Minor Mods and Maintenance

Sunday, May 17, 2015

It’s been a while since I posted. I’ve just been busy with life and work, and flying. I have noticed that my oil temperature maxes out at about 180F which is right at the low end of the range recommended by Lycoming. Some people say it is better for the oil temperature to run at about 200F at cruise so any water in the oil will vaporize and reduce the chances of corrosion. I decided to block part of my oil cooler to see if the temperature will increase. I put a 2-inch strip of aluminum foil tape across the top of the cooler as you can see in this picture.

While I had the upper cowling off I noticed a ding in the protective foil on the inside of the lower cowling near the right muffler. So I pulled the lower cowling off and found two spots where the foil was broken and smashed. It looks like the muffler made contact at some point, probably during start up or shut down when the engine moves quite a bit. I readjusted the muffler and exhaust pipe to increase the clearance.

I smoothed out the foil and applied a layer of new foil tape over the top. You can hardly tell it was ever nicked in the photo below.

I also have wanted to add a lock to the canopy latch for times when I leave to airplane in transient parking. My solution is really simple. I drilled a 9/64 hole through the latch handle on the outside of the airplane. You can see it if you look closely in the photo below.

I picked up a small key lock with a cable at Walmart. It is typically used for luggage. It’s not strong enough to stand up to a pair of bolt cutters but it is a good deterrent to someone looking for an easy target or someone rude enough to think they can open the canopy to look inside. When the cable is inserted through the hole in the latch it prevents the latch from retracting through the slot in the fuselage which prevents the canopy from releasing. Simple, but effective for keeping undetermined thieves out.

I also installed the instrument panel cover I received as a present for Christmas.