Tiger back from Annual Inspection

[Anthony]

Picked the Tiger up from Annual Inspection yesterday. The major items that needed to be checked, corrected, repaired or replaced were:

1. Engine mounts - Replaced the 27 year old Lord mounts (4).

2. CW SB 388C Valve wobble check - all valve clearances within spec.

3. Rebuilt both mags.

4. Replaced both Distributor Blocks and Gear Assemblies.

5. Replaced nosewheel tire and tube.

6. IFR Pitot static check.

7. Fabricate and replace copper primer lines.

And lots of other "little" stuff that adds up.

The engine seemed to run smoother with much less vibration, due to the new engine mounts and mags I would suspect. I did a thorugh pre-flight and made sure all the control surfaces were moving in the proper direction. The flight home was uneventful and pleasant. I'm planning on doing some real flying today with a careful eye on everything. Its good to be back in the air and I'm planning to get some more mountain flying instruction with a CFI soon so we can venture west a bit more.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Wayta go Anthony, feels so nice to have them back doesn't it?
What is the difference between #3 and #4?

 

[Anthony]

Wayta go Anthony, feels so nice to have them back doesn't it?
What is the difference between #3 and #4?

Thanks Dave. They were just listed seperately on the invoice and were pretty expensive. The old ones were corroded. It is nice to have the plane back after a three week hiatus. The firts few minutes of flying felt a little foreign to me, plus I ws busy scanning the engine gauges and everything else to make sure they put the plane back together properly. My CHT's seemed to be a little lower also, (which is a GOOD thing!) especially in cyl. #4 which is my hottest. I'll monitor it more today. What would make that happen? Mag timing?

 

[poadeleted3]

Thanks Dave. They were just listed seperately on the invoice and were pretty expensive. The old ones were corroded. It is nice to have the plane back after a three week hiatus. The firts few minutes of flying felt a little foreign to me, plus I ws busy scanning the engine gauges and everything else to make sure they put the plane back together properly. My CHT's seemed to be a little lower also, (which is a GOOD thing!) especially in cyl. #4 which is my hottest. I'll monitor it more today. What would make that happen? Mag timing?

Yaaay!!! You can go play now

 

[Gary]

Anthony:


Glad you are back in the air. A manageable list of items, although the shorter the better! Where would you take the moutain flying course? What do they cover? That sounds like an interesting and valuable thing to do.

Gary

 

[Anthony]

Anthony:


Glad you are back in the air. A manageable list of items, although the shorter the better! Where would you take the moutain flying course? What do they cover? That sounds like an interesting and valuable thing to do.

Hi Gary. Manageable yes, inexpensive no. I forgot to mention the primer lines I had to have fabiricated due to slight leaks that were found as evidenced by blue stains. Fletchair (Grumman parts guru) didn't have any as well as other sources we checked. The 1975 - 79 Tigers have the typical plunger type primer with copper primer lines. The newer AG5B Tigers, including the new Tiger Aircraft Tigers, have an electronic primer, without this type of primer line. Evidently, the primer lines I have are getting scarce. Not a big deal as they are just standard copper lines, but you have to have the fittings fabricated by the shop under FSDO approval. Again, no biggie, just a bit more labor. But it ALL adds up as you know my friend. This was the most expensive annual to date, but it was VERY thorough and I believe all items were legitimate and necessary. I could have waited on a few things, but I just don't maintain my plane that way.

Its flying great BTW.

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

A manageable list of items, although the shorter the better!

I was thrilled with my last annual. No repairs/replacements at all! I felt like we did a good job through the year; the annual turned out to be just an inspection. (I refuse to talk about the year before)

 

[Aztec Driver]

Hi Anthony,

Glad to hear you and the Tiger are still at it. Bob's Tiger actually had a mild year for maintenance for a change. Guess it got tired of having it's insides ripped out every month or so. Batteries, fuel pumps, alternators, voltage regulators, magnetos. Notice that all of the words are plural? They are not typos or exagerations.

Bryon