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klaus(at)utdallas.edu
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 Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 6:16 pm Post subject: Autogas, Quick Drains, and Digitrack |
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Hi,
It seems that autogas attacks O-rings in quick drains,
something avgas will not do. Possibly, the addition of
ethanol to autogas started some years ago accelerates
the deterioration process.
As a fix,
- quick drains should be used where O-rings are easily
replaced. Yes, there are some models where the entire
quick drain must be replaced, as proved to us recently
by an A&P in Goodland, KS. The occasion was the discovery
of a badly damaged O-ring in one of the quick drains
of our plane. Fortunately, we have a version where
O-ring replacement can be done.
- monitor the deterioration by watching the up-travel
of the fitting when fuel is sampled. When the amount
of up-travel is significantly different from that with
a newly installed O-ring, replacement of the O-ring
should be done.
Equivalently, the distance from the lower fitting of
the quick drain to the wing or tank can be measured,
and a significant increase indicates deterioration.
From now on, we will check for this condition once a
year during the annual inspection.
Given our recent experience, replacement of the
O-rings every 3-4 years can be expected.
I would be interested to learn whether others have
had similar experience and/or have found better fixes.
Another Digitrak experience:
The Digitrak autopilot calibrates everything when
the unit is first turned on, typically on the ground.
If the airplane is moving forward in a slight turn
at that time, the autopilot later is unable to
hold a heading, and will always start a turn when engaged.
When that happened to us for the first time, it
was quite disconcerting and looked like a failure
of the system.
The fix is simple. Turn off the autopilot, fly straight
and level as smoothly as possible, and turn on the
autopilot. Within a few seconds the calibration is
done, and from then on the autopilot functions correctly.
Last but not least: We had a great trip to Rocky
Mountain National Park, escaping the record heat
in Texas. If you like to see some pictures of this
magnificent park, go to
passionforflight.blogspot.com
Happy flying,
Klaus
[quote][b]
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jlatimer1(at)cox.net
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| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:09 pm Post subject: Autogas, Quick Drains, and Digitrack |
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On Wed, Aug 17, 2011 at 7:11 PM, Klaus Truemper wrote:
Last but not least: We had a great trip to Rocky
Mountain National Park, escaping the record heat
in Texas. If you like to see some pictures of this
magnificent park, go to
passionforflight.blogspot.com
Happy flying,
Klaus
Klaus,
Rocky Mountain National Park is fantastic. I live in Arizona and visited there over the 4th to escape the heat here. The elk were fantastic.
Jerry
[quote][b]
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