Bill3558 Posted June 28, 2023 Report Share Posted June 28, 2023 Today I picked up my plane from Lanier Aviation after they did an annual inspection. The 100 mile flight home was uneventful. I had quite a fright upon landing when I found my elevator jammed at flare. Some builder buddies came over and quickly found the problem. The inspection panel under the pilot seat is attached by 4 screws. One is short. The short one has to be in the correct corner so the elevator push rod will clear it. Since a long screw was incorrectly in that location, it stopped the elevator short of a full up position. When I pulled harder as I did in the flare, the pushrod and cover flexed enough to allow the pushrod connector to slip by with a loud snap. See attached video. I have informed the maintenance facility about this CTLS quirk. I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t I do a controls free and correct check? Here is what happened. I got in the plane and noticed my seat was low and far back. But the seat was secure, and I could see ok, so I thought I’ll adjust it when I get home. When I pulled back on the stick it seemed to hit the stop early, but I rationalized it by thinking it’s the seat position. I looked at the elevator, and it went up. But not enough. We see what we expect to see. Im the same guy who crashed his CT after picking up the plane from annual 2years ago when my oil return lines come off in flight seizing the engine. This is a problem for us SLSA guys. Mad Hatter came by to chat a couple of weeks ago while he was in my area. He suggested I get some training and do my own maintenance. I’m on board now. Video attached: IMG_0193.MOV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted June 28, 2023 Report Share Posted June 28, 2023 I think you'll definitely feel better if you switch to E-LSA, get trained up, and do your own work. It's rewarding, and nobody has a bigger incentive to do things right than the guy whose ass is in the seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madhatter Posted June 28, 2023 Report Share Posted June 28, 2023 I've found too long a screw always to be an issue on a lot of aircraft over the years. If the screw seems a little long for the application then it might interfere with something. A friend of mine had a large marine operation where one of the mechanics finished the maintenance on a man's boat. The owner complained he couldn't get the boat off the trailer when putting in at a marina. The mechanic had used a long self tapping screw which fastened the boat to the trailer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BravoFoxtrot Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 If you don't need a longer screw in any of the positions, why not replace all of them with shorter screws? That way you don't have to be concerned with which one goes where. If you do not want to move the plane to experimental, you can attend a 3-week repairman course (either Rainbow Aviation or Blue Ridge Community College) and then do the maintenance yourself. As Andy says above, "nobody has a bigger incentive to do things right than the guy whose ass is in the seat." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Baker Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 Not everyone is cut out to do maintenance on an airplanes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madhatter Posted June 29, 2023 Report Share Posted June 29, 2023 2 hours ago, Tom Baker said: Not everyone is cut out to do maintenance on an airplanes. That may be true however a very knowledgeable pilot/owner can see that things are done correctly. A few years ago I met an older customer in one of my stores who owned a turbine powered aircraft and we discussed some of the maintenance issues on that aircraft, he was extremely knowledgeable in the specifics. I assumed he was a mechanic however he told me he was not. He said he was paying for everything and flying in it so he better know everything about the maintenance being done correctly. I was impressed with his knowledge of the aircraft maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MileHighCTLS Posted July 2, 2023 Report Share Posted July 2, 2023 On 6/28/2023 at 2:06 PM, Bill3558 said: The inspection panel under the pilot seat is attached by 4 screws. One is short. The short one has to be in the correct corner so the elevator push rod will clear it. Since a long screw was incorrectly in that location, it stopped the elevator short of a full up position. May I ask a VERY OBVIOUS question (as BravoFoxtrot did)? Why not just use short screws in all corners. That's what I did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
procharger Posted July 4, 2023 Report Share Posted July 4, 2023 Bill where is Lanier Aviation located? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill3558 Posted July 4, 2023 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2023 Gainesville, Ga. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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