Wheel broke into half

stevensun said:
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See the corrosion pitting in the aluminum, in close to the brake disc mounting? Bad sign.

I have also found really serious corrosion inside the wheels, caused by water getting past the bearing seals and mixing with the grease and forming acids that eat the metal. Pressure washers, or even a guy with a garden hose, can blast water past those inadequate felt seals.
 
Dan Thomas said:
There would have been oxide staining all along the crack. Hard to miss for any careful mechanic.
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Probably, or the stress of taking off and putting on the tire would have broken it. I'm surprised these wheels are as robust as they are, they are subjected to a lot of stress.
 
Dan Thomas said:
See the corrosion pitting in the aluminum, in close to the brake disc mounting? Bad sign.

I have also found really serious corrosion inside the wheels, caused by water getting past the bearing seals and mixing with the grease and forming acids that eat the metal. Pressure washers, or even a guy with a garden hose, can blast water past those inadequate felt seals.
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This corrosion wasn't caused by water/oil/grease in the wheel interior, I seldom see any corrosion there.
the corrosion I see most is in the bearing retainer near the clip ring that keeps the bearing in place.
 
stevensun said:
I don’t know how extensive annual is suppose to be. If it just prevent wings from detach mid air, then sure, he did his job ok.
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Take the time to research and learn what an annual includes, what the standards are, anything specific to your plane, and read all the ADs and SBs that affect you. As an owner, you need to know those things. The more you know, the better a job you can do managing your maintenance. Keep in mind that it’s book knowledge at this point and needs to couple with an A&P’s experience and advice for you to apply it well.
 
I guess next time I’ll do an owner assist. Unfortunately there are so many shops don’t want to do that..
 
PaulS said:
Probably, or the stress of taking off and putting on the tire would have broken it. I'm surprised these wheels are as robust as they are, they are subjected to a lot of stress.
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The wheel comes apart to put the tire on, unlike car wheels and tires. There's no stress involved. However, sometimes that tire is stuck to the bead seat (they'll do that if they're on long enough) and some guys will take a big screwdriver or pry bar and start shoving it i between the bead and wheel flange to try to lever it off. They scratch that tiny radius between the bead seat and flange, weakening it by cutting through the rolled layer, and by introducing a stress riser in the form of the scratch. You're supposed to use a proper bead breaker, like Bogert's model here:

serveimage


Yes, aircraft wheel are highly loaded for their size. Look at the aluminum wheel from a car and see how much thicker the metal is around the bead seat and flange. Aircraft wheels are made light, for obvious reasons, and they take a terrific amount of abuse until they get so old and corroded.
 
stevensun said:
I just don’t think my aircraft is in that good of condition.
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stevensun said:
so my impression is the airplane is in pretty bad shape
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Then why did you buy it? After all per Part 91 you are responsible for the aircraft's airworthiness. But on a lighter note, what are you comparing your aircraft to, and how would you define an aircraft in "good condition?"
stevensun said:
I don’t know how extensive annual is suppose to be
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stevensun said:
I was both happy and confusing when my AP told me my airplane is in pretty good shape.
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Then why not ask your APIA if he would perform an owner-assisted annual with you? That way you could learn about your aircraft and see if it is really in good or bad shape with your own eyes and hands. Plus ask these pertinent questions first hand. If he isn't available then search out someone who will. But as to what an annual comprises of, here is the requirement:
https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-i...=true&node=pt14.1.43&rgn=div5#ap14.1.43_117.d
 
Tom-D said:
This corrosion wasn't caused by water/oil/grease in the wheel interior, I seldom see any corrosion there.
the corrosion I see most is in the bearing retainer near the clip ring that keeps the bearing in place.
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No, water inside the wheel didn't bust this one. I was just mentioning what can happen when people squirt water at wheel hubs.
 
flyingron said:
One of my neighbors has an Airbus wheel that was flatspotted, not the tire mind you, the wheel itself. Such is what happens when you land with the parking brake on.
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Yea, best of luck with that. Guess he ignored the ECAM display with PARK BRK lit up in amber, and apparently he didn't use a checklist. Also the parking brake deactivates other braking modes, such as anti skid. So if autobrakes were selected placing the parking brake on would deactivate them, something the crew would notice. :rolleyes:
 
Post some pictures of your airplane, we'll tell you whether it's junk or not.
 
Someone stole 2 of your cylinders! Your mechanic should have picked up on that. ;-)
 
Looks like a pretty nice machine to me. Gonna have some issues because it's used, need to plan on that, but I like what I see. Even new planes have issues, although they usually have a warranty.
 
Engine looks dry, there's newer parts in there (plane power VR, presumably alternator conversion on the other end) some new hoses. Those engine baffles in the back looks in questionable shape, but at first glance it doesn't look too hateful.
 
I'd make sure the mags have been serviced and the wires are good, but that's normal maintenance stuff.
 
PaulS said:
I'd make sure the mags have been serviced and the wires are good, but that's normal maintenance stuff.
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The mag was so broken according to my AP, ( sent to the aircraft magneto service for 500 hours) so I should be good now
 
Dan Thomas said:
No, water inside the wheel didn't bust this one. I was just mentioning what can happen when people squirt water at wheel hubs.
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A conversation like this only confuses the issues.
this rim probably was abused in the its history
 
iflyvfr said:
Those engine baffles in the back looks in questionable shape, but at first glance it doesn't look too hateful.
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The metal portion of the baffles looks OK from a quick look. The baffle seal fabric... Needs to be replaced. Simple job if you're skilled at all. Hint, they need to fold in towards the engine, not away from the engine and there shouldnt' be any "extra" holes or gaps.
 
kyleb said:
The metal portion of the baffles looks OK from a quick look. The baffle seal fabric... Needs to be replaced. Simple job if you're skilled at all. Hint, they need to fold in towards the engine, not away from the engine and there shouldnt' be any "extra" holes or gaps.
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Isn’t fabric part riveted in to the metal part? Do I just get https://www.aircraftspruce.com/pages/ap/baffling_0material/siliconecowlseals.php ? And I have to drill the rivet out and use screws instead?
 
kyleb said:
The metal portion of the baffles looks OK from a quick look. The baffle seal fabric... Needs to be replaced. Simple job if you're skilled at all. Hint, they need to fold in towards the engine, not away from the engine and there shouldnt' be any "extra" holes or gaps.
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I used that rubber gasket material that is slippery on the side that rubs against the cowl, similar to https://www.mcfarlaneaviation.com/products/product/CS085X3X36GBF/. Not sure how much it's helped my cylinders over the years although it has held up fairly well. Definitely not a do-it-yourself repair, your mechanic knows how to do it to ensure it lays flat against the inside of the cowl.
 
Consider replacing that exhaust hangar, it looks to be severely rusted. Almost looks like the start of a crack at the third hole down. A failed exhaust hangar can be a serious problem in flight. Or on the ground for that matter.

The rear baffles are definitely leaking air which is not doing your cooling system any good.
 
iflyvfr said:
Definitely not a do-it-yourself repair, your mechanic knows how to do it to ensure it lays flat against the inside of the cowl.
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Ain't hard. 10,000 RV builders have done it. I promise, not all of them are uber-talented.
 
Lndwarrior said:
Consider replacing that exhaust hangar, it looks to be severely rusted. Almost looks like the start of a crack at the third hole down. A failed exhaust hangar can be a serious problem in flight. Or on the ground for that matter.

The rear baffles are definitely leaking air which is not doing your cooling system any good.
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So I guess either find that piece of metal or have it CNC? Any chance the rust is not deep enough so I can sand it off and paint it?
 
Timbeck2 said:
Just curious, what is the G5 replacing? I don't see a VSI.
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Just there to provide redundancy. Also didn’t want to remove the vacuum attitude yet, I guess I can wait till vacuum breaks. I guess the previous owner was trying to be cheap and didn’t get the Dual G5
And I think the reason for no VSI is just that’s the least important and not required for IFR. That would be my guess
 
stevensun said:
So I guess either find that piece of metal or have it CNC? Any chance the rust is not deep enough so I can sand it off and paint it?
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If it isn't cracked or badly corroded, you can remove it, sand it or bead blast it and paint it with high temp paint. It isn't anything more than a steel strap with holes in it and as you can see it has 7 more than necessary.
 
stevensun said:
Just there to provide redundancy. Also didn’t want to remove the vacuum attitude yet, I guess I can wait till vacuum breaks. I guess the previous owner was trying to be cheap and didn’t get the Dual G5
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Roger. My first thought was that the VSI was replaced by the G5 which isn't allowed. Nothing against you, just an observation.
 
Timbeck2 said:
Roger. My first thought was that the VSI was replaced by the G5 which isn't allowed. Nothing against you, just an observation.
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Um. Not sure if Removing VSI is allowed. (It’s not on the required list, but I am not FAA rule savvy)
 
stevensun said:
Uh so turns out the airplane wheels are pretty expensive ( this happened couple weeks before, should have asked around more for options). The wheel ( not the bolt) had a piece of metal broke off. And had to get wheel assembly. Which Cleveland didn’t sell specific wheel for just 1, they sell 2 together. So that came in around $2500 (new), I know I could have looked around (eBay or ...) for used one. But I checked eBay and couldn’t find matching wheels at time. (I was stranded when I flew long XC at SJC, so I was thinking to get it fix ASAP, if it happened at home base, I am sure I would take more time to find more options). Anyway. Mechanic charged me 7 hours ($125/hour rate) to take off my wheel, put a new wheel together, put a tube on and put tire back on. So this whole thing came to like $3500.
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That took him 7hrs?
 
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James331 said:
That took him 7hrs?
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yep 7.7 hours, I don’t know how. They made some phone calls, 1 hour or so (I was there trying to figure out my options with them) and saw them took off the wheel, discharge the tire, unbolt the wheel. That was like 30 mins. Again, I am not a mechanic and things can take much longer than expected (I am a computer engineer and sometimes when I get bugs, it can take multiple times of the estimated time). But I am pretty sure I can do that within couple hours.. I work on my own car, did pretty big job on my car engine as well (no regulation there)
 
0BA48C69-617F-4839-8B22-D91AFB26BD7B.jpeg And again, not that I am blaming my AP. But dang, it’s expensive. I was told there were some bird nests under the rear seat and in the wings. I guess that takes 2 hours of $110/ hour to remove.
But again, I got my rental apartment room cleaned by some vacuum service, they quoted me $150 for like 200sqft room.. labor is expensive.
 
8 hours of labor to change tire is nuts. The ~260 for shipping is also nuts. A consumables surcharge + another charge for hydraulic fluid is double dipping. What a douche.
 
Just like your typical filthy rich A&P, always looking to make the payment on their mega-yacht.
 
It does seem a bit high. I can jack the RV-6, remove the wheel pants, pull the wheels, change both tires and tubes, and reassemble in about 4 hours. And that's with me working at a leisurely pace, not at what I'd consider a professional pace. In your case you've gotta add the time to procure the parts and move the airplane (if necessary), but still...
 
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