Sunday, May 24, 2015

Strut up or shut up

We were finally able to carve out a few hours to service all the struts.  Also we started the official inspections for the annual.

This was a very dirty job...


Here is a strut with the wheel off and with the plane up on jacks.

We were able to totally remove the struts to replace the O ring seals on the top and bottom.


After replacing the struts we had to service them with fluid which prompty sprayed all over me causing a massive mess and an immediate need to chane clothes as the smell was overpowering lol


Afterwards you can see now her struts stay up just fine!!


In addition we were able to do the first compressions on the engine for the official inspection.  I'm very pleased at how the engine is shaping up.


And most importantly with the struts now holding I was able to take my nine year old nephew out for a quick taxi around the ramp.  He's been asking me to take him around for weeks.  

As you can see he was ready to go! 





6 comments:

  1. Do you have any video of the front strut removal and servicing?

    Thanks,
    Sean

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  2. Do you remember if when you put the struts back up in the housing if they moved freely or still had some stickiness to them due to the new seals?

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    Replies
    1. Well when we had the struts out we oiled them before we put them back in. After filling with oil and air and a few full travels they stopped being sticky. After we replaced the air with nitrogen they cleaned right up. They have been holding for months now.

      I'm sure we will have it back up at least once more to put the wheel pants back on and we will see if they smoothly travel still. But I can tell you that they are still "wet"

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