Conditional Inspection 2006

It's already time for another conditional inspection. I have about 240 hours on the plane in 25 months. There are some house keeping sort of things on my to-do list, but no majors squawks.

Though the tires and brakes are doing pretty well, I figure they will need be to be replaced before the next conditional inspection, so I'm doing them now. The original tires held up well and are wearing fairly evenly. The replacements are retreads from Dresser. I'll have to be sure there is adequate clearance with the wheel fairings, as the retreads are slightly bigger in diameter than the original tires.

Once the brake calipers where removed, I was able to jack up the plane with a standard floor jack.

Next on the list is the darn fuel tank service bulletin from Van's. I really hated breaking the seal on the perfectly good fuel tanks. I almost talked myself out of doing it all together, but ...

The access covers were sealed with Proseal only, and they were a real bear to get off. I started by getting a razor blade between the cover and the tank, then I worked a steel ruler in there, and eventually a plastic putty knife. I heard of other guys "just poppping them off with a putty knife", but that wasn't the case with mine. Anyway, the dried Proseal cleaned up with some MEK and elbow grease.

I found the B-nut on one tank tight, and I was able to tighten the other very slightly. Once drilled (in place, free-hand) with a #52 drill bit and safetied, the covers were ready to go back on the tanks. All this took about 6-7 hours of work across three evenings.

Here is the most disturbing thing on found during the inspection. The jam nuts on the right aileron push tube had loosened!! This is why the you are suppose to install the rod end bearings so that at least half of the threads are engaged -- that way the tube can't back off entirely!

Otherwise everything was found to be in order. With everything reassembled and the paperwork done, it's time for a short check flight. It's good to be back in the air once again!