"St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter"

St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 15 December 2002

From The President - By Mike Piccirilli

Dear Members,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It seems like Marlin and Randy have been doing a good job of flight testing the airplane recently and uncovering all of the maintenance items for us! Last month is was the mixture cable and battery. This month it was the vacuum pump and loose alternator belt! Thanks to Randy for picking up a new battery and installing it! Thanks to John for taking off a day to install the new vacuum pump as well as returning on another day to finish it up since he ran out of light! I understand that Randy and John are going to get together to tighten the alternator belt. The temperature these days certainly doesn't make maintenance actions any easier.

Marlin had uncovered a possible requirement for us to submit an annual filing to the State regarding incorporation. When we had a lawyer in the club he was adament that we always have an annual meeting which he would take minutes (this supposedly proved that we had an active corporation) but I don't remember anything about a submittal required. We've continued to have almost annual meetings since then. Todd, are you, or would you please research this?

I hope everything is going fine for you and your families and wish you the best for 2003!!

Happy Landings!
Pic

Treasurer's Report - by Marlin Sipe

With the new battery and vacuum pump, the Treasury took a bit of a hit this month, but at $858 it is still ahead of what we want saved for Annual so far ($600).

The cost for fuel has gone up to $2.80/gallon. This means that starting next month the hourly rate for the plane will go up (with Pic's approval). We have been setting the hourly rate at typical fuel burn plus $15/hour (plus the temp $10/hour for improvements). That now comes to about $46/hour.

Maintenance - by John Heilmann

Battery - Randy purchased and installed a new battery last month. The previous battery lasted almost 5 years (installed Feb 1997).

Vacuum Pump - Randy reported the vacuum pump failed while he was taxiing into position for takeoff. He noticed the Attitude Indicator was not level and the DG was not turning when turning on the taxiway. The vacuum guage indicated "0" vacuum. The Vacuum pump was removed and the drive coupling was found to be sheared. In the photo of our failed pump to the left, you can see that the carbon rotor cracked into two parts. The additional force required to rotate the failed rotor caused the drive coupling to sheer. The carbon rotor has 6 slots that allow the 6 carbon vanes to slide in and out as the rotate against the oval pump housing. As the vanes wear over time, they shorten and jam which causes additional stress on the rotor leading to failure. The failed pump was an overhauled pump that was installed in July 1993 and had about 820 hours on it when it failed. NTSB studies show a meantime to vacuum pump failure of 475 hours and that dry pumps are unlikely to operate reliably over 600 hours. A new Rapco 215-CC pump (S/N A6799) was purchased and installed. The new pump has an inspection port where we can check the wear of the graphite pump vanes.

A quick check to see if the pump is operating properly is to look at the paper marking on the pump that warns against putting the pump in a vise. If the paper looks brown or burnt, the pump is overheating which is usually caused by clogged filters or some other problem with the system. It is also important to keep moisture out of the pump as the moisture causes the carbon dust to form a sticky paste. It is important to cover the vacuum pump when cleaning the engine to prevent the cleaning solvents from getting in throught the exhuast outlet, pump housing, or gasket seal.

Alternator Belt - Marlin reported that his GPS volt meter indicated the voltage was fluctuating on his flight back from Ohio. A new alternator belt was installed during the annual last spring. After installation, a new belt tends to stretch a little and needs to be tightened. The alternator belt was tightened on December 14th.

FAA Private and Instrument Test Questions

See how much you remember from your FAA Private Pilot and Instrument Rating Written Test by taking a quick 10 question test. Submit your answers and you will receive the correct answers and your score. (Don't worry, only you see the test results and your score.) This is a quick and easy way to keep familiar with the FARs. Use the links below and try to get a 100%:

The links above take you to Kip's FAA written Test Preparation Site. This site can be found directly at: http://w3.one.net/~kip/faatest.html

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