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St. Louis Flying Club Newsletter - 31 July 2022

From The President - By Steve

Dear Members,

My apologies for being so late with this part of the monthly newsletter but I just got back from a couple of weeks in Alaska and Canada. While that trip interfered with Oshkosh I know we had several members make the trip and I look forward to hearing about their experiences. I did manage to get my airplane “fix” with 5 hours in a float plane out of Lake Hood. Everywhere you look there are float planes and tail draggers!

Larry Wehrman found a broken oil cooler support baffle on the RV during an inspection and while the part had to be handmade the downtime was minimal and the job was completed in a brutally hot hangar. We are so fortunate to have Larry and John keeping our planes in such great condition.

Another thank you going out to Brad Hansen for taking on the VP position. Brad saw an opportunity to help and stepped up, no arm twisting required. It is much appreciated.

Here’s hoping for some cooler flying weather.

Steve

Treasurer's Report - by T.J

BILLING STATEMENT

Comments:

No major changes this month, although fuel prices continue to rise.
• Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

BALANCE SHEET

   Maintenance - by John

N202CR RV-7A

• Oil Change - On 21 July, the oil and filter were changed and the oil sample sent in for analysis. The results of the oil analysis and filter inspection show the engine is operating normally.
• Oil Support Baffle - While changing the oil on 21 July, Larry noticed a crack in the Cylinder #4 baffle where it supports the oil cooler. We had just replaced this baffle at the annual with a new baffle from Vans. We thought the Vans stock baffle was too thin to carry the oil cooler loads so Larry fabricated a new thicker baffle from .050 thick aluminum (baffle from Vans was .032 thick) and completed the baffle repair on 23 July.

  

N20843 Cessna 172M

• Steering Linkage - Dale Hiltner noticed the Left steering rod hanging down and the rod end that is normally attached to the steering collar was broken during his preflight. We think the cause of this is going past the steering limits when using the tug to put the plane back in the hangar. The nose gear can only turn about 30 degrees in either direction before it can damage the steering linkage. The Rod ends are the “weak link” in the steering system and that is what typically fails. When you use the hand tow bar, you can usually feel where the limits are and it is hard to generate enough force to break anything. However, with the mass of the electric tug, it is easy to generate enough force to go past the limits and bend/brake the rod ends.

  When putting the Cessna back in the hangar, be mind-full of the nose steering limits and be careful lifting and moving the tug too much when trying to turn the nose wheel. It is better to pull the airplane back out and try pushing it back again than try to turn the nose wheel too much.

  

  

  

N2242N Piper Arrow IV

• No Maintenance Actions this month

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