Amphibian Woes!!!

Amphibian Woes!!!

Submitted By Jonathan Porter

We gladly set out to AD for a training flight in preparation for the planned mission flight to Battorkope on Monday. Melissa was all excited at the prospects... and all we had to do was to finish fitting the new trim system... then.... as if some gremlin entered my head... I insisted on checking the gear retraction system...

I had noticed a crack in one of the cable guides and replaced it yesterday, but it stuck in my mind 'WHY did it crack?'. So, we blocked up under the front of the floats and went for a nose gear activation... it is a manual gear pull up and a gravity assisted drop down. So, when I pulled on the retract cable and it 'moveth not' it was time to investigate.

Manually hauling the wheel up and down for a few cycles, including pinching my finger in the locking mechanism, did nothing for the gear movement, but a lot for my the demise of my good mannered-ness.

We sprayed it, we cycled it, we added oil above the gear actuation, below and on... and still it did not meet my 'satisfactory movement' schedule.

Cancelling the flight for the day, it was time to disassemble the little nose gear system... spilling oil on the hangar floor my arms, shirts and trousers... at the amusement of all around.

Together we worked the system, using 600 grain emery paper on the teflon 'plunger' that runs inside the nose leg. It seems that the heat and dust have taken their toll, and now it needs a little help.

So, eight hours later, we have a better moving nose gear, improved gear actuator system (we actually 'borrowed' a pulley from our 801 project along with a scrap of rudder cable from a 701rudder cable) and checked the main gear systems too.... in addition to completing the trim!

So, it looks like we have improved the amphibian trainer... so, tomorrow morning at 05:30 it will be time to test the new operation of the gear retraction and extension as well as the effectiveness of the new trim tab...

Therefore, if you watch this space, you will see whether 8 hours of working a nose gear retractor and elevator trim is worth it!

We gladly set out to AD for a training flight in preparation for the planned mission flight to Battorkope on Monday. Melissa was all excited at the prospects... and all we had to do was to finish fitting the new trim system... then.... as if some gremlin entered my head... I insisted on checking the gear retraction system...

I had noticed a crack in one of the cable guides and replaced it yesterday, but it stuck in my mind 'WHY did it crack?'. So, we blocked up under the front of the floats and went for a nose gear activation... it is a manual gear pull up and a gravity assisted drop down. So, when I pulled on the retract cable and it 'moveth not' it was time to investigate.

Manually hauling the wheel up and down for a few cycles, including pinching my finger in the locking mechanism, did nothing for the gear movement, but a lot for my the demise of my good mannered-ness.

We sprayed it, we cycled it, we added oil above the gear actuation, below and on... and still it did not meet my 'satisfactory movement' schedule.

Cancelling the flight for the day, it was time to disassemble the little nose gear system... spilling oil on the hangar floor my arms, shirts and trousers... at the amusement of all around.

Together we worked the system, using 600 grain emery paper on the teflon 'plunger' that runs inside the nose leg. It seems that the heat and dust have taken their toll, and now it needs a little help.

So, eight hours later, we have a better moving nose gear, improved gear actuator system (we actually 'borrowed' a pulley from our 801 project along with a scrap of rudder cable from a 701rudder cable) and checked the main gear systems too.... in addition to completing the trim!

So, it looks like we have improved the amphibian trainer... so, tomorrow morning at 05:30 it will be time to test the new operation of the gear retraction and extension as well as the effectiveness of the new trim tab...

Therefore, if you watch this space, you will see whether 8 hours of working a nose gear retractor and elevator trim is worth it!