---------------------------------------------------------- Europa-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Mon 04/08/13: 4 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 05:12 AM - Self-disassembly of outrigger OR12 spring fitting? (Glenn Rainey) 2. 09:03 AM - Drop in RPM/Mag drop (Hans Joergen Danielsen) 3. 11:02 AM - Re: Self-disassembly of outrigger OR12 spring fitting? (Fred Klein) 4. 01:10 PM - Re: Drop in RPM/Mag drop (pestar) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 05:12:23 AM PST US From: Glenn Rainey Subject: Europa-List: Self-disassembly of outrigger OR12 spring fitting? This is strange. Hopefully attached to this posting is a picture of the starboard outrigger mechanism as we found it on preflight yesterday; ops were cancelled due wx, and also due to uncertainties about this discovery. The stiffnut normally securing the rearward part of OR12 spring is only par tially threaded onto its bolt, and finger loose. The AN960-10L washer is mi ssing, and OR12 hangs from one end. An engineer in our group also inspected the locknut and found it satisfacto ry on a new bolt. The original bolt awaits closer examination, however a ne w fresh nut was secure when attached to it. These parts would potentially be missing in any accident investigation sear ch. I cannot understand how a stiffnut can come undone in this installation. Th is assembly was fine when inspected one week earlier prior to a test flight , during which the gear needed cycling once to achieve an outrigger- retrac ted green light indication. It was not examined post flight then, but the aircraft was subsequently unattended. If we hypothesize that perhaps the washer was missing from the original ass embly, methinks unlikely, then could the thing manage to self-disassemble i n the course of one short flight with two gear cycles? I can think of one _possible explanation for this which is a worrying one, but perhaps other folks have ideas? No maintenance was needed or carried ou t on this part of the airframe in recent time. Glenn Rainey / Martin Burns G-OJHL Classic monowheel Scotland * my second attempt to post, perhaps the image is a problem. Can anyone hel p with image posting / hosting? ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 09:03:46 AM PST US From: Hans Joergen Danielsen Subject: Europa-List: Drop in RPM/Mag drop Engine Gurus! The engine (914) of the Europa I built, and subsequently sold is not up to acceptable standards. The new owner experienced a drop in RPM combined with a cracling noise in the head set. The Flydat also went temporarly black. He was barely able to maintain altitude and on return to the airfield he switched on the secondary fuel pump. After awhile the engine regained power. In the heat of the moment he forgot to check the fuel pressure when the engine was faltering. During investigation we experienced a slight delay on initial switching of the fuel pump - till we heard the familiar sound of the pump. During later switching everything was normal. We have tried everything - jigling contacts with pump running, changing to another switch on the panel and even checked the battery itself, to no avail. We are about to run out of ideas. This may be a separate snag in itself. When running the engine the Mag drop was unaceptably high - 400 rpm on Left and 300 rpm on Right magneto. We regapped the plugs to 0.70 mm, but no effect. We noticed though that both plugs on Cylinder 1 were black with soot while all the others were normal grey. After cleaning the plugs and running for a few more minutes, the plugs got all black again. What could this be - a compression leak? I am ruling out the carburetor, since the plugs on the other cylinder on the same side - which is being fed from the same manifold - was normal grey. I'm tossing out these problems to all you knowledgeable people in the group. Any with a good advice?? Cheers, Hans - ex LN-HJD
________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 11:02:27 AM PST US Subject: Re: Europa-List: Self-disassembly of outrigger OR12 spring fitting? From: Fred Klein Glenn...as someone still in the throes of building, I feel it would presumptuous to offer an opinion on how this situation evolved other than to note that the AN960-10L washer serves a critical purpose between the sleeve and the stiffnut, and that the profile of the stiffnut may suggest at first glance that a washer is in place when in fact it is not. On a previous post-flight inspection, unrelated to our Europas, I was utterly astonished to learn how quickly a bolt (once unconstrained) can back out from its threaded receptacle just from the subtle vibrations of a VERY short flight... Fred A194 On Apr 8, 2013, at 5:04 AM, Glenn Rainey wrote: > This is strange. > > Hopefully attached to this posting is a picture of the starboard outrigger mechanism as we found it on preflight yesterday; ops were cancelled due wx, and also due to uncertainties about this discovery. > > The stiffnut normally securing the rearward part of OR12 spring is only partially threaded onto its bolt, and finger loose. The AN960-10L washer is missing, and OR12 hangs from one end. > > An engineer in our group also inspected the locknut and found it satisfactory on a new bolt. The original bolt awaits closer examination, however a new fresh nut was secure when attached to it. > > These parts would potentially be missing in any accident investigation search. > > I cannot understand how a stiffnut can come undone in this installation. This assembly was fine when inspected one week earlier prior to a test flight, during which the gear needed cycling once to achieve an outrigger- retracted green light indication. It was not examined post flight then, but the aircraft was subsequently unattended. > > If we hypothesize that perhaps the washer was missing from the original assembly, methinks unlikely, then could the thing manage to self-disassemble in the course of one short flight with two gear cycles? > > I can think of one _possible explanation for this which is a worrying one, but perhaps other folks have ideas? No maintenance was needed or carried out on this part of the airframe in recent time. > > Glenn Rainey / Martin Burns > G-OJHL > Classic monowheel > Scotland > > * my second attempt to post, perhaps the image is a problem. Can anyone help with image posting / hosting? ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 01:10:14 PM PST US Subject: Europa-List: Re: Drop in RPM/Mag drop From: "pestar" Hans I have a 914 but not experienced enough to comment however suggest you post this question on the Rotax forum of this group (Matronics). There are some very learned characters who will be able offer you sage advice. -------- Peter Armstrong Auckland, New Zealand DynAero MCR-4S (Do not shoot me :) ). Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=398176#398176 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Matronics Email List Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post A New Message europa-list@matronics.com UN/SUBSCRIBE http://www.matronics.com/subscription List FAQ http://www.matronics.com/FAQ/Europa-List.htm Web Forum Interface To Lists http://forums.matronics.com Matronics List Wiki http://wiki.matronics.com Full Archive Search Engine http://www.matronics.com/search 7-Day List Browse http://www.matronics.com/browse/europa-list Browse Digests http://www.matronics.com/digest/europa-list Browse Other Lists http://www.matronics.com/browse Live Online Chat! http://www.matronics.com/chat Archive Downloading http://www.matronics.com/archives Photo Share http://www.matronics.com/photoshare Other Email Lists http://www.matronics.com/emaillists Contributions http://www.matronics.com/contribution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.