Post winter Checks

Well if the last couple of days are anything to go by we must all be getting the urge to fly (i for one am)

But after a phone call last nigh (he shall remain nameles ) it got me thinking about post winter checks so i thought id pop a few i do down for the newbies

RX and TX batteries, the life blood of our planes dont just top them off give them a couple of cycles and check your getting the correct capacity in them if in dobt bin them and buy some more

Batt leads/switches/servo wires, give eveything a check, look for wire chaffing, broken wires, make sure the switch is still working corectly dont just try it once!

Fuel, clear out any old fuel from the tanks (if you havent before the winter) give the engine some freash gogo juice, check all the fuel pipes if they look "dirty" change them

Control surfaces, give them a good pull and wiggle the cold weather we have had can leave hinges brittle and cause a failier, same with all servo arms/horns, check for warps in eveything

Airframe, give it a good doing over make sure all screws are still tight and internal joints (that you can see) havent become britle



All comments/ additions welcolme it may just save your plane

M

LOL
When I was testing my tutor, It was falling to bits on the ground!!!
2 engine mount screws (airframe to mount) came undone so I shut of the engine, slapped some lock tight on and that was ok, then the nuts on the bolts holding the engine came loose and nearly fell off so I did the same above, then the balancing lead falls off, and if that had happened in flight, that would of been catastrophic but it is now firmly epoxied with some 2 hour epoxy!!
So then I went over the whole plane, undoing every screw that went into metal and lock tighted them!

Good call this one Mark, the weather looks pretty good right through to and over the weekend so give your gear a dose of looking at guys

Ohhhhh YAY
I hope someone else can take me up so I can get some more flight time!!
Any one fancy maidening my tutor 40?

Good thread mark.
I had an engine cut today in flight and I nearly dropped a log when it happened.
The clunk line failed in the tank and the header tank went dry.
The clunk line I've been using is apparently neoprene based and dissolves quickly when it is exposed to nitro gasses.(3 weeks old this fuel tube is)
So when I empty the tank it pulls through the gasses from the exhaust into the tank and I've just tried it in the garden and shone a torch at the tank and when emptied you can see the gasses swirling around inside.
The clunk line is from Ripmax.
Please check your fuel tube regularly.
A theory I'm going to try is at the end of the day fill the tank and let it sit for a while before emptying it in the hope it will push all the gasses out.
The thick stuff I used last year was fine though but I'm gonna take more care to check this regularly.
Danny.

Mr Moff wrote:Good thread mark.
I had an engine cut today in flight and I nearly dropped a log when it happened.
The clunk line failed in the tank and the header tank went dry.
The clunk line I've been using is apparently neoprene based and dissolves quickly when it is exposed to nitro gasses.(3 weeks old this fuel tube is)
So when I empty the tank it pulls through the gasses from the exhaust into the tank and I've just tried it in the garden and shone a torch at the tank and when emptied you can see the gasses swirling around inside.
The clunk line is from Ripmax.
Please check your fuel tube regularly.
A theory I'm going to try is at the end of the day fill the tank and let it sit for a while before emptying it in the hope it will push all the gasses out.
The thick stuff I used last year was fine though but I'm gonna take more care to check this regularly.
Danny.

When using an exhaust pressurised fuel system the exhaust gasses are always in the tank no just when you are emptying it.

Is it worth trying to push some of the gasses out by filling the tank when I finish flying for the day and then draining it later?
I'm kind of nervous now in case it happens again.

buy a desent clunk and fuel line and zip tie the buggers on?

M

I cable tied some on this morning,gave it a little pull and the cable tie helpes it cut through the pipe.
It's got the OS bubbleless clunk in there which works great but the tank part of the nipple is a little sharp.
On my other 600 I just checked the same part and it isn't as sharp as this one so I'm going to gently take a smidge of the sharp part off.
I also just ordered some different types of clunk line to check them all out including Hayes clunk and Sullivan from the states.
Time to find out which is best.