- Joined
- Oct 30, 2003
- Messages
- 18,363
- Location
- Santa Maria, California
- Aircraft
- Givens Predator
- Total Flight Time
- 2600+ in rotorcraft
After a lovely flight up some hidden valleys and over Lake Lopez to San Louis Obispo, Ed and I removed the Predator’s rotor blades and loaded her on the trailer Sunday
We took the Predator up to Smokey’s shop in Atascadero on Monday to get a feel for what it will take to install the IO-320.
We are hoping to do it in a couple of weeks. My fuel injection is on the flow bench now. My propeller is scheduled for July production.
Monday night we pulled the Predator off the trailer and installed the rotor blades. I didn’t have time to do a maintenance flight.
Today after my meeting I went to the airport and performed a preflight and found that one of the two 3/16 bolts that hold the upper vertical stabilizer support was missing.
Part of the preflight is to check for cracks in the rotor mast and check for loose fasteners.
Having the one bolt missing puts a tremendous load on the other bolt because now the support has leverage.
If I had lost the second bolt it would be possible for the support to come loose and get into the prop. The entire vertical stabilizer could have come losse.
I feel fortunate to have found it.
I have looked at her so many times without finding anything it would be easy to get sloppy with the preflight.
Thank you, Vance
We took the Predator up to Smokey’s shop in Atascadero on Monday to get a feel for what it will take to install the IO-320.
We are hoping to do it in a couple of weeks. My fuel injection is on the flow bench now. My propeller is scheduled for July production.
Monday night we pulled the Predator off the trailer and installed the rotor blades. I didn’t have time to do a maintenance flight.
Today after my meeting I went to the airport and performed a preflight and found that one of the two 3/16 bolts that hold the upper vertical stabilizer support was missing.
Part of the preflight is to check for cracks in the rotor mast and check for loose fasteners.
Having the one bolt missing puts a tremendous load on the other bolt because now the support has leverage.
If I had lost the second bolt it would be possible for the support to come loose and get into the prop. The entire vertical stabilizer could have come losse.
I feel fortunate to have found it.
I have looked at her so many times without finding anything it would be easy to get sloppy with the preflight.
Thank you, Vance