and flap cables wear at idlers there too. They have minimal arc of contact, and vibration chatters them on the hard nylon pulley and chafes them. It would be interesting indeed to have a look at that airplane. And when were the trim actuators last overhauled?


Electronic Code of Federal Regulations


Title 14: Aeronautics and Space
PART 43—MAINTENANCE, PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE, REBUILDING, AND ALTERATION


Appendix D to Part 43—Scope and Detail of Items (as Applicable to the Particular Aircraft) To Be Included in Annual and 100-Hour Inspections

(5) Flight and engine controls—for improper installation and improper operation.

(7) Lines, hoses, and clamps—for leaks, improper condition and looseness.

 
iflyvfr said:
Not sure if this qualifies but I was helping a friend button up the inspection panels under the right wing after annual. I noticed some dimpling from the inside out on the skin which got me curious. When I reached up in there I found a large pair of dikes:View attachment 68208
Click to expand...
Lineman's pliers.
 
Dan Thomas said:
The OP should also get the elevator cables checked. The bottom one especially, since it runs across a rub strip on a bulkhead, and I've found them badly worn there. The aileron cables wear at the idler pulleys inboard of the bellcranks. Those pulleys seize up. ANd in the center of the ceiling the aileron and flap cables wear at idlers there too. They have minimal arc of contact, and vibration chatters them on the hard nylon pulley and chafes them. It would be interesting indeed to have a look at that airplane. And when were the trim actuators last overhauled?
Click to expand...
All of that was checked a couple months after buying the plane. There was about an inch or two of slop in the elevator so I got all the bushings and bellcranks and jackscrew trim rebuilt. Also installed upper and lower inspection panels... which will come in handy when this new cable gets strung.
 
Dan Thomas said:
That would be the hoses, right? Not the aluminum tubing? I've seen that too often. A check of hose flexibility should be part of every annual, and the manufacturers often call for new hoses in the engine compartment every five years. Fuel and oil on the inside, and heat and weather on the outside, take their toll.

A check of control systems is part of an annual, too. How does a mechanic check control systems without actually taking the time to open inspection panels and remove whatever interior is necessary to see cables and pulleys? He can't, and I've found way too many worn cables and seized pulleys to not know that a lot of guys are taking shortcuts and pencil-whipping the inspections. It takes a long time for a cable to wear to fray as badly as the OP's. That's what one gets for insisting on "economical" inspections. And for hardened hoses in the engine compartment? No excuse at all for that. Sounds like a walkaround inspection.

The OP should also get the elevator cables checked. The bottom one especially, since it runs across a rub strip on a bulkhead, and I've found them badly worn there. The aileron cables wear at the idler pulleys inboard of the bellcranks. Those pulleys seize up. ANd in the center of the ceiling the aileron and flap cables wear at idlers there too. They have minimal arc of contact, and vibration chatters them on the hard nylon pulley and chafes them. It would be interesting indeed to have a look at that airplane. And when were the trim actuators last overhauled?


Electronic Code of Federal Regulations


Title 14: Aeronautics and Space
PART 43—MAINTENANCE, PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE, REBUILDING, AND ALTERATION


Appendix D to Part 43—Scope and Detail of Items (as Applicable to the Particular Aircraft) To Be Included in Annual and 100-Hour Inspections

(5) Flight and engine controls—for improper installation and improper operation.

(7) Lines, hoses, and clamps—for leaks, improper condition and looseness.
Click to expand...

Yes, the hoses. I've found a LOT of things wrong with my plane that the previous owners' mechanics must have done a window inspection and signed it off. I've replaced every flexible hose on my plane in the last two years.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
Well my avionics upgrade just paid for itself in whole. The avionics techs found my pilot side left rudder cable so badly frayed only 3 wires were left holding onto the pedal. In my big taildragger, Cessna 180, if that cable let go, I most likely would have ground looped the plane potentially totaling it. I've put almost 150 hours on the plane since the last annual, when I purchased the plane 8 months ago, and it may be time for another inspection pre-annual. It's safe to say I'm quite alarmed that this got so bad.

Any of you have close maintenance calls?
Click to expand...
Do you believe the problem developed entirely after you bought it?
 
Stewartb said:
Do you believe the problem developed entirely after you bought it?
Click to expand...
Well, most likely not. I have put a lot of hours on the plane relative to the prior two decades though.
 
My 180's aileron balance cable has been replaced twice in the past 8 years.

While re-wiring my airplane when I did the interior it was discovered that the fin attach bolts were loose enough to turn with one finger. It had been 12 years since the last time the tail was apart. Hmm.
 
Stewartb said:
My 180's aileron balance cable has been replaced twice in the past 8 years.

While re-wiring my airplane when I did the interior it was discovered that the fin attach bolts were loose enough to turn with one finger. It had been 12 years since the last time the tail was apart. Hmm.
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Do you have the jackscrew inspection panel or the upper side ones?
 
Mtns2Skies said:
Well my avionics upgrade just paid for itself in whole. The avionics techs found my pilot side left rudder cable so badly frayed only 3 wires were left holding onto the pedal. In my big taildragger, Cessna 180, if that cable let go, I most likely would have ground looped the plane potentially totaling it. I've put almost 150 hours on the plane since the last annual, when I purchased the plane 8 months ago, and it may be time for another inspection pre-annual. It's safe to say I'm quite alarmed that this got so bad.

Any of you have close maintenance calls?
Click to expand...

I had the tw spring on my Maule break (equivalent to having cable snap). Landing at home base I had no idea what was going on. I just used the brakes, rudder, and a lot of body English to it keep on the grass runway. Only turned 60 deg offline before I get her stopped so it can be survived with no damage on some aircraft, on grass anyway. No idea what caused it.

Of course the entire airport was out judging landings that day and never quite knew what happened to me...


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Stewartb said:
My 180's aileron balance cable has been replaced twice in the past 8 years.

While re-wiring my airplane when I did the interior it was discovered that the fin attach bolts were loose enough to turn with one finger. It had been 12 years since the last time the tail was apart. Hmm.
Click to expand...

Yup, one can find some alarming stuff if he looks enough. I've found those fin spar bolts replaced with bolts that were too short and the nuts not in safety.

That aileron balance cable is the one that gets chafed on the idlers in the wings and ceiling. If it's a stainless cable, it will wear about four times as fast as a galvanized steel cable. if the airplane is never on floats it doesn't need stainless cables. That's just extra cost for less life.
 
Bill Watson said:
I had the tw spring on my Maule break (equivalent to having cable snap). Landing at home base I had no idea what was going on. I just used the brakes, rudder, and a lot of body English to it keep on the grass runway. Only turned 60 deg offline before I get her stopped so it can be survived with no damage on some aircraft, on grass anyway. No idea what caused it.

Of course the entire airport was out judging landings that day and never quite knew what happened to me...


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
Click to expand...
At least you still had rudder control if it was just the steering spring breaking. If the OP's rudder cable had let go he'd have nothing but brakes, and for a 180 or 185 that's bad news unless it has a locking tailwheel. If he doesn't have the rudder trim system, he has rudder bar return springs, and a broken cable means that the rudder now has no balancing forces to center it and the spring on the bar with the good cable will pull the rudder off-center. And around we go.....
 
My worst maintenance related stories are from first flights post-maintenance. #1 the mechanic forgot to torque the lower plug caps. Engine didn't run so good after a few minutes. No danger, just inconvenience. #2, I ignored my own rule and took the wife on the first flight post-annual. Smoke in the cabin. She was scared to death. I had to decide whether to land on a very short private strip or head across three miles of ocean inlet to the airport. I chose the latter. It turned out to be solvent on the muffler from cleaning the engine. I hated seeing my wife so scared, and I wasn't all that casual about it myself. #3, taxiing out after straight ski installation by my mechanic. Sliding run-up, called for clearance, took the runway, hit the throttle..... motor quit. It took a minute or three to work the problem and discover the mechanic had turned the fuel selector off. If I had departed 30 seconds quicker I'd have been in a world of trouble.

These days? Every flight in my Exp Cub finds something new to tweak, so every flight is another test flight. It wears me out. I think I'm nearing the point where I can just be a pilot but now the weather is ugly and winter is coming soon. If I could have a do-over I'd like summer to repeat!
 
Yes, I've had stuff like this happen. Nothing I can recall for controls almost failing, but other mechanical ones that could've destroyed engines, etc.
 
A subsequent non-pilot owner of our 172M had a flight instructor ferry the airplane from a fresh annual. "On the ramp over there, she's ready to go"....
Only there was no oil in the engine and the instructor didn't notice it until the engine was wrecked.
 
Be sure to look at the elevator trim indicator position compared to where the trim tab actually is, after say, a phase check by a Service Center. Just sayin.
 
Be sure to check all the nosegear hardware is installed/not missing after say, work done by a well known Service Center.
 
Be sure there are no engine through-bolts broken before launching on a 600mi flight, some at night, over rugged terrain. Just a thought.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Be sure there are no engine through-bolts broken before launching on a 600mi flight, some at night, over rugged terrain. Just a thought.
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Not sure the terrain you're over matters much if your engine falls off :D
 
Buying an airplane?
Might look at the nosewheel axle bolt for a nut, before the test flight.
Could help you avoid a nasty arrival.
So I hear.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
through-bolt is not holding engine on the airframe; holds engine parts in same general vicinity though.
Unless I am missing your humor.
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That’s what I thought you meant but how exactly to figure that one out? A new oil seep? That’s just plain bad news after the fact... sounds like a shade tree overhaul.


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iflyvfr said:
Not sure if this qualifies but I was helping a friend button up the inspection panels under the right wing after annual. I noticed some dimpling from the inside out on the skin which got me curious. When I reached up in there I found a large pair of dikes:View attachment 68208
Click to expand...
now....that's queer. :eek:
 
Bill Watson said:
That’s what I thought you meant but how exactly to figure that one out? A new oil seep? That’s just plain bad news after the fact... sounds like a shade tree overhaul.
Click to expand...

found on preflight; really not 'bad mx' per se. stuff breaks. Replaced and has been fine for years.
 
Only one good close call in the GA world here: Beech Sierra. Final approach to land at the airport for the annual annual inspection, I put the gear down as a good pilot should. Half way through up and down, the throttle was yanked outta my hand and the engine revved to a whole bunch of power. Then, to stay on glide path, I pulled the power back to normal. Throttle was a bit behind schedule to inputs until I landed. Told the mechanic about it while we're taking the plane apart. The throttle cable retaining system on the the oil pan broke loose and got entangled by the NLG monkey bars and levers. When we swung the gear before we made the repair to see what happens, the cable would have been ripped offn the airbox if I made one more gear up selection. A fine place to loose engine control, at gear up.

But, not my plane, there was a spot on this one guy's wing that kept getting more and more dents in the top and bottom of the skins hour after hour. Turns out, the guys that repaired the wing, left a bucking bar in there for some reason.
 
I had plane with a header tank. After many years of operation I had reason to remove the valve from the header tank. At some time in the past the male fitting had been broken off, The valve had been screwed back into the tanks with perhaps 1-1/2 threads retaining it. Had it broken the engine would have quit and dumped the gas in my lap.
 
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