Annual 2016 Day 1

And so it goes, annual time once again...

In my previous post I had repositioned 08Romeo to the shop at Cecil Aero located at Claremont, 58M.  My trusty rental, a jeep compass, got me home and the ride was good.  I'm not sure what to expect this week, my foot is still very sore and with my shoulder acting up I don't know if I'll be worth a darn in the shop. I packed a bag for my Monday departure just in case I'm to beat to drive home on the two hour run. There is a Hampton Inn not far from the shop and I'll get a room if needed.

Monday 11/14

I'm on the road early and anxious to get started on the annual.  5:45 and heading north, it's dark and traffic for now is pretty much non-existent. As I make my way into Delaware I am listening to 97.1 the wave radio station. Plenty of ads informing drivers of deer on the move through mating season and hunting season, which leads to an increase in accidents. No kidding! As I round the bend and start to slow down for the 50mph strictly enforced area in Selbyville, a deer, from God only knows where, lands his front feet on the white line and I swerve left to miss his back end and then immediately right to get back in my lane. Yes, chest pain, and a loud holly crap! I honestly think he was trying to jump clear of my truck.

The remainder of the ride was uneventful and I listened to sports radio chatter the whole ride. Of course I made my first day annual ritual donut stop at Dunkin and grabbed a breakfast sandwich too. I rolled into the airport just a few minutes past the start time of 8am. My plane was just getting tugged into the shop and she was covered with frost. I uncovered and carried the covers out to the ramp to dry in the sun, nothing worse then putting stuff away wet, gross.

This year the shop owner is working on my plane. Roger got started with firewall forward and I started the inspection plate removal process. One of these days I'm going to count all the screws I remove and replace.

Compression checks were good for a cold soaked engine and my plugs looked good too, Roger commented on a good job leaning to help eliminate the lead build ups. When all the plugs were out I used the blaster to clean them up, I love this machine. New washers were added along with anti-seize and the plugs were ready and waiting to be installed and torqued to specification.

I followed Roger around as he inspected the vac pump and then opened up each Mag for a check. I removed the heat shroud on the muffler for inspection access and we discussed sealers used for the engine case along the split. The RTV silicone gasket product over time will seep and I have a very light trace on the bottom of the case, you would have to wipe it to notice it.

As Roger moved around the plane performing the lubrication service, I got started on the landing gear. I haven't done the gear in a few years since Vince always helped. Once each tire was off I inspected the brakes, calipers and lines for leaks, everything was dry, looking good. The vibration I was starting to feel on the left side was due to needing brake pads. The left side was getting close so I had them replaced.

punch and press

It was my first time actually doing the brakes and replacing the pads on the back plates. Every job has a tool that makes life easy, I love using new to me tools.

back plate and pad

Once the rivets are punched out the new pad is set and new rivets are pressed into the back plate, easy peasy.

The left mag needed some attention despite not showing signs of distress on run up or in flight. Once the mag was apart I hovered over Rogers shoulder trying to absorb something new. The mags work like a distributor in a car, ok, an old car.

shavings in the mag case

Here is what we found. The smaller gear was not fully seated on the shaft so it was rubbing on the cover. what was shaved off floated in the mag cover and stuck to the walls and caused some wear to the points.

the correct clearance

The points were replaced and the mag timing set to the specific mark. An interesting process indeed.  The distributor spark points were cleaned along with the tip of the rotor to freshen things up. the unit was reassembled and ready to be installed on 08Romeo.

points

Roger and I had a discussion about the mag issue and a potential timing issue. He asked about the mag drop on run up and I said they were equal. He then asked about start up and how quickly she fires...you know it does seem to take a bit longer. 08Romeo would fire on one blade but of late it takes a few turns to get her started. That's a timing issue caused by the mags.

Day one comes to a close and I'm back on the road for my two hour drive south. It will be good to get a hot shower and sleep in my own bed. I was treated to an awesome dinner tonight when I got home. Mary made Chicken Parmesan over spaghetti, it was yummy!!