Roger Lee Posted June 19, 2010 Report Share Posted June 19, 2010 Don't let your mechanic forget this inspection of the wing, it is mandatory. Hi All, Don't let your mechanic forget this inspection of the wing, it is mandatory. It is on page 36 in the Nov. 20, 2008 revision of the FD maint manual. This is the wing removal inspection. Quote " Check each 600 hrs. or at the next 100 hr. inspection after two years, which ever comes first". While they are off change your fuel site tubes. This inspection usually needs two people, 2 six ft. ladders for support under each wing. It takes approximately 1.5 hours give or take. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runtoeat Posted August 24, 2013 Report Share Posted August 24, 2013 Roger, I'm going in for my 100 hour inspection and annual combined next week. It's been 2 years since my wings were pulled and checked at this inspection time. I interpret the wording of the SB to mean that my wings will need to be pulled at my next 100 hour after this one. Correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted August 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2013 After that first wing inspection it is every two years. The first wing inspection gave a little leeway to align it with the other inspections, but now it should be more inline with your regular inspection. I would just get it done and behind you because the plane is going to be down anyway and maint. done. This way it can all be checked for function after everything is done and you don't have to be down again or travel to get maint. done a second time. It takes me 1.5 hrs. (some may take a couple of hours) start to finish to do the wing inspection and this includes new sight tubes. I saw one major company charge a guy 6 hrs to do this at $90 hr. That was outrageous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted August 24, 2013 Report Share Posted August 24, 2013 In my opinion for what it's worth the inspection should be done every 2 years. If your last inspection was done 1 year ans 11 months ago, by the book you could wait till the next 100 hour. I myself would not do this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Meade Posted August 24, 2013 Report Share Posted August 24, 2013 In my opinion for what it's worth the inspection should be done every 2 years. If your last inspection was done 1 year ans 11 months ago, by the book you could wait till the next 100 hour. I myself would not do this. Tom, FD recommendations aside, I'd be glad to hear your own reasoning for your preferences. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted August 25, 2013 Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 I'm a little unclear on what the wing inspection is actually inspecting. We've done it every two years on my airplane, but the only thing I remember being done was resealing the fuel tank plate on one side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted August 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 You don't need to pull the fuel bulkhead every time you inspect. You only need to do that if you have a poor fuel flow test. Change the sight tubes, check the fuel bulkhead nuts, check for leaks around the bulkhead and its fittings, check the fuselage and wing siding for any de-lamination or cracking, lube the aileron bracket joint and rod ends, check the rubber fuel hose, check the flap connector where it inserts into the wing, look inside that are towards the interior of the fuselage for any issues with a flashlight, check the wing spar for cracks or issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted August 25, 2013 Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 Curious if anyone has ever found any problems with the spar or inside the spar box?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted August 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 I haven't ever heard of any, but would be a good question for FD. I'll see them in two weeks and I'll try and remember to ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted August 25, 2013 Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 Tom, FD recommendations aside, I'd be glad to hear your own reasoning for your preferences. The inspection is aesy to do while the wings are off, so why not do it. The sight tubes are what I worry about. I have yet to see sight tube that you could see fuel through easily after 2 years, and even had some break trying to remove them. In my opinoin anything over 2 years is asking for trouble for the sight tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandpiper Posted August 25, 2013 Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 I have managed to replace my sight tubes without wing removal. Why?? Well I removed the wings last Nov. and replaced the sight tubes at that time. They were from FD and, by last month, were rock hard and completely unreadable. And I didn't really want to remove the wings again so soon because they were a bear to remove. One pin did not want to come out. It also didn't want to go back in. My thought process was that removing the wings may do more harm than good. Was it worth it? Probably not. It took me 4 hours and a special miniature 90 degree drill attachment. Probably what finished off my neck. Will fuse C4/5 on 8/28. Of course Roger could have done it in half the time while rebuilding the engine! :blush: Naw, he would have pulled the wings and done the work in 1.5 hours and still rebuilt the engine ! Seriously, he is good. I learned that in LSRM-A school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdarza Posted October 23, 2017 Report Share Posted October 23, 2017 Just sharing my findings from my recent wing inspection. The birds seem to love moving in here. Tough to get hands in there so a vacuum hose got most of it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runtoeat Posted October 23, 2017 Report Share Posted October 23, 2017 John, don't understand why hose from FD would degrade so fast. I used regular ACE hardware polyvinyl hose last time and it's still pliable and transparent after 1.5 years using MoGas. When you removed your wings last time, did you support the far wing with a support while removing the other wing? We found this really makes the task of removal go easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Lee Posted October 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2017 My personal thought is that removing wings every two years does cause wear. It has to. I tried to get them to go to every 3 years. To my knowledge no one has found any issues unless someone here has heard different. That said some people using the 91 Oct. fuel gets so much brown dye staining in the fuel sight tubes they can become a little hard to read. A flashlight will take care of that. The tubes may get stiff, but they are not bittle. I have a video here on the forum that demonstrates that. I also wish FD would have made that opening where the sight tubes are a little larger so you could get into that area easier and swap tubes without pulling the wings. I know you can get to them, but it's a royal PITA to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted October 23, 2017 Report Share Posted October 23, 2017 2 hours ago, Runtoeat said: John, don't understand why hose from FD would degrade so fast. I used regular ACE hardware polyvinyl hose last time and it's still pliable and transparent after 1.5 years using MoGas. When you removed your wings last time, did you support the far wing with a support while removing the other wing? We found this really makes the task of removal go easy. If you look John's post was from 2013. back then the material from flight design was different, and it did get hard and brittle. I remember one that when I pulled on the hose to remove it the hose easily pulled apart. The new material provided by Flight Design USA does not get hard, but it does stain terribly with auto fuel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WmInce Posted October 23, 2017 Report Share Posted October 23, 2017 1 hour ago, Roger Lee said: My personal thought is that removing wings every two years does cause wear. It has to. I tried to get them to go to every 3 years. To my knowledge no one has found any issues unless someone here has heard different. That said some people using the 91 Oct. fuel gets so much brown dye staining in the fuel sight tubes they can become a little hard to read. A flashlight will take care of that. The tubes may get stiff, but they are not bittle. I have a video here on the forum that demonstrates that. I also wish FD would have made that opening where the sight tubes are a little larger so you could get into that area easier and swap tubes without pulling the wings. I know you can get to them, but it's a royal PITA to do it. Perhaps using alternative hose clamps and/or special tools could make changing those tubes (without pulling the wings) a lot more palatable. How much experimentation has been done with that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT_MATT Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 I have changed mine without pulling the wings and as Roger said it is a PITA even after changing the clamp screws to SHCS. I mainly run 93 octane with ethanol and they get difficult to see after about a year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Bozo Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 Get two of those Harbor Freight flashlights and take them apart. put the led board in behind the fuel gauge with velcro. A small battery box on the surface again with velcro with a push button on it to light up the led array and voila!! You can do this while the wings are in place. You never have a problem reading how much fuel you have. Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runtoeat Posted October 28, 2017 Report Share Posted October 28, 2017 Larry, I like your idea. This needs to show level in daylight and think this would. Pretty neat. You probably have the single factory LED light like most CT's have which lights up this area? How about buying a small LED accessory light like sold at Walmart, etc,. and power this using the power for the factory light? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flying Bozo Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 Dick, Yes, it is very easy to read the fuel level in daylight or even sunlight. I do have the light that FD put in there and it is powered by the switch on the panel. Itis for the most part useless isn't it. However, in order to use that one I would need a LOA and I thought that was a PITA so I went ahead and used a little plastic battery box with a momentary switch on it. You just push the switch and instantly read the fuel level. As I mentioned, I used a Harbor freight light and took out the LED array and that is what you see lighting up behind the fuel tube. I went for an array rather than a single flashlight type of light because of the larger distance between the low and higher readings. With the array you have more than ample light at all fuel level readings. Believe me I would not be without this added convenience since as you know the importance of keeping track of fuel. The little battery box has 3 AAA batteries in it which is 4.5 volts but I am sure if you were so inclined you could rearrange the circuit in there to accept the 12 volts that is already present. However this way I don't have to fool around with the power already there and no approvals necessary since everything is kept in place with velcro. Try it, you will never go back...(LOL) Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted October 29, 2017 Report Share Posted October 29, 2017 I recently just did my first wing pull on my own, with some advice from Roger. It was actually quite easy, and any wear seems minimal. I’d rather just pull the wings than try to change the sight tubes with them in place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ct9000 Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 8 hours ago, FlyingMonkey said: I recently just did my first wing pull on my own, with some advice from Roger. It was actually quite easy, and any wear seems minimal. I’d rather just pull the wings than try to change the sight tubes with them in place. You did very well doing a wing job on your own, I would suggest that it easy with three people, a bit harder with two, and a real challenge on your own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 I have thought about making an adjustable rolling shelf type thing for wing removable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted October 30, 2017 Report Share Posted October 30, 2017 2 hours ago, ct9000 said: You did very well doing a wing job on your own, I would suggest that it easy with three people, a bit harder with two, and a real challenge on your own. I did have a helper. By "on my own" I mean first time attempting without someone on hand who has done it before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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