Funny, scary, or just plain odd things found during Maint.

[brucev]

...Also found that someone had forgotten to safety wire the electric fuel pump on another Warrior II when I was doing a 50 hour inspection. Its a wonder that bottom cover on that electric fuel pump that holds the fuel strainer inside didn't pop off in flight and dump all the fuel going to the engine overboard, thus starving the engine for fuel...

i've always found that curious, these covers are always safetied on Piper aircraft but when you remove the large inspection cover (over the cabin air intercooler) at the RH wing root of most 400 series Cessnas you will see that same pump used to supply fuel to the cabin heater. And it is never safetied and usually can't be without modifying the pump cover slightly.

[Matt Gunsch]

...Also found that someone had forgotten to safety wire the electric fuel pump on another Warrior II when I was doing a 50 hour inspection. Its a wonder that bottom cover on that electric fuel pump that holds the fuel strainer inside didn't pop off in flight and dump all the fuel going to the engine overboard, thus starving the engine for fuel...

i've always found that curious, these covers are always safetied on Piper aircraft but when you remove the large inspection cover (over the cabin air intercooler) at the RH wing root of most 400 series Cessnas you will see that same pump used to supply fuel to the cabin heater. And it is never safetied and usually can't be without modifying the pump cover slightly.

Your also talking about a piper, the same company that uses the main alternator cable as a shunt by drilling 2 holes and inserting the amp meter wires into the holes.

[brucev]

in this case though, the Piper has the cover properly secured and the Cessna does not unless you modify the cover yourself



strangest thing found on inspection? i once found my duckbill pliers lying where i left it 50 hours before. (on the LH oil cooler of a saratoga) I got more serious about tool control after that.

[hang the expense]

I was installing the control stick back into a P-40 and something just didnt look right with this aluminum forging.After I removed "ALL" the paint from the unit I could tell it was full of bondo and the elevator fork had been welded back on.Just looking for a hole to crash into.The owner never would fire the guy who installed it.BTW it was the same guy he bought the "plane" from.

[Robbie Roberts]

I found a dead rat in an attic of an old house I was working on, he was mummified with his teeth around a hot wire. Hee hee hee...

Reminds me of the 3/4 mouse we found on top of a transmission of a VW Golf back in the 80's. Seems he'd stuck his head into the inspection hole for the flywheel, and pulled back only a neck-hole.

Robbie

[Sully]

After I removed "ALL" the paint from the unit I could tell it was full of bondo

I had a customer bring me an engine mount to install. I media blasted it only to find bondo hiding a hole in the tubing.

The time it took to perform a legal repair was probably less than it took to do the "Krylon Overhaul".

Always assure you know what you are installing.

Sully

[hang the expense]

After I removed "ALL" the paint from the unit I could tell it was full of bondo

I had a customer bring me an engine mount to install. I media blasted it only to find bondo hiding a hole in the tubing.

The time it took to perform a legal repair was probably less than it took to do the "Krylon Overhaul".

Always assure you know what you are installing.

Sully

Words to live by.

[AT-6_Newbie]

Lear 35 came in for MX with the jack pads still bolted on the wings and nose

IAI Westwind with a SnapOn ratcheting screwdriver in the radome (incoming squawk was that the radar wouldn't sweep..HMMM)

King Air B100 with a 5/16" wrench laying inches from the current limiter under the cabin floorboards....how it never got there and shorted is a miracle.

G-IV with a cotter pin installed upside down on a clevis on the LH aileron, causing it to feel "ratchety", after a major MX event in Savanna of all places

[John Dupre]

I have a very nice steel scraper with 90 degree bend at one end that I found in the rubber fuel tank of a Beech 99! Needless to say it was lying with the 90 degree edge up. Have a craftsmen 1/4" drive 1/4" size long socket with nice circles milled on the outside from lying against the cooling fins of a cylinder barrel.

If you secure a Cherokee's ailerons by securing the yoke with a seat belt you are begging for birds to make nests in the wing with the "up" aileron.

Know of a new Beech Baron, after a labor strike at Beech, that at a receiving inspection was found to have a Rivet gun, several sets and bucking bars sealed into a wing bay.

Know another guy that was trouble shooting the brakes on well known B-25. Seems they were always grabbing suddenly and burning tires right down to the cord. They suspected a brake control valve and bought a rebuilt one from a well known warbird restorer. Same problem full system pressure suddenly put to the brakes no matter how gently force was applied at the pedals. They took the control valve apart and found a black sludge inside. It seems the sludge was from a spool valve originally made of phenolic and had disentegrated over 50 years. They reverse engineered one out of stainless and had great brakes ever afterward.

[Cvairwerks]

One of Reba's trips got interesting when a nice big Maglight got wedged in the nosegear of her jet. The landed with the nosegear doors slightly open and sustained a little bit of damage. They had a replacement jet enroute even before they landed. Two hours later and only a couple of minuets late, she went on stage and peformed a full show.

[Cking]

I had a 737 divert in to me with this the other week



Then less than a week later the same thing on the same window on another aircraft. We checked the windows history and they were from different batches and were different ages. So we put them into the "Just one of those things" file!

Rgds Cking

[DougB]

Cking, is that a heated windshield and where is the electrical connector located if it is ? I have replaced windshields ( helicopter ) that had the power left on with no airflow and after takeoff they cracked because the cool air flowing over them caused uneven cooling and stresses. On the ground the heat builds up and de-laminates the panel forming air bubbles in the plastic layer in between when windshield heat is left on.

[Cking]

Cking, is that a heated windshield and where is the electrical connector located if it is ?

Yes, that is exactly where the heating elements are connected. Over the years I have seen several cracks start in that area.

Rgds Cking

[AT-6_Newbie]

It usually starts with small cracks and moisture getting into the laminations. When the moisture gets in, it either shorts out the heating elements (great spark display I'm told) or it freezes and breaks the windshield. Not a fun experience at 41,000 feet I am sure.

[Broken-Wrench]

sometimes the windsheild heat controler goes bad. it is always a good idea to check the voltage of the controler and ohm out the window before installation