Matthew
Touchdown! Greaser!
A month or two ago I was preflighting a Warrior. Being able to see both sides of the engine seems like a good thing.
This was very early in my training, maybe only the 4th or 5th time I'd done a preflight on my own.
Since I didn't know any better, I was checking a little more than just the oil and something didn't seem right. I lifted the insulating boot off the p-lead of the left magneto. The nut had come off, and the only thing holding the terminal to the stud was gravity (and the weight of a star-washer and the boot).
I squawked it and took a different aircraft.
I've come to learn that the p-lead grounds the magneto and disables it. The safety issue of having a 'hot' magneto when parked seems apparent.
My questions:
What symptoms would show on a mag check that would indicate a loose connection?
Would there be any indication in flight that this had happened?
The oil had been changed earlier in the day - would there have been any reason to disconnect/reconnect the lead when changing the filter?
Thanks,
Matt
This was very early in my training, maybe only the 4th or 5th time I'd done a preflight on my own.
Since I didn't know any better, I was checking a little more than just the oil and something didn't seem right. I lifted the insulating boot off the p-lead of the left magneto. The nut had come off, and the only thing holding the terminal to the stud was gravity (and the weight of a star-washer and the boot).
I squawked it and took a different aircraft.
I've come to learn that the p-lead grounds the magneto and disables it. The safety issue of having a 'hot' magneto when parked seems apparent.
My questions:
What symptoms would show on a mag check that would indicate a loose connection?
Would there be any indication in flight that this had happened?
The oil had been changed earlier in the day - would there have been any reason to disconnect/reconnect the lead when changing the filter?
Thanks,
Matt