Lots of wheels up and down during gear checks. The gear is hand pumped up and down (about 40 strokes) during the checks. Note that the tires remain exposed when the gear is retracted. While making the plane slower this was considered a “feature” and not a “bug”. The thought was that if the plane had to belly in the tires would still support the plane while on the belly! Of course later versions when it became the Aztec has the gear doors cover the tires for a bit more speed.
We needed to add some “Granvilles” strut sealant to the left main strut as it wasn’t holding pressure over time
The past few weeks got both productive and frustating as we kept thinking we had finally gotten the last issue fixed and more popped up. Once the nose gear issues were fixed we took the Apache around the pattern to test the gear. Good news was that virtually everything worked as it should but the bad news was we suddenly had two rough engines. They were developing good power so fortunately that wasn’t a problem but we both could feel a roughness that shouldn’t be there. So we quickly finished our one trip around the pattern and did some engine run ups on the ground. It quickly became apparent that we had something unusual and it was back to the hangar with Annie! After much checking Eliu thought there was a fuel issue and I thought it was a P-Lead issue. Turns out we were both right!
Problem number one was very easy to figure out. Pilot Error! I had left the right engine primer UNLOCKED and it was making the engine run a little rough. Lesson learned, I have now marked the primer so I know where the pin is on the barrel to be sure it is properly aligned for locking and unlocking. Also, we lubricated the primer so its easier to use.
Problem number two was harder. We found that we did have some P-Lead issue(s). My mechanic went all through the ignitions on both engines. At this point we feel confident we have taken care of ALMOST everything. A couple terminal ends were replaced that looked like they were original from 1955. However, we think there is one final issue with a “box” on the firewall that looks like it is designed to isolate ignition noise from the avionics. It seems to be the last offender and we are trying to figure out if this “box” is even needed. Once that is take care of we feel the engine issues are put to rest. When we bypass this “box” the engines run perfectly so we will have to decide if it is to be replaced, fixed or removed.
